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I could marry Marco. I could take the job at the Gazette. I could be a cartoonist, have a child with him, be part of a family.
Could it work?
I don’t know. That’s the truthful answer. I guess fate will decide for me. If he manages to get up and we get to a restaurant without him passing out, maybe I will say yes. See what the universe has in store for me.
But he won’t get up. He’s far too injured to even make it out of his room.
Or so I think.
Twenty-One
Marco
* * *
I’ve had enough gunshot wounds in my time to know I can cope with one night out. I’m not even the one flying. All I’ve got to do is take her to Belucci’s, get her a decent meal, and then get her back again. What can go wrong?
There’s somewhere else I’m going to take her first. Alessandro suggested it. “That’s why you’re consigliere,” I told him when he showed me the commercial in the newspaper. “Get it arranged.”
“Already done.”
Anna is downstairs, waiting to see whether I appear. She thinks I’m too injured to even think about going out tonight. She doesn’t know me well enough. When I set my mind to something, I achieve it.
I’ve a ring ready to use. It was my grandmother’s. Single diamond, thin gold band, nothing special, if you think in terms of cash. Sentimental value is priceless.
She’ll become part of my family.
For now.
Maybe for good?
I think this could work. I don’t know if it’s because I almost died. Maybe because of the way she’s been treating me since the injury. In fact, since we met. She’s a good person. Makes me want to be a better person.
She’s seen some value in me, something more than just a monster who uses violence to get his own way. She sees past that. I can tell by the way she talks to me. She isn’t afraid of me. A trait I’ve not seen in anyone outside my family. First woman I’ve ever met who isn’t trying to climb into bed with me from our first encounter.
She’s trying to do the opposite, come up with ways to avoid going to bed with me. Not for much longer.
Tonight is when we’re going to do it. I’m supposed to wait until after the wedding ceremony, but I’ve waited long enough. It’ll have to be gentle. I don’t want to rip my stitches open. But I can’t wait.
I need to be inside her.
It was the way she looked at me when we made the bet, trying to defy me but secretly excited. I could see it all in her face.
I see her differently. She’s not the woman I thought she was. I considered her a tool to be used, but not anymore. Now I see her as a person.
She’s beautiful, intelligent, and not willing to ride on my coattails. She wouldn’t take the cartoonist job because she didn’t think she’d earned it. How many women would turn something like that down? A chance to follow her dream and she rejected it because she doesn’t think she’s ready?
I can’t resist this any longer. I have to take her.
I need Alessandro’s help to get dressed. “This is a dumb idea,” he says when my shirt’s buttoned up. “What if you bleed out? What happens to my pension?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“I don’t want to arrange any more funerals.”
“Relax. Pass me my tie.”
I manage to get that done up. After that, I dose myself up with painkillers before making sure I tied my shoes right.
