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“No. Our Don ordered him to stop, but I’m scared about the damage he’s caused. The repercussions it’ll bring...”
“The security?”
I nod, agreeing with Shaw that my brother’s security measures are intense, even for the Mafia.
“I’m sorry. About your sister.” His voice is soft and laced in sincerity.
“It’s okay.” I fidget. “I mean, it’s not. But thank you.” I swallow back the emotion as I think of not only my sister’s death but the deaths following hers. My brother’s need for vengeance becoming an obsession that no one could control, not until our Don finally put a stop to it. But it still simmers inside him. I see it and our Don Lorenzo does too, and that terrifies me.
“Our family oath is ‘In blood we’re bound. In trust we live.’ We live by this oath, and Luca sees Eleanor’s death as his responsibility. We’re bound in blood, and we trust so we live, and none of that helped her, and it haunts him.”
The atmosphere is somber, and I hate it.
He tucks a curl behind my ear. “Tell me something good about your family, Emi,” he suggests, as though picking up on the change too.
“My Papi. He might be true Mafia through and through, but he has a soft spot for me. Women are weaknesses in the Mafia, but he’s never made any attempt to hide how much he cares about me. Not until the day in your office anyway.”
“Were you mad at him for not standing up for you?”
“No. He let Luca take control like he should have.”
“What about your parents? They’re not in the picture?”
I sigh and rest my head back onto his chest. “My parents died when I was younger. My mother died when I was five, and my father was killed in an attack at a restaurant when I was nine. Maxim’s parents died that day too, so Papi took custody of him and brought him up as our brother.”
Shaw strokes the top of my head, the simple gesture bringing me comfort I didn’t know I needed. “Your Papi sounds like a good man, Emi.”
“He is.” We lie in silence, his fingers threading through my hair. I want to close my eyes and savor the moment, yet I don’t want to fall asleep and miss it either.
I raise my head and place my hand on his chest, resting my chin on top of my hand. “How about you?”
“Huh?”
“You have to tell me about you now, Shaw Grant, who works at STORM Enterprises.” I grin at him with the little knowledge I have.
He smiles back down, his face lighting up. “Okay. Let’s see. I’m Shaw Grant. Thirty-one. I built STORM Enterprises with my four best friends. We named the company after the first letter of each of our names.” His tone is light, and he talks like he’s in a job interview.
“What do you do there?”
“Lots of things. Mainly the entertainment industry. Advertising, et cetera. We have a security department run by Owen, the guy you already met. He’s an ex-Navy SEAL and has great contacts. So, if anyone needs security in the industry, we can provide that service at the same time as the entertainment side.”
“I’ve seen Owen before. He was at a function I went to last year.”
Shaw’s eyes narrow on me, and his jaw sharpens. “You remember him, huh?” The change in him confuses me.
He flicks his bottom lip between his teeth and takes his hand from behind his head, placing it behind mine. “You’re my wife, Emi. You belong to me.”
His eyes drill into mine, and my heart jumps at his intensity. “And what about you? Are you mine?”
His Adam’s apple bobs. “You know I am.” His eyes dart away, and my pulse races at the awareness of him disconnecting from me.
“What about your ex?”
He flits his gaze back toward me. “She’s exactly that, Emi. An ex. I’m not a cheat.” His eyes bore into mine, the truth radiating from him.
Sickness rolls in my stomach, but I need to know. “Do you love her?”
He stills for a moment, and I have my answer without even needing to hear it. And because I can’t bear to see the disappointment in his eyes or feel the guilt any longer, I rest my head back on his chest and close my eyes, ignoring the fact that Shaw fucked me tonight because he needed to get off. Because he had no other option but to fuck the girl he mistakenly knocked up when the one he loves is out of reach.
