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“What did you think I was going to say?”
“That maybe I was your dirty little secret.”
I chuckle. “I kinda like the sounds of that.”
“Me too.”
I continue to play with her skin, drawing patterns on her hips with my fingertips. “I can only speak for myself when I say that I’m falling hard. I see a future with you but don’t want to scare you off.” My heart thuds in my chest at the very notion.
“You could never scare me off,” she says, running her hands down my legs as my dick twitches.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. This life…it’s not for the faint-hearted.”
“I know,” she says, her voice small. “But I’m willing to take risks to be with you.”
I kiss her neck as she leans back into me. “You don’t know how happy I am to hear you say that. I’ve never felt like this before. I don’t just fuck women. As I said, you’re why I didn’t have sex for six months. I hope you're happy.”
She giggles. “Very happy.”
“It killed me to watch you from afar. I wanted so much to talk to you, but I knew you weren’t in a good place. You needed to heal.”
She sounds taken aback when she says. “Really? You stayed away all that time…”
“Yes, and it almost killed me, especially when other men approached you at the club.”
“They were just ordering drinks and loitering around my office.”
I scoff. “Trust me, baby, they were not just ordering drinks.”
“Was it hard growing up in the Mafia?” she asks, switching tact.
“I didn’t know any better growing up, to be honest,” I admit. “Papa kept us sheltered from it because we were children. It was always intended one day that we would step into his shoes and follow in his footsteps. Or at least, Angelo and Marco.”
“What happened to your Papa?”
“He was gunned down, murdered right in front of Angelo. I was just a boy. Valentina hadn’t even been born, Ma was pregnant with her at the time.” I take a breath. I’ve never spoken about this to anyone outside the family. “It left a huge gap in our family. As you can imagine, my Ma, with four boys and a little girl on the way, was tough, she was devastated. She really loved my father, Mia. It was real.”
I feel the tears spring to my eyes, but I won’t cry in front of her. I know this can’t be easy for her either, knowing her parents were also killed when she was a child.
“Dante, I’m so sorry,” she whispers. “Your Papa would be so proud of the man you’ve become.”
“I always hope for that.”
“It’s just so unfair.”
“It was worse for Angelo,” I go on. “Having to witness that. The hit wasn’t even mafia related.”
“What happened?” She asks, her fingers still over my knees.
“A disgruntled employee from the security company my Father and my Uncle Mario were buying….he came along and shot my Father point blank. The guy thought it was my Father’s fault he had been made redundant, but it had nothing to do with him.”
“Oh god,” she says, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Dante, that’s truly awful. That must have been so horrible for you all, especially Angelo.”
“He grew up that day by default. They were running errands at the fruit market. My father was unarmed. He bled out in Angelo’s arms before the ambulance even arrived.”
“I’m so sorry you’ve suffered,” she says. “I truly am.”
“It was extremely difficult growing up without a father. It was tough on Ma. Luckily we had our Aunt Gloria. She passed away a few years ago now, and Uncle Mario, who has since left us. Our family helped us get through, but it wasn’t without its difficulties.” I look down at her and feel my heart constrict. I have honestly never been so open about this, even with my brothers. “I’m sorry if I’ve vented too much.”
