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“But I was their daughter.” I cry harder, and I feel him tensing as he pulls me in.
“I know, baby. I know.” I’ve been vulnerable in many ways before, but this is a new one. There is intimacy involved now, and there is the fact that my heart is on a platter for him to take and use against me.
“I won’t do it.” He breaks through my sobs.
“What?” I turn to look at him. His face is like stone, and his jaw tics, but he isn’t mad at me. No, he is laying down his armor.
“I won’t kill anyone in your family. I will let them be free. I will fly us to New York, and I will shake hands with him and call a true peace treaty. For you.”
“Nico.” I straddle him, the water around us sloshing and some falling out onto the floor. “No, please, don’t go to them. Just let them leave our lives. You don’t have to say sorry or be anything to them. I don’t just respect you. I also respect the people who made this man.” I place my hand over his heart. “The one that can be soft, loving, and gentle with me. Who can show vulnerability in the silence. In places where he and I exist alone.” I kiss his heart over and over.
“Emelia, my father would want me to do this right.”
“No, he wouldn’t. He would want you to trust and do as your wife begs of you. And I ask that you just let them go and let it be. Just focus on us and on your outfit.” There is something he isn’t telling me, and I see it in his eyes—the only place on him that always tells me the truth.
He thinks he can hide his secrets and his pain, or whatever feeling he’s experiencing, from me, but he can’t hide it in his eyes.
“Don’t do that. You can’t use that,” he warns.
“I’m not. I want my husband to let go with me. I will move on and heal with you loving me like this. They are out of our lives.Right?”
He doesn’t respond, and that’s all I need to tell me my suspicions are right.
“Nico, what did they do?”
“Nothing.” He turns stone-cold, and I shake my head.
“No, you don’t get to do that. You don’t get to shut me out,especiallywhen it comes to my family.”
“You just said it yourself. You let them go, and they aren’t family anymore, so don’t worry about it, Emelia.”
He could have slapped me and I wouldn’t have winced as hard.“No, you don’t get to do that either. You don’t get to hurt me with my own words and turn them on me. I am your wife and partner. You tell me. Is my father doing something to our outfit?”
He turns his head and rubs his lips with his hands. He is debating telling me something.
“Nico. Tell me!”
“Yes! I know your fucking father is the one who stole my shipment and tried to have us killed on our fucking honeymoon!” he yells and removes me from him before standing and climbing out of the tub.
“What? Nico!” I call after him when the shock wears off, and I see him leaving the bathroom hastily. Climbing out, my brain is filled with questions, concern, and downright shock.
“Nico!” He is half dressed with his jeans on as he grabs his shirt. I hold the towel to me and breathe heavily.“Nico, what are you talking about?”
He doesn’t stop and keeps getting dressed. He reaches for the door handle, and I yell.
“If you open that damn door without speaking to me, I will leave you. I will leave this marriage.”
He turns fast and is on me in a heartbeat. His hands wrap around my neck, and he pushes me into the wall.“Don’t you ever threaten to leave me, Emelia. You are mine, and I would hunt you down to the ends of this fucking earth if you ever tried to hide.”
He isn’t hurting me, but I see the spiral. He doesn’t know what to do, and I know I have what it takes to settle him.
“Then talk to me. I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me. Please,” I plead, my voice a whimper at the end.
“Get dressed and meet me in my office. It’s downstairs and down the hall to the left. I will tell you what I know.”
“Okay.” He lets me go, and I watch him leave, his entire body tense. I dress fast after I find my suitcase in the closet. I put on some yoga pants, an off-shoulder white tee, and some fluffy socks because my feet are freezing. The second I'm clothed, I all but run to find his office. It takes me a moment, but when I do, he is sitting in his chair. Giulio is there, sitting on the couch against the wall opposite the desk. I give him a nod before stepping up to Nico’s desk.
“I am only letting you in on this information because this is your family, but you will not get involved with business going forward. Is that understood, Emelia?” My mafia husband is back. The lover I had moments ago is now gone.
