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“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
"You know exactly what it means. You decided to get in bed with this woman. She could end you. She could do major damage to our family. Bring her. Test her."
I step toward him. "I don't take orders from you, asshole."
Adriano steps toward me. "Maybe you should take orders from fucking somebody.”
I hit him before I realize what I'm doing. My knuckles graze his cheekbone, the punch satisfying as hell. He's taken off guard and stumbles backward but comes up swinging.
I deck him again, but he gets me with a jab, winding me.
I hit him again, and again, and it feels good to finally hit somebody. I've been holding all this back. Adriano rears back and comes at me full force, knocking me off my feet. I land in a pile of hay and he’s on top of me.
"We can't fight," he says. "You know it, and I know it."
He strokes his cheek where I struck him. “Jesus, you got me good."
“I feel better, though. And you were being an asshole. Now get off me before we have a fucking bromance here and have something else to explain to Sergio.”
He gets off me, shaking his head. "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn’t question you. There’s a lot at risk here, Ricco."
"Listen, I fucking know it. Now go. Leave us. I'll see you tonight."
I walk to the house, to find Dani sitting on the front stoop. She's wearing a little summer dress, her hair freshly washed.
"How fast do you shower?"
"Record time," she says. "Though I have to admit my shower was cut a little short because I couldn't really figure out the hot water. You haven’t left yet?”
"Meeting got postponed."
Her eyes light up. She looks like I just told her it’s Christmas Day.
"I'm taking you to a family dinner tonight. But before then? We have the day to ourselves. Just me and you."
I hate the idea of anybody in my family testing her. But I know that for us to have any future together at all, she has to pass that test. Before then, though, we can enjoy some time together.
"Hey, did you guys get in a fight?" She stares at me blankly. "Like, hitting each other?"
I wipe at my jaw. "Yeah, it was stupid."
"Why?” When I don’t answer her, her face falls. "It's because of me," she says, in a little voice that breaks my heart. "Because I don’t belong here.”
"It's more than that, Dani," I sigh.
"Wait," she says with a smile. "Do you mean to tell me that someone got into a fight over me?"
“You’re unbelievable.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
TO PASS THE TEST
Dani
“Yeah, babe. Someone got in a fight over you.” Ricco shakes his head.
“Honestly, you guys should know better than that,” I say, standing and reaching for him. “Let me see you. Come here.”
I muse to myself, with more than a little delight, about the fact that no one’s ever fought over me before.
I’m still all trembly and relaxed after our barn session this morning but refreshed after a shower. I’m kind of impressed he actually fought, like fought another man, over me.
I reach for his cheek and brush it with my thumb. “It’s a bruise, alright,” I confirm. His breath moves a wisp of hair across my lips, and I blow it out of my way with a laugh. “You men are all the same. Overgrown children, the lot of you.”
I’ve battled my need to get over my distrust of men after Nick’s betrayal and infidelity, and I’m not sure Ricco getting into a fistfight with his fellow mafia brother helps the situation. The real problem, though, is that I fear for him. I don’t know what’s caused him to want to fight for me. I don’t know what he faces in his line of work.
I want to know, though, because the closer I get to Ricco, the more I want him. The more I want him to want me.
Ricco shrugs, stepping closer and resting his hands on my waist. “You gonna doctor me up?”
I trace his hairline with the tip of my finger, as if looking for injuries. “You need doctoring up?” I swallow when he leans down and brushes his lips across my collarbone. A shiver of pleasure cascades down my spine.
“I do,” he whispers in my ear. “You have what can cure me, woman?”
“I thought I already gave you what could cure you in that barn,” I say, as the back door swings open.
“There’s a beach!”
I turn to face Emmy, and Ricco steps away, but his hand lingers on the small of my back.
“Emmy, we have beaches at home,” I say with a laugh. “It’s not like that’s anything new.”
“Mama,” Emmy says, her little hands on her hips and her eyes wide and bright. “I wanna go!”
Ricco shrugs. “Two preschoolers and an American tourist on an Italian beach in the heat of the day. What could go wrong?”
