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Stefano exhaled, a curl of smoke escaping his nose. “Cirillo has an idea, but I don’t know. I’d say he’s off the mark, but Valentino is fortifying his soldiers. If he’s expecting a war, we need to prepare as well. Cirillo is redistributing our forces.”
Ant sat next to Stefano, and Orlando sat across from me. Emilio and Carmine leaned back in their chairs, listening as we talked family business. Anna kept Savio entertained while Giada and Francesca soaked in the late afternoon sun.
My fiancée was noticeably absent. When she was out of my sight, a twist of uneasiness knotted in my gut. I could blame it on her treachery, but this possessiveness had started with the first challenge.
There was no way she’d admit defeat. She held his name, and this refusal to obey my orders was open defiance. I had to know what she was doing.
“Valantino knows to expect retaliation if the Adami family crosses you again,” Ant said.
“Should we be here if our fight is back home?” Carmine ran his fingertip along the rim of his glass.
“This is home,” Emilio said.
I sat straighter but couldn’t keep my attention off the doorway into the sunroom. Allegra had spent the afternoon in the bedroom. Because of Francesca. I hadn’t anticipated the vitriolic surge of emotions. I wanted Allegra to hurt because I wanted her on her knees begging my forgiveness. While she was begging forgiveness, she could wrap those lying lips around my dick.
But I also wanted the fire, the challenge, I wanted her to fucking fight me. I wanted to taste her tears when she finally realized her need to make me bleed ran as deep as my need to make her kneel.
As if she were hosting the alfresco lunch, Francesca’s bubbly laugh reached into me and twisted. She sipped Bruno wine and nibbled on cheeses, fruits, and olives from the charcuterie board in the center of the table. I’d done this, allowed them to see the physical distance between me and Allegra.
But the emotional distance had felt like a blow to my gut. I’d spoken to Francesca, but not my fiancée. I couldn’t hear her voice without the poisonous memory of her speaking to the man putting a wedge between us.
“What of the marker?” I asked.
Stefano shook his head. “I don’t know. Cirillo thinks Lazaro had a secret alliance with another family. They called for the hit on the Bruno’s. Cirillo’s guess is that the hit was more about you. Marco, if it was, you could be a target.”
I furrowed my brows. “What do they get out of it? We’re not at war with any families in the homeland. Our only enemy is here with the fucking Irish for killing Luca and attempting to seduce my fucking wife.”
“He may have wanted her, but it’s not like she fucked him,” Emilio said. “Don’t shoot the messenger. The situation is still shit, but—” He sat back in his chair. “I’m just saying, I retrieved the information off the cloud for her phone. Nothing about the Irish was ever said. No photos.”
The table grew quiet. I growled and raked my fingers through my hair. If there was no intimate connection, she would have given me his name. She wouldn’t threaten to die for him. I couldn’t promise she wouldn’t if I discovered her with him again.
“Marco,” Anna said and stood.
“Stay out of it, Anna.”
“How can I when Francesca sits at your table while your fiancée sits alone in the house?” She grabbed Savio’s hand. “Let’s go get your tablet for games.” Her gaze narrowed on me. “Allegra will be my sister tomorrow. In case I wasn’t clear, you’re an ass.”
“I agree with Anna. You’re an ass,” Stefano said. “If you don’t want Allegra, I’ll take her. Giada’s a cunt. Wait, we were talking about you.” He pointed his cigarette at Francesca. “It’s hard to tell you two apart.”
Giada lifted her sunglasses. “Fuck you, Stef.”
“You keep offering, and I keep telling you no.” He chuckled and stubbed out his cigarette. “You wouldn’t survive a night in my bed.”
“Is that a threat? We’re both skilled at killing…and fucking.”
“Cazzo! I’ll send you all back. Tomorrow changes everything.” I tipped my glass of wine to my lips. “My relationship will no longer be up for speculation. Allegra and I will marry.”
“I doubt your wife is going to warm your bed after you’ve had dinner with your mistress.”
I ignored Stefano, my attention riveted to the woman striding across the patio. Timoteo walked beside her. I searched for imperfections, a reason he’d taken eighteen minutes to bring her to the patio.
Francesca tapped her nails against the table. She would understand now why I had desire for only one woman in my bed. With a slow stretch, my cock remembered how it felt to sink into Allegra’s warm, wet center. My memory stripped the thin fabric of her dress, imagining the soft swell and sway of her breasts.
Sunshine kissed the slope of her shoulders. Stefano stood, leaned into her, whispered, and offered her the chair next to me.
“I’m sure.” She tipped her head, smiled, and a blush tinted her cheeks.
I glowered at Stefano. “Something you’d like to share.”
