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"I have business here, and you need to mind your own."
"So it doesn't bother you what—sorry,whohe's off doing?"
Giulia crosses her arms, only slightly more frazzled as I press against the door again. "God, stop talking. I don’t care whatever or whoever he does because we're not married yet. Now get out of here before I—"
"So you don’t care, at all, who he sticks right now, huh? Don’t wish it was you? Guess the pretentious asshole must not be that good in bed, then," I bait.
"I wouldn't know; I've never slept with him," she snaps, distracted with trying to shove me back out the door.
But she just confirmed it for me. Confirmed everything. My heart skips a beat, and I stop fighting to get into the room and wait until she looks at me, huffing with irritation until I speak.
"So it is mine," I whisper through the emotion clouding my throat.
Her reaction would have told me everything if it wasn't already confirmed. Giulia goes pale and jerks back, and one hand darts to her stomach while her eyes widen.
"What?" she breathes. "N—no. Roberto, it's…I didn't—I'm not—"
I take advantage of her shock and push into the room, shutting the door behind me before I pull her into my arms. She's shaking a little, and I might be, too. God, it feels so right to hold her.
We stay there just like that for a moment, and then she pushes against me. My chest twinges when I see that she's fighting tears again. "No. You can't be here, and we can't be together. Whatever you think—"
"I don’t think, Giulia, Iknow. I know you're pregnant," I murmur, kissing her forehead. "And I know it's mine. And I know I'm fucking over the moon right now, myBellissima."
I don’t add that I know exactly why she ran. She must be terrified of more violence breaking out in the families if they were to find out. They might've even threatened her and our baby.
That thought steels something in me I've never felt before. Something protective and so fierce it almost hurts.
Nothing is going to hurt her or our kid—fuckingnothing. No matter what, I'm keeping them safe.
Starting with getting this new reputation for the mafia up and running. I was on board with usingVitalento change things and give my family a new name before, but now, I will do whatever it takes to transform how the mafia operates.
I want the best for our baby—a secure future utterly different from how Giulia and I were raised. No bloody feuds, fistfights, or fear that their tie to the mafia will get them killed. Just a beautiful future, and I want it with Giulia.
She's staring up at me, clearly torn, despite how her hands grip my arms. She wants to pull me closer but isn't letting herself. She still fights her feelings but choked, "You are?"
It's her fault for being so damn tempting, and I can't help leaning down to brush my lips against hers in a sweet, slow kiss. When she reciprocates, I tighten my arms around her. When it finally ends, we rest our foreheads together, and I realize she's not the only one with moisture trying to escape her eyes.
"Of course I am you brilliant, beautiful, fucking stubborn Russo," I chuckle. "God, with your looks and my charm, this kid will rule the world one day, huh?"
Giulia lets out an unexpected huff of a laugh that sounds a lot like a sob. "More like with your flair for getting into trouble and my ice queen tendencies, it will start a world war."
I grin and kiss her nose and then her cheeks. She must not be wearing a bra under this because I start to harden at the feel of her nipples peeking under her thin shirt. She tips her face back until she can study my eyes, and I see her uncertainty mingled with hope, all with that beautiful openness we had the night we decided to keep our relationship a secret.
"Everything just feels so volatile right now," she says quietly. "Mandi knows, but no one can know about this. It would just ruin everything we've been working towards, and I didn't tell you because—"
"I know why. I acted like a reckless jackass with the whole Dante Parisi thing, and I'm sorry about that. But from now on, don’t run away from this. From us," I plead, tracing her face with my fingertips.
"I was worried it would be a mistake."
I pause. "Our baby?"
She looks at me sharply. "No. Just…I left because I refused to let anything happen to the baby, and I wasn't sure where you wanted everything with us to go in the future. I thought…you might reject us if you knew. The baby and I."
I blink and shake my head. "God, cutie. Why do you think I proposed to you to spend more time together? Why do you think I voted for you to be the Russo representative in the first place? I was fuckingdesperatefor a future with you, Giulia. I figured the best way to get there was by keeping you close and passing it off as helpful for the assignment until I could get your attention and make you mine."
She swallows, and her fingers leave heat trails up my arms before her hand clasp behind my neck. She tips her head and clears her throat. "I—I see. So it wasn't just so you wouldn't get bored? To keep you out of trouble?"
"Hell, no. I love trouble."
