Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74035 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74035 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Dario grumbles and frowns, and if I didn’t know any better, I think if I were Romeo I’d be taking an involuntary step back for cover, but Dario respects him.
“Got it,” he says. “Will do.”
“Wait outside for us, will you, Dario? It will only be a minute.”
Dario nods as the room vacates. Soon, it’s only me and Romeo left.
“Have a seat, little cousin,” Romeo says with a soft smile. He looks older than the last time I saw him, his hair graying around his temples and his face lined with the weight of responsibility. I do as he says and sit. Though both Sergio and Romeo are heads of their respective groups, I know that Romeo is more powerful. He has a much larger family to lead, and the majority of the men in his family are married with children, which gives him a decided advantage.
Romeo strokes his chin while he looks thoughtfully at the wall behind me. “Are you alright, Vivia?” he asks. “You’ve gone straight from a traumatic experience to being wed. And even though that was bound to happen, and the only smart choice next is for us to join the Montavios and Rossis this way, I want to check on you.”
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Am I okay? I can’t remember the last time anyone asked me that. “I don’t really know how to answer that.” He doesn’t push me or ask any more questions but has the decency to let me think before I speak. “I… it was hard. Running. Learning what I did about Gray. Somehow, I think I knew that it wasn’t going to work out with him. That my brothers would find out.”
“But you never thought it would work out quite the way it did,” Romeo finishes.
I give a little tired laugh. “Yeah, you could say that.”
He clears his throat. “Are you pregnant?”
I shrug. “There’s a chance, but I can’t deny or confirm that yet.”
He nods again. “Fair. Things have happened rapidly, haven’t they?”
“Yeah,” I say on a sigh.
“I’m going to make you a proposition, Vivia. And there’s no need to answer right away. Given everything that’s happened, and since you’ll be married to Dario, I think you two should stay here, right at The Castle, for the next year or two. While you’ve made amends with Sergio, that might be…”
“Uncomfortable?” I finish for him.
He nods. “Tavi and his wife are often in Tuscany, as are Santo and Rosa. Vittoria and I live here primarily, and Orlando and his family are here often as well, though lately he’s been spending more time in the North End. Mama likes this castle filled with people, but as our families grow, we’ve sprouted…”
“I understand. Romeo, I’d love to live here.”
He smiles. “Excellent. And I wasn’t joking when I said you could work with Gloria. She was a police detective before she joined us, and there’s none better. She could use an assistant.”
“I’d like that.”
“Good, then it’s settled,” he says, rising. He reaches for my hands before he pulls me in to kiss both cheeks. “Welcome home, cousin.”
Dario’s waiting for me outside. I can’t wait to see him, even though I know I won’t have the comforting warmth and weight of his body next to mine tonight. I agree with Romeo, that when we finally do have the benefit of being together tomorrow, it will only be that much sweeter.
That doesn’t mean I don’t reach for his hand and allow myself to feel that sense of protection in his rough, warm touch, or that I don’t long to burrow myself against his chest and feel his arms around me, to drink in the firm strength of him and remind myself that I’m safe and secure in the shelter of his arms.
Either he longs for the same thing I do, or he knows how badly I want the assurance of his physical presence, because as soon as we’re out of the war room, he tugs my hand and leads me down the narrow hallway past the pantry, past the dining room, and into the circular library at the furthest end of the estate.
The library hosts wall upon wall of leather-bound books, plush armchairs, and a fireplace. It’s huge, with ladders that lead to shelves and thick, wall-to-wall lush carpet underfoot.
“I’m told when the Rossis were young they felt like kings and queens living in this place.”
“I think some,” I say softly, fingering the gilded edge of a book, “still do.”
I love the sound of his throaty chuckle as he pulls me to him.
“Tell me how you really feel.”
“Romeo is king of this castle, and he’s invited me to stay here. After we’ve married, he thinks it’s best we reside at The Castle for a while.”
“Mmm,” he says. “We discussed it briefly earlier and I’m in agreement.”