Page 65 of His to Hold

“You won’t punish him for letting them take me?”

Antonio shakes his head. “No. It’s as much my fault as his.”

I swallow hard as I swivel around in my seat to face my husband. “Are you going to send me away again?”

Antonio grabs my hands. “Never again, Bella. I was an asshole tonight, but I am going to spend the rest of my life making it up to you.” He brushes the hair back from my face. His lips curl into a snarl as he sees the bruises forming there. With a tenderness I didn’t know he was capable of, he kisses me. Then he pulls back and gazes almost reverently at me. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” I lay my head on his chest and he wraps his arm around me.

“When I saw that bastard Mancini hitting you, it was the worst moment of my life.”

“I wondered if you were watching the house.”

“I was.” He kisses the top of my head. “I am so proud of you for holding your nerve, Bella. Most women wouldn’t have handled themselves as well as you did.”

Sitting up, I prod his chest. “I am not most women. I am Antonio Volante’s wife.”

“No, Bella.” He smiles softly. “You’re my queen, and I am going to worship at your feet every single day for the rest of my life.”

Laying my head back down on his chest, I sigh in satisfaction. I’m going to hold him to that.

EPILOGUE

Three weeks later

Isabella

I don’t usually lurk about in the corridor when Antonio’s in a meeting, but I am dying to know what he and Piotr Reznov are discussing. It can’t be Boris’s upcoming marriage to Ava. That’s all in hand and neither my husband nor the Russian ice prince have shown the slightest interest in the arrangements. I suspect Piotr’s come to exact his price for helping Antonio to rescue me.

As the door to the study suddenly opens, I startle.

“Mrs. Volante,” Piotr acknowledges me as he passes. The man is impossibly handsome, but his eyes are so cold I shudder.

Spooked all of a sudden, I hurry into the study and close the door behind me. Antonio is behind his desk. He hasn’t grown any more expressive in the past few weeks, but the grooves on his forehead tell me he’s not happy.

“What did he want?”

Antonio arches an eyebrow as if I have no right to ask. I think he’s going to tell me as much, but then he sighs. “Olivia.”

“What?”

“He wants to marry her to seal the relationship between the Bratva and our family.”

“But his uncle’s marrying your mom.”

“Yes, but since he stepped down, his men have been making noises about Piotr settling down. He needs a wife to win support from the old guard who want to see him married, with an heir or two.”

Antonio gets up and walks to the window. His shoulders slump as he looks out into the gardens. My heart sinks. “You said yes, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but only if he can gain her consent. I’m not prepared to force my sister into marriage. I let her down enough in the past.”

It kills Antonio that despite his efforts, he still hasn’t found the photos of Olivia that Joey Gallo tried to blackmail me with. If it wasn’t for Olivia’s confirmation they exist, I would think Joey made the whole thing up. But the pictures are out there somewhere and they won’t stay buried forever.

“But she’s in Italy.”

Although he relented on sending me away again, Antonio insisted Olivia go to Italy. He thinks being around their cousins there will help her mature a bit. Matteo accompanied her. He was supposed to see her settled and then return. For some reason, he’s chosen to stay in Tuscany for now. It’s pissing Antonio off, especially since Gio leaves for Scotland in a few weeks, when he gets the all-clear from his doctors. He pretends it’s because Matteo’s absence leaves him a man down, but really he just misses him. If he isn’t back before Gio goes, Antonio will be impossible to deal with.

“I told Reznov that. He’s going to fly out there.”

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