Page 29 of The Last Vendetta

That would only promise more worries.

And more trouble.

9

GIULIA

Giulia

“Stay out of it?” I smirked. “Too late for that.”

It felt so natural to climb onto his lap. I gravitated toward Renzo, and it made my heart sing with rare happiness that he didn’t protest, ward me off, or ask what the hell I thought I was doing, seeking his comfort. He got me. And I knew not many others would.

“What do you mean?” He furrowed his brow, rubbing his fingers back and forth on the small of my back.

We’d leapt from enemies to, well, something else, but this easygoing camaraderie, this closeness without the feral lust, was even better.

I hadn’t taken the risk to sneak into his car just to straddle him and get a hug. That was an unexpected bonus I hadn’t known I’d ask for. Nor that he’d give it so freely.

I’d come to talk about my father’s death. Hearing him suggest that Father’s passing could have been involved with a marriage arrangement for me made me pause. Narrowing my eyes, I shelved the news I had planned to tell him. “Who was my father supposed to talk about my marriage with?”

He sighed, and I worried that he’d clam up with that slight hesitation, but he didn’t. “Nickolas Romano.”

I cringed, unable to hide it.

“I know.”

“You know what?” I snapped.

“Your face said it all. Being married to him would be…”

“Hell?” I finished for him. Nickolas was a sadist, an abusive asshole, always spoiling for a fight. I rolled my eyes. “Being a woman in our world is already hell.”

He licked his lips and nodded, watching me closely. “Not many choices, are there?”

Unless I want to try to run away from it all. I’d considered it before. But now wasn’t the time to mess with wistful thoughts. “Are you implying that Nickolas could have killed my father?”

“He did just fight him at my brother’s funeral.”

“Nickolas fights people all the time,” I reminded him.

“As I left that club, I overheard him saying he could marry you and take over the Acardis.”

I dropped my head, groaning, and he hugged me close until I was flush against his chest again. Turning to rest my cheek on him, I let his heartbeat soothe my frantic mind. “My uncle is worried about the same thing. Without a patriarch, without my father, we’re vulnerable.”

He rubbed my back, nodding.

“My mother still isn’t herself either, drugged up and acting confused.”

He pushed me up to stare into my eyes. “What?”

“My mother.” I frowned. He hadn’t been surprised by the news that Father was dead. Word had spread, regardless of Mother trying to control what was said. But it seemed like no one knew she’d been drugged too. “I found her at the same time, unconscious but alive.” He let me fall against him, and soon, he rubbed my back again, calming me enough to continue. Of all places to find solace, it was in the arms of my enemy. “My whole family is practically coming apart, and Uncle Dario and I won’t be the only ones who are aware of how easy it would be to take over us all. Nickolas isn’t slow to realize it either.”

But I’d rather die than be married off to him. I curled my fingers into Renzo’s shirt, clutching him tightly.

“There’s no head of the Family anymore, and aligning with me, marrying me, would secure the end of the Acardi rule.”

Renzo sighed, shaking his head. “But why bother? The Romanos don’t need the Acardi name. You’re not their rival.”

---