Page 88 of Cardinal

"Luciano, I swear, you better have those papers shredded and burned to ashes." It was hard to tell if she was joking or not with the mixed glare in her eyes.

"Don't worry," I assured her with a kiss on the forehead. "Those papers will be shredded and burned to ashes."

Shame, it would have been nice to officially call her my wife.

Toning everything back to a calm and serious mood, I pressed her, "But tell me more. Let me know your thoughts and feelings about everything." It was important to debrief and decompress after such an intense scene, especially given that this was something huge for Juliet.

"I mean, I can't believe you had a loaded gun on me and that you shot at me." She grumbled, clearly displeased at the fact. "But I'm not gonna lie, the thrill and excitement of the adrenaline rush was unexpected and nice."

I didn't tell her, and I probably won't right now, but the gun was loaded with blanks.

Leaning up on her arms, Juliet pressed my arm against the bed flat open and laid her head on it like a pillow. "I liked it more than I thought, and it was so much more amazing than what I imagined." Seeing the uncontrolled smile spread on her face caused my own lips to curl happily. "I really can't explain it, this immense happiness and freedom. It's like having a breath of fresh air after being cooped up in a dank basement. And, it probably sounds weird, but I feel like I'm in control again, that my life is actually my own again."

Tears glistened in her eyes as she reached a hand out and placed it against my cheek. "You gave me a part of myself back, the part I thought died that day at the stupid lounge. Gave me back my firsts, let me have my firsts with someone I trust, someone I wanted." A few tears streaked down her cheeks with her blinking. "Thank you for doing this for me, for agreeing. I really can't put into words how grateful I am."

Words weren't needed with how stupid her kiss made me. The moment her lips touched and pressed harder into mine, my mind completely went blank. "I love you so much." She cried happily against me.

"Oh, amorina." I should be on my knees kissing her feet and thanking her for trusting and allowing me to help her act out the fantasy.

As I studied her closely, I couldn't help but frown when I noticed the slight bruising on her cheeks, hips, and inner thighs. I didn't get much of a chance to fret over her body fully; the feeling of her soft hand over mine to redirect it to her face stopped my roaming. "Darling, stop. I can see the gears turning in your head and the steam coming out of your ears." A strained chuckle left her teasing grin. "I am fine, promise. None of it hurts, not now, not then. If things got too much then I would have used the safe-word. I loved every second of what we did, and I loved everything you did to me."

My words became muffled by Juliet's mouth before they could be fully formed. "No more worrying about me. I am perfectly fine and happy." She assured me with a confident smile. "How about you? How are you feeling?" Now, it was her turn to look at me with worry.

"I don't like to admit it, but it was better than I thought. It took me a bit to get out of my own head, but once I got myself in the zone, I found myself enjoying it more than I thought I would." Yet, I couldn't help but feel a little guilty for indulging in the scene as much as I did.

Juliet looked at me with understanding eyes as she stroked the back of my hand with her thumb. "I know how you feel, and it's the same for me." She sympathized.

Peaceful silence washed over us like a calm wave as we lay there looking at each other adoring. Then, Juliet's demeanor changed with a bite of her lip as she leaned up over me, pushing me flat on the bed with a hand to my chest. "Did you enjoy it enough to possibly do it again?" She asked in a suggestive tone and seductive glimmer to her eyes.

Of all the things to come out of her mouth right now, that was probably the last thing on my list of possibilities for tonight. The curveball she threw me sent my mind for a spin, and it took me a minute to reset myself to reply to her after fully processing her question. "I might pull a knife on you next time." I half-joked with a smile of disbelief.

"Don't give me more ideas, dear husband." Juliet teased me back with a soft chuckle, pecking a kiss on my lips. "I might start to wonder if my brutish mafia husband might come back one night all bloody and high on bloodlust and demand some relief from his poor, helpless wife. And when I don't want to, maybe he gets a little forceful, the whole 'I take what I want when I want' bullshit, and cuts my clothes off with his knife, runs it against my body, holds it against me, maybe nick me a little to show he means business."

"Oh, I'm the one giving you ideas?" I shot back with a playful laugh, digging my fingers into her sides softly to tickle a few laughs out of her. "We are going to have to have another long talk about our limits again before we engage in any more role-playing and fantasies." It was obvious tonight tapped into a side neither of us was aware we had, so we had to reword our list with each other and establish new boundaries.

"That's a tomorrow problem. Right now, sleep." Juliet giggled, poking my nose.

"And maybe have your lawyer hold off on getting rid of those papers."

Chapter 43

Juliet

~2 weeks later~

"Please don't tell me you're pregnant or something." Gale half-joked with a worried chuckle.

Rolling my eyes, I scoffed and threw the wrapper of my straw at him. "No, what on earth makes you think that to be the news I'm cracking to you? I mean, I know I gained a few pounds, but come on." Unconsciously, I moved my arm over my pudgy little stomach.

It was still a little hard for me to love my curvy little body sometimes because I was so used to being skinny, and I was still self-conscious about it all. It was a strange love-and-hate relationship with my own body, right now. Yeah, I was 'average' and healthy now, filled out as I should have, and I did love the way I looked most of the time. I just didn't like the stares and whispers from people on the street or from my peers who were used to how I looked before.

"Hey, I didn't mean it like that, so don't go down that route. If I'm being honest, you look so much hotter a little curvy than you did skinny." At least I could always count on Gale and Luciano to pull me in the right direction.

"Don't let Luciano hear you say that now." I half-joked with a chuckle.

"Well, he's not here to hype you up and push away those icky thoughts of yours, so he can suck it." It was adorable how Gale tried to act a little tough with his unsure voice. "But uhh maybe don't let him know? Please?"

Laughing softly, I waved my hand at Gale. "Oh please, if he went after you, then I would divorce his ass so fast. Besides, he should know better than to mess with those close to me." The last time he was a jerk to Gale, he found his accounts locked for two days.

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