Page 90 of Princess of the Mafia

My voice was tight, and the words came off more gruff than I wanted. “I think someone loves me.”

She jerked her head in a violent ‘no.’

“Sì,” I whispered.

“You, then.” she muttered, and the hesitancy of her words sent a warmth through me.

I grabbed her neck and forced her eyes on me. My hand wrapped around it in a gentle choke. “Both of us.”

A hot breath fell on my face. “Maybe. But I wouldn’t let it get to your big fat ego.”

My face stretched in one big stupid grin.

She frowned. “If you cheat on me, I’m still kicking you out.”

“Of course.”

“No man will ever degrade me. You understand?” she bit out.

My thumb grazed the length of her throat. “I wouldn’t allow it. Even if that man was me.”

“I’m still going to uni.”

I nodded.

“We’re not having a child now.”

I nodded again. There was so much adrenaline in my veins that I didn’t give a damn. I just wanted her.

DARIA

“I might never want a child.”

He nodded again. Clearly, he’d lost his common sense. Or he wasn’t listening. “I also want a threesome.” And the hand around me choked.

“No fucking way,” he growled.

I laughed. “Just checking if you are listening.”

“I am.” He traced the line of my bottom lip. “Thank you.”

His gruff words washed over me like a fresh blanket. Unusual but warm in its comfort.

“For what?”

But I knew what was going to come out of his mouth. But it still hits me hard in the hollow behind my rib cage. “For trusting me, for giving me the benefit of the doubt. I know it’s hard.”

He made me choke up. He made me well up in tears. He understood me. “You trust me too.” He let me defy my upbringing, even if he might not have agreed with it. He let me go out into the world, even if it was hard on him.

“Yeah? We’ll work on it together.”

I nodded.

I couldn’t judge him like every other man. I had to give him the chance to be himself and take the risk with my heart. One day, he might cheat on me, just like one day, he might meet with an accident or get himself killed. There was no certainty, but it was worth giving it a chance. Not that there was any choice in it for me. My heart’s decision was already made. I knew it the moment I hesitated to run from that bench in the park. The moment my hackles rose to protect him. The moment I stepped up to the cooker to please him.

I had wanted a different marriage. A different man. Not the one in front of me. I had wanted everything a nice boy had to offer, but my heart yearned for the callous words and the rough manners of the man in front of me. I needed him more than my next breath. This marriage would differ from others. Because he needed me, too. I couldn’t really grasp what love was. But this sounded like it to me.

EPILOGUE

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