Page 100 of Capuleto

"You're crazy!" his father yelled.

"I love her!" he confessed. "I wanted her to be married to me for that reason and not because of a damn agreement she signed with you," he attacked his father.

"What I've been saying, she's got him by the cazzo[6]" added Salvatore.

"Shut up, asshole, or the next time we meet you might not live to tell about it." His cousin looked at him with malice.

"Calm down, boys! You both are hot-blooded, remember your family, and you don't betray or kill family unless it's strictly necessary," intervened Don Giuliano.

I needed to offer something in exchange for putting my husband's head on the block.

"I love him too," I conceded in front of everyone, "that's why I didn’t sign. I haven’t had the chance to have this conversation with him alone, but I'm not going to sign the divorce, even though the papers are signed by him and are in a folder in my possession."

Romeo's eyes filled with surprise, satisfaction, and determination.

I hadn't told him I loved him, though I had known it for a while. I was up to my neck in shit with my brother involved and it wasn't clear if the turn I was planning to take would lead to a safe harbor.

R stood up, took my hand, and kissed it.

"If you've finished spouting nonsense about my wife, I would appreciate if you started making your apologies. As Nikita has told you, she has nothing to do with the reselling of Mentium or the attack, and I believe her.

"You would do well to focus your attention where it belongs and join efforts in the right direction. Maybe, San Juan isn’t as good at his job as we thought and we should replace him with someone much more competent.

"If you'll excuse us, we're leaving, I have many things to do, among them, finding the real culprits and a son to look after, have a good day."

We left, I with a knot in my stomach and hearing Salvatore mutter under his breath, "He's digging our grave and I'm not going to let him drag us down."

I just hoped that Andrey would bring me something to hold onto before I took a leap toward my own demise.

39

Do you love me?

I left my dad's house just as angry as I was happy. A contradiction, I know.

But when the woman you love is accused of betrayal unexpectedly by your own family, a visceral hatred engulfs you that pushes you to annihilate them all for questioning her. If that's not love, then I don't know what is.

I understood that, until recently, she was our enemy, that they could feel wary, even consider what they had suggested in private, but never to throw it like a glove to my wife's face without alerting me that what they intended was an open trial and that they had almost passed sentence.

Nikita had done nothing to be put in such an unpleasant situation, quite the opposite. She stayed by my side, from the beginning, even though she didn't agree with many things. Gradually, we grew accustomed to each other, forging our own pacts of trust. Like any agreement, we modified the clauses, resolved the misunderstandings that had arisen to date, and now that things were getting on track between us, my family started to mistrust, just when she was my wife and our relationship was gaining strength.

It pissed me off to see her cornered, having to claw out because they felt like it. Well, I wasn't going to do the same, I was going to show them that they were wrong and that the real culprit was still at large.

As soon as we reached the outer wall, I pressed my wife's back against it. She let out a cry of surprise and her breath bounced against the exposed skin of my neck.

An "o," born of surprise, formed on her perfect lips as my knee settled between hers. I took her by the chin.

"Repeat it to me," I asked, heatedly.

I had longed for the admission of her feelings in my dreams. To hear the words that I so desired and that she had been forced to declare in the office, in front of my family.

"Do you want me to repeat everything I said in there? Is it about what I told your family about the divorce? I'm sorry, I felt cornered, I needed to clarify that I'm not what they think I am." I offered her a sweet smile and a caress on her cheek.

I admit that the thing about the papers was a sting, but fortunately, it relieved me to hear the motivation that had led my wife not to sign.

"No, amore, I just want the part where you admit that you love me and are dying for my bones," I joked.

Her clouded pupils sparked into a bright green. Her cheeks flushed, and I suddenly had a crazy desire to show those full lips that all her kisses belonged to me.

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