Page 75 of Salvatore

Shit.

We sit in a quiet booth away from the noise of the main dining area. But when the waiter spouts the special and leaves to put in our drink order, she places her menu down and reaches for my hand. “Don’t be angry, love,” she says.

My thumb swirls over her knuckles. “I’m not mad at you,” I say. “That doesn’t mean I like how you’re being treated.”

“It’s no one’s fault,” she says. “Not really.”

I’m ready to argue, but as the candlelight shimmers against Aedry’s deep blue eyes, my anger rights itself and only she remains. Her day sucked. That doesn’t mean her night has to.

Something in my features causes her to smile. She slides closer, leaning her shoulder against me. “I love you,” she whispers.

My chest tightens in that way it always does when she speaks those words. She doesn’t tell me she loves me much, but every time, it causes me more pain than pleasure. Maybe she guesses as much, which is why she limits how often she says it. I wish she didn’t have to, just like I wish I could say it in return. I feel it. I know it’s real. But if I tell her, I’ll never be able to let her go. Even though one day I may have to, just to keep her safe.

The knowledge that I may one day leave her drives a chisel through my heart. But I can’t think that way, not tonight. Tonight, she’s still mine.

I rummage through my pocket and place the velvet box in front of her. She lifts her head. “What’s this?”

“Your present.”

“I thought dinner was my present.” She laughs. “That and the tiny piece of fabric you called a negligee.”

“You called it a negligee,” I remind her. “I call it something small enough to snap off with my teeth.”

The waiter returns with our drinks. I put in an order for shrimp cocktails and crab cakes, knowing both are Aedry’s favorite. “You know me so well,” she says.

“We’ll see,” I tell her, motioning to the box.

She waits for the waiter to disappear before carefully lifting the velvet case. But when she opens the lid, all she does is stare, her eyes widening in her shock.

She glances from the box, to me, back to the box. “Salvatore . . . this is too much.”

I kiss her head. “Not for you.”

The way her face lights up, I regret not getting her that ring?the platinum one with a two carat square cut diamond in the center with another carat of diamonds surrounding it in an antique setting. She would have loved it and maybe even would have said yes.

“Thank you,” she says, kissing my cheek.

“It’s just a bracelet,” I tell her.

“I mean for being so good to me,” she whispers.

Her comment gives me the barest pause. Damn, I love her so much, it sometimes hurts. But tonight, that pain is even more severe.

“Will you help me put it on?” she asks, sparing me from having to say something more.

She carefully lifts the bracelet and places it in my hand like she’s afraid to break it. I clasp it around her wrist, lifting her hand to kiss it. “You like it?”

“It’s stunning,” she answers, mesmerized by how the row of diamonds and sapphires sparkle in the candlelight.

Dinner is good, even better than I expected, but mostly because of the company. My woman is happy, smiling, making me forget everything that’s wrong with my life until I catch sight of Vin and Donnie on our way out.

I clutch Aedry against me, trying to shield her more by instinct. Son of bitch. What is he doing on this side of town?

If we weren’t walking straight toward them, I’d edge us back to the bar and try to give them the slip. But he’s already seen me and so have the two men watching his back.

I force a smile and keep going. “Hey, Sal,” he says, grinning like an old pal. He leaves his men behind. Donnie stays glued to his side, pretending she’s not high and that this isn’t the first time in weeks that Vin’s done more than fuck her.

I see right through her and him. I don’t like it, and I don’t like the way his attention drifts toward Aedry.

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