Page 102 of Assassin's Obsession

"That's changed now?" I ask.

"Yes." Angelo doesn't sound like he cares either way, but knowing this is part of his job is making me seriously wonder how much of a morally gray superhero my mafia assassin is.

It never occurred to me that criminals have no access to the judicial system. Honestly, I never even thought about it. "What about divorce? I always heard that there's no divorce in the mafia."

"We won't be getting a divorce."

"See, this is exactly what I'm talking about!" My mom sounds upset again.

"I will not keep your daughter against her will," Angelo vows, even though last night he did just that.

Though if I'm honest with myself, once I got here, I didn't stay because I was forced to and he knew it. The man has studied me way too closely not to.

"Neither will I ever give her a reason to want to leave me," Angelo adds. "Candi's happiness is my priority. I will never harm her. I will always protect her and those she holds dearest."

My heart pounds in my chest with an unfamiliar emotion. It's both gratitude and an overwhelming sense of security, even stronger than anything I have known because of him. This isn't a promise to protect me while I hold his interest.

This is a vow for the future that I absolutely believe.

For the rest of his life, Angelo will be dedicated to keeping me safe and happy. I'll do the same for him. Because relationships go both ways. And as wild as it might have seemed to me yesterday, today I acknowledge Angelo Caruso and I are in a relationship.

One I didn't know about for almost a year and that's still weird, but a relationship all the same.

Is that love? I don't know.

It's definitely obsession but it's an obsession that will keep me safe and has the potential to make us both genuinely happy. I don't see the downside.

"So, if she wants you to quit killing people will you?" mom asks.

My heart squeezes in my chest because I don't know if I want the answer to that question. Worse, unlike what my mom clearly believes, I'm not sure I would ever ask my assassin to stop being one.

Angelo directs his answer to me, a flicker of apology in his gray eyes. "There's no quitting your job in the mafia."

"Mafia men retire," my mom counters.

"Do they?" Angelo asks.

"Considering you'd know the answer to that better than we would," I say wryly. "My guess is no."

And I'm not nearly as bothered by that as I probably should be. The look mom is giving me says she knows it.

My stomach sours at the thought of disappointing her, but we've never lived in a perfect world. Why can't we live in a safe one? One where I'm happy with a man who fascinates me in every way.

"To answer your initial question in relation to other married couples within the Cosa Nostra. If the legal risk tola famigliais too great, the divorce cannot happen, but the don can and has ordered a separation."

"What does that entail?" I'm not thinking about me, but my friend Bianca, who married a capo in the mafia in August.

"That's case by case."

"Give me an example," I press.

"When we were kids, one of the capo's wives petitioned the don for a divorce. Her husband had shared too much about the business with her for divorce, but the don ordered the capoto provide financial support for her and their children to live without him outside the city."

"And she was okay with that?"

Angelo shrugs. "If you are raised in the life, you know that once you become part of the mafia through marriage or getting made, the only way out is death."

"You said you'll protect the people I hold dearest."

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