Page 92 of Diavolo

He was Alessio. Her charming, attentive, doting lover, who often promised her everything under the sun and the moon and the stars and made her believe that, maybe, just maybe, he might deliver on his impossible vows.

He was also Alessandro Vitale, the nextcapoof the Vitale clan who would need to oversee an underground empire worth billions of dollars. There had already been two attempts on his life.That she knew of. The road ahead was going to be a dangerous one.

If her husband failed in securing his throne, it was likely that they would both die.

21

Alessandro's kiss lingered onElyse's lips as their bodies lay entwined in bed. His words lingered as well. So many jagged truths had passed between them. Such realities set the framework for Elyse's thoughts to tilt askew. What would become of her in the mafia?

As the seconds slipped by, her initial shock and horror over Alessandro's confessions dwindled slightly. An unexpected calm fell over her. At least, now, Elyse knew where she stood with her new husband and where he stood with her. She saw him more transparently. She didn't condone his methods or his actions or his killings, but she understood thewhybehind them. Clarity was heartbreaking, but it was also freeing in a way. It broke down the pretenses between them. Alessandro's voice lured Elyse from her rabbit hole of contemplation. "Cuore mio?"

She blinked as her focus snapped back to their wedding night. "Yes?"

"I have ahypotheticalquestion for you." He paused for a moment before continuing, "What would it take to convince you to stay with me?"

Elyse glanced over to him with wide eyes. "Why are you asking?"

She hadn't expected him to ask her this at all. Alessandro continued, "You said you wished to disappear once our agreement has been fulfilled, but what if I want to negotiate with you? In hopes of changing your mind?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly.

With his gaze boring into her, Alessandro pressed again, "Tell me what you want. Hypothetically, of course. If you had the freedom to choose."

A furrow marred her brow. "I guess, if I had a choice, I wouldn't want anything to do with the mafia. I'd run as far as possible. To live a normal, quiet life."

"Is that what you desire most?"

She replied with only a few specks of uncertainty, "I believe so."

Alessandro appeared to be lost in thought. He merely grunted in acknowledgment. Elyse studied him with unease. "Alessio?"

His attention flitted back to her. "Hmm?"

"Why do I get the feeling that you're up to something?"

Much too casually, he rolled on top of her and started raining sweet, soft kisses all over her face. "You are too suspicious, wife."

Elyse surrendered to him with a sigh. "I'm always suspicious around you."

Alessandro's head lifted from her face. He gazed down at her with a surprisingly somber expression. "Would you stay with me if I was not a Vitale? What if I was simply your Alessio?"

Again, the subtext in his question floored Elyse. "This is all hypothetical, right?"

He nodded. "Of course."

Elyse frowned thoughtfully. Would she want him? If he wasn't in the mafia? If he was simply—hers?The response that bubbledout was instant. It stunned Elyse at how quickly she found her answer, "Yes."

Pure joy shone from his face. "Yes?"

She confirmed, "Yes."

In halting tones, Alessandro asked, "Do you think you could, hypothetically, come to love your Alessio?"

Her eyes softened. "Yes."

A ghost of a smile crept across his handsome face. He murmured in cryptic tones, "Then I understand what must be done."

Elyse's hands reached over to frame his face as her eyes searched him determinedly. "What are you talking about?"

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