Page 20 of Sin and Redemption

I sank down on the armchair beside hers.

Her sisters quickly perched on the sofa, looking excited.

“Inessa, Alea,” Liliana said sternly. “I’m sure Sara and Maximus want some privacy.” She looked at us. I looked at Sara. That was her decision, not mine.

Sara gave a slight nod.

“We’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything,” Liliana said.

“But, Mom, we want to get to know the man Sara marries!” the older one complained, pouting.

Liliana’s stern expression didn’t change her petulant attitude.

“Inessa,” Sara said in a voice that reminded me of my mother’s when she’d given Primo and me a lecture as children. “You’ll have enough time to get to know him. Now you need to leave.”

Inessa stood with a deep sigh, then they all disappeared. Sara would be a good mother if she could ever get over the fact that the kid was mine.

Silence cloaked the room, and I had to resist the urge to open the top buttons of my shirt because it felt like the thing was trying to strangle me.

“Listen,” I began in a quiet voice. The natural roughness and depth of my voice attracted many women, but it also carried an air of dominance and brutality, so I tried to soften it for Sara’s benefit. “I’m not like that, like what happened. You don’t have to worry. You’re safe.”

Sara’s face turned red, and she avoided my eyes. “I know. We don’t need to talk about what happened. It’s over.”

Her voice was clipped. I nodded. Fuck, I had absolutely no wish to talk about it, but I just wanted to reassure her. She would never have reason to fear me, even if she probably did after what happened.

She cleared her throat, and so did I.

“You—” she began.

“I—” I shut up.

She motioned for me to go on.

“I came here to talk about our future home with you.” I needed a bit more time to gather my courage to give her the ring. I wasn’t sure why I was acting like a goddamn pussy around Sara. That wasn’t me.

She looked at me. “You live with your parents, right?”

“Yes, I do.”

“I’m sorry you’ll have to move out because of me.”

I frowned. “You’ll have to move out of your parents’ house too.”

“I know, but I had plenty of time to prepare. This wedding was set a long time ago. But this is new for you.”

“I’ll be fine. The way to work is too long anyway. A city apartment will be better.”

“Oh, sure. You don’t want a house?”

“To be honest, I don’t think there’s enough time to find a house. Less than six weeks is not much time unless you’re ready to spend thirty million, which I would do if I had it.”

She gave me a small, understanding smile. “It’s not much time, yes. So you think it’s enough time to find an apartment?”

“I know a few Famiglia apartments are on the market, so I was thinking we could take one of them for now. We can still find a better place later. When…when the baby’s born.”

She looked down at her still flat belly and gave a small nod. “That sounds reasonable. You’re actually more reasonable than I’d expected.” Her admittance stunned me.

“Why? Why wouldn’t I be able to make reasonable decisions?”

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