Page 6 of Angelo

"What youshoulddo," muttered Alessandro, "is toss him in a ditch and be done with it."

Even though her husband was acting like a bit of an ass, she couldn't blame him. Death was a monster to process.Wretched, complex, rife with regret and conflict. The dead had a way of forcing the living to question everything about their existence. Elyse rose on her toes to kiss him again, whispering as she pulled away, "I know today isn't an easy day for you, so I'll letyou win this round. And maybe even the next one. But mark my words.We aren't done here."

He groaned in protest, "I—"

Her hand trailed down the hard ridges of his abs. Alessandro's breath caught as Elyse's fingers skirted over the outline of his cock. Elyse gave him a light, teasing tug through his trousers as she added, "Come to me when you're ready to take a good, hard look at the shit that matters. Then, I promise, you can dowhatever-the-fuck-you-wantto me."

Alessandro groaned again at her touch. This time, though, it was in blatant approval. He growled, "Or we skip the first part. And jump straight towhatever-the-fuck-I-want."

She bit back a smile and shook her head. "No."

"My wife is a killer of joy," he lamented.

"I know," Elyse sighed, "but you married me, so learn to live with it."

This drew a lopsided grin from his lips. "You are insufferable."

"Am I?"

"The absolute worst."

"You must be a saint for putting up with me."

He agreed shamelessly, "My patience is truly god-like. Never forget,cuore mio, I am the only man on earth who can tolerate your shit, so you are stuck with me."

She called his bluff, "Even if I'm stuck, you're free to walk away at any time."

Alessandro reached for Elyse, clasping her hand. "But I want to stay and suffer."

"Don't be a masochist.Divorce me. If you have the balls to do it."

"I would set fire to my balls before divorcing you."

"Setting shit on fire doesn’t solve problems.”

He raised her hand to his lips. "Mikey would disagree."

Elyse held back a scoff. Her husband was right, but he was also wrong. Without hands, Mikey could no longer hurt her. In fact, he’d never touch her again.The asshole was dead. Their lives, however, were still full of danger even with one less Mikey in the world.

Aslight shudder passed through her. "You’re right. Mikey won’t ever bother me again. But violence isn’t always the answer. A world on fire might destroy our enemies. But it burns us, too."

"True," admitted Alessandro, "but do we have a choice? We kill them.Or they kill us first."

Her expression softened. "If only I could take you away from here. You deserve so much better than this hell."

Pressing a kiss into her palm, he muttered under his breath, "Do not try to save me. Just stay by my side. Whenever I look at you, even hell feels like heaven."

“Oh, Alessio…” whispered Elyse. In truth, she felt the same way about him. He was fast becoming her heaven and hell.

Brown and blue-gray eyes flickered. "I only wish that you did not have to burn with me."

The bastard was going to wreck her with his words. A small smile graced her face. "I don't mind a bit of heat."

Then, Elyse removed her hand from Alessandro's grasp even though, more than anything, she wished to stay at his side. However, despite the obsessive, doting way he looked at her, Elyse knew, the wall he'd built between them wouldn't be easy to break down. Elyse ached to comfort him. Most men could take time to grieve. They could make errors in judgment and live to see old age. Her husband wasn'tmost men, though. Alessandro wascaponow. Arguing with him on a day like today was the last thing Elyse wanted to do. But her husband wasn't analyzing the ever-changing battlefield. He was blindly following in his father's footsteps.

One wrong step and they'd both die young.

A sigh fell from her lips. She was determined to protect the beautiful bastard from himself. As Elyse turned to leave, it pained her to walk away. For now, Alessandro didn't need her advice. What he needed to find his own way forward. Sooner, hopefully, rather than later. And she had a funeral to plan.

---