Page 26 of Married With Malice

She huffs and crosses her arms. “This is stupid.”

“Sorry. Want to make out instead?”

“Not even if we were ten minutes from Armageddon.”

Awkward silence ensues. There are plenty of ways I could extend this verbal battle but none of them will crack through her wall of scorn. We could both use a conversation reset.

“How’s Sabrina doing?” I ask.

Anni relaxes her crossed arms a little. “Better. She was discharged from the hospital this afternoon. You know that already.”

“Why are you so tired? Didn’t you get any sleep last night?”

“I tried but I kept getting awakened by nightmares that I was married to some two-faced mafia degenerate.”

“That sounds terrible. You must have been so relieved to wake up and remember you’re actually married tome.”

Annalisa purses her lips. Though she tries to keep a disgusted expression on her face, she can’t quite succeed. Her eyes trace my chest and stray lower before she catches herself and shudders. We may not like each other much but there’s no denying the sexual tension is thick enough to crackle.

“I don’t adapt that quickly,” she says. “Two months ago you were betrothed to my sister.”

“So that’s why you’re so uptight. Look, I was thrilled when Daisy married the burger truck dude. You and me, we’re amuchbetter match. But let’s hope our kids inherit my fun-loving nature.”

Finally, she finds something funny. “You can just forget about that. I’m on the pill.”

“Chill out. It was a joke. Parenthood isn’t on my bingo card this decade.”

“That makes two of us,” she mutters and tries to increase the distance between our bodies by shifting a few inches to the right.

Annalisa doesn’t realize how she slipped up with her birth control announcement. I’m very pleased we are in complete agreement that no kid deserves to be brought into this charade.

But it’s what shedidn’tsay that grabs my attention.

She could have told me in no uncertain terms that sex is off limits. She hasn’t done that. She’s thought about it. I’d place a bet that she’s thinking about it right now.

Anni inhales sharply when I lean in her direction. I’m half expecting her to smack my face. My hand grazes her knee and then moves to the window to flick the shade up.

She remains frozen as I lean closer to peer out of the small rectangle. A golden sunset is fading to darkness. The Atlantic Ocean yawns far below.

I take my time gazing out the window even though I’m not at all interested in the scenery. I’m so far into her personal space it’s downright obnoxious. If I turn my head, our lips will be about three inches apart. She remains coiled and silent, even when I briefly let my palm land on her thigh.

But I feel the flex of her muscles under my hand. And I hear the catch in her breath. This tells me far more than any words could.

“We should be landing within the hour,” I say and slowly ease back into my seat. “There will be a car waiting at the airport. Have you been to the Keys before? I took a couple of trips there when I was going to school in Miami. Let’s grab some dinner when we reach the resort. Then we can go take a romantic walk on the beach and plan our blissful week together.”

Annalisa shakes her head. “I’m surprised by you, Luca.”

“No worries. I was just tossing ideas out there. We don’t need to walk on the beach. We can order room service and have dinner in bed if you prefer.”

She rolls her eyes. “You misunderstood me. I meant that I’m surprised by what you’ve become. It’s so much easier to picture you shaping yourself into a shifty politician. Or maybe a controversial podcast host. Instead, you’re just another garden variety mafia murderer.”

She’s wrong. I’m not a murderer.

Not yet.

Over the past year I’ve received a crash course in all the most sordid pieces of Richie’s business. I’ve been in the room when brutal decrees were handed out. But it’s never been my finger on the trigger or the blade when the time comes.

This is a source of friction between Richie and thecapos. I’ll never be completely trusted until I get my hands dirty. My brother earned his stripes when he was barely out of high school. Cale was known for his talent of never flinching when an enemy of Richie’s needed to be handled.

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