Page 35 of Hateful Vows
She smiles softly. I’d be shocked if it weren’t so sad.
“Not everyone grew up surrounded with love,dorogoy.”
I place a hand on top of hers and kiss her palm. She lets me. “A new nickname?”
Her sad smile turns to a smirk and my heart pumps faster in my chest. “Don’t get used to it.”
She leaves, letting the clicks of her heels echo through the marble corridors of this place that feels less and less like a home. When I stand to get myself a whiskey, my steps take me to the window to the garden.
Irina stands next to Francisco, their backs are to me. They’re the same height at 5’2, and the thought of another young boy, this age, with my build and her eyes sends a tremor through my whole body.
Francisco’s shoulders are up to the ears. He seems lost in thoughts, looking over the expansive British garden my father had planted for my mother, where memories are as joyful as they can make me ache for what I no longer have.
Hesitantly, Irina places a hand on his shoulder. His head turns to her. Sobs rack his body before he launches himself at my wife and buries his head in the crook of her neck. She freezes for a beat, then her hands fall around him.
I’m not jealous of the kid. He needs it more than I do, but the longing stirring in my gut reminds me that my wife might let me touch her, but she’s never given me this level of care and attention. I doubt she ever has anyone. Being a witness to italmost feels like an invasion of privacy. Like I’m not meant to see her break the icy veneer. Yet, I can’t look away. I’m greedy for everything my wife is and does.
The next day, Irina and I receive a text from Aleksei detailing the gala we need to attend to present a unified front.
My wife has been avoiding me since she showed me a more vulnerable side and still refuses to share my bed at the penthouse. I’ll make it my mission to change her mind.
I find her hunched over her laptop in the library of my home,ourhome now. The dark frame glasses give her an air of authority that stokes the fire inside my blood. I don’t need much when it comes to her but anything remotely connected to power looks too good on her to resist. I make my way behind her, framing her body with an arm on each side. The goosebumps rising at her neck is only one way to know she isn’t as unaffected as she’d like to pretend.
I kiss her neck and inhale deeply, the mix of her sweet skin and heady perfume enough to make me lose sight of my goal. “What are you studying so seriously,vipera?”
She swats at me but it lacks heat and I chuckle. “I’m looking into every family in the London Cosa Nostra. Something you should have done the day your father got assassinated, but we both know you’re incompetent, and Tino and Lorenzo are glorified bodyguards. I’ve already found three of your capos who embezzled money, one who owed a serious debt to your father and hasn’t made a single payment since his death, and one morewho’s been visiting Ireland a little too frequently for comfort over the past few years.”
I straighten, then take a chair to sit next to her. Any humour leaves my body as I sit down. “Show me.”
Her analysis is thorough and sends a pang of pride through me. I might have not chosen my wife but she couldn’t be a better queen.
“I would have gone deeper, especially with tracking down their movements, but let’s say I’m not on the best of terms with the Capaldis and it’s hard to access public cameras without their technology,” she says and bristles at the name.
“You have something against Capaldi?”
The cyber security genius works for both public and private entities and I’ve used his services and that of his hitman brother enough to count them as allies. Having them as enemies is not something I wish to add to my list of problems.
“Andrea’s wife, Giulia, hates me.”
“It doesn’t matter. We allied with the Morettis and Capaldis the moment we married and went against Misha Petrov. I’ll call Andrea and have him look into the people you identified. Well done,vipera.” I kiss her brow and I swear a blush creeps up her skin. “Now, your brother mentioned a gala. You need a new dress. I’m taking you shopping.”
I stand and hold my hand for her to take. Her nose crinkles like she abhors the idea of spending time with me, but too bad for her, I get a kick out of making her uncomfortable.
“I have enough dresses, Dante,” she complains.
“It wasn’t a request,vipera,” I say. “I’m taking you to spend my money, whether you want it or not. I won’t have you wear last season’s design just because you’re too prideful.”
“You’re so vain.”
“Takes one to know one.” I bend at the waist to whisper in her ear, enjoying the catch of her breath. “If you’d rather I spankyour pretty pussy for disobeying me, I’ll happily oblige,sposa mia.”
She swallows but I don’t miss the way her pupils dilate.
“So uncouth, Dante. Fine, let’s go spend your money.”
Before we get into the car, I text Aleksei to meet us. I don’t know if he’ll take the bait but my phone pings with his ETA a few seconds later. For someone so dangerous, he really is predictable.
London is too busy with tourists and civilians so I drive Irina to West Hill, a town an hour away from London's bustling energy, and Capaldi’s stronghold. We’ll be safe in the city centre made of cobblestone pedestrian streets, flanked with boutiques and quaint cafes. My wife deserves the best and I’ll pay whatever price to offer it to her. Besides, Tino and Lorenzo accompany us, as well as two of our best-trained bodyguards.
