Page 33 of Inescapable Ties
“I'm fine,” she responded.
And although she said she was fine, her face said otherwise. Tears pooled in her eyes, and her lower lip had a bit of a wobble to it.
“I committed arson.” She let out a half sob, half laugh.
“That was you?” I paused, wiping the blood off her legs to look up at her, and smiled. “Impressive, Jaws. Not bad for your first time.”
She smiled at me, trying to keep the strong facade going. “Who said it was my first time?”
Luciana was always full of sass. She just almost got fucking killed and she was trying to make light of it.
She went on to explain, with fervent excitement and animated gestures, every step of the process, starting with grabbing the bar rag and bottle of jack.
“Maybe I should hire you,” I joked. “That was pretty impressive.”
“You should know my rates are very high.”
I carefully finished tending to the visible blood on her legs, wiping away the evidence of her injuries. But as I lifted the hem of her dress, I saw more smeared along her upper thighs.
“This is coming off,” I said, referencing the piece of clothing.
“What? No,” Luciana responded. “It’s fine; I can go clean it myself.”
“I’ve seen you in your underwear before.”
“Yeah, but,” she hesitated. “Fine.”
Taking a deep breath, I carefully unzipped the zipper on the back of her dress. I pushed the top down and gently pulled the garment down her legs, doing my best to not disturb the gauze protecting her wounds.
Fuck. Her body was still as perfect as the last time I saw her in her underwear. If she wasn’t covered in wounds right now, I would have trouble keeping my hands to themselves.
We sat in a comfortable silence as I finished cleaning. I walked over to our dresser and carefully selected a pair of soft, worn-in pajamas for her. With gentle hands, I helped her slip into them, making sure they were comfortable and not too snug against her skin.
“Sorry, Jaws,” I said. “I won’t let you get hurt again.”
“It wasn’t your fault. Nothing like this has ever happened at an event before.”
“Still. I’m your husband and I’m supposed to protect you.”
“Well…how about you buy me Starbucks to make up for it? For the rest of my life.”
I resisted the urge to smirk at her. I was already going to do that.
Chapter seventeen
Luciana
Inthepastweek,I had attended more funerals than I ever had in my life. Many were people only Emilio knew, but today I had the unfortunate privilege of knowing the body of honor.
It was Valentina Alto’s funeral. And even though I had hated that insufferable bitch, I still felt a bit sad. Liria liked her mom - even though I thought it was poor judgement on her part - so she was probably really upset. And I didn’t want my former friend to feel bad.
Even though everyone hated the Alto’s, many people showed up. They were probably in debt to Leone in some way and wouldn’t dare skip out on the funeral. The church was so packed that people were standing, but we got seats. Emilio, my family, and I squeezed into a pew halfway down the aisle.
“They better not talk about what an amazing person she was,” Martina muttered.
With a subtle tilt of my head, I gave my sister a knowing glance. We both shared the same opinion, but I wouldn’t dare speak ill of Valentina as we sat among mourners at her funeral.
The ceremony dragged on endlessly, each speaker attempting to find something positive to say about the deceased. However, only Leone and one of Valentina’s closest friends seemed to have any kind words to share. As I sat amongst the hushed crowd, memories of the night at the banquet and how I could have shared the same fate as Valentina filled my mind.
