Page 39 of The Vatican
He gave me a terse nod. “Whatever you need.”
And what I needed most right now was to be with my husband, so we left.
Chapter 20
Francisco~
The following couple of weeks had calmed considerably. Ria had gone back to work for Uncle Sal, and I made sure to spend every night inside her in one way or the other.
When she had made the comment that she’d never be able to love me freely and completely, it had felt as if she had reached into my chest and tore out my still-beating heart. She might come to love me one day, but I’d been robbed just as she had been. My wife might love me one day, but it’d be because she was excepted to, just like she believed the same of me.
And it fucking sucked.
The only solace to be found was when I had her in my arms. The sex was passionate, frantic, and insane. We couldn’t get enough of each other, and even when she was sore and in pain, she didn’t let up. The more it hurt, the more she demanded. But I suppose pain was an easier emotion to deal with than despair.
And, regardless of whether she believed me or not, I never stopped telling her I loved her when the words danced on my tongue. I didn’t hold back, but I didn’t ask for something she wasn’t ready to give either. I could wait. After all, we were in this for life.
Then there were her daily meetings with my father. He called on her every single day, and they were working their shit out. She still treated everyone rather coolly, but she was coming around. A couple of times I caught her crying after a meeting with my dad, but I let her be. Ria had to sort out her feelings for herself. None of us could do that for her.
I walked into the house and I heard voices coming from the game room. When I walked in, Cira was sitting on top of the pool table, Mattia was lounging on the love seat, and my wife was sitting on one of the bar stools. They each had a drink in their hands.
“Party?” Mattia smiled at me, while my sister side-eyed me. Ria just smirked. I walked over to her, and after placing a kiss on her forehead, I grabbed her glass and drank what was left of it. If my sister was here, I was going to need it.
“I didn’t realize you were the flashy type,” Cira said, nodding towards my hand with the glass in it.
“Hi, Cira,” I drawled out. “It’s good to see you. How have you been?”
She didn’t let up. But then, she was evil. “Since when do Benetti men wear wedding rings?”
Cira wasn’t wrong. None of the Benetti men from the Made Men on up wore wedding rings. It was dangerous. If our enemies realized we had someone of that kind of value, they’d surely try to find a way to use it against us.
While Mom, Aunt Frankie, Aunt Robbie, and Ria all had wedding sets with tracker in the engravement of their bands, Dad had Mom’s name tattooed across the back of his entire left hand, Uncle Phoenix had a tattoo of a church with an F as its steeple on the inside of his ring finger, and Uncle Ciro had Aunt Robbie’s name tattooed in elaborate script down the inside of his ring finger. With a lot of us tatted up, the meaning of our tattoos was easy to camouflage. Even Uncle Sal and Uncle Leo had gone the tattoo route in lieu of wedding bands.
I was breaking away from tradition.
Oh, I had Ria’s initials tattooed on the inside of my ring finger, but I wore a wedding ring too. I made the decision a few days ago when I had to go to The Sapphire for Uncle Ciro. My biggest regret was using The Sapphire to satisfy my needs while waiting on Saveria. I was going to have to conduct business there for Uncle Ciro whenever he needed me to, and there was no way to avoid the mistakes I’ve made there. Ria befriending Jessica, even if it had been for only that night, was a souring reminder of something that never should have happened.
When I had left the meeting with Uncle Ciro, I had gone straight to the jewelry shop where I had purchased Ria’s wedding rings and found a ring that matched her set. The jeweler had sized it for me immediately, and I had gone straight to Dad’s and told him I had one and why I was going to wear it. Considering how Ria felt about our marriage, he thought it was a good idea. Besides, even if someone could get to me, Ria had a sea of family and protectors to make sure no one came near her. She’d always be protected no matter what happened to me.
The only disappointing thing about it all was Saveria hadn’t said a word when she saw it on my finger. It had made all the different in the world to me to be wearing it, but it hadn’t fazed her a bit.
“Since now,” I replied. “So, what are you doing? How are you?”
Ciro scrunched her nose up at me. “Like you care?” she sassed.
“I do,” I retorted. “I care very much since you spend most your days thinking up ways to dethrone me or take over.”
Mattia laughed. “He’s not wrong.”
Cira rolled her eyes. “It’s hardly worth pursuing now that you’re married,” she griped. “Dad would probably find a way to make Ria a stand-in until he married her off to Sal Jr. or-”
“Watch it,” I bit out. I hated when they talked about my marriage to Ria like any husband would do.
Cira smirked as she hopped off the pool table. “If you really want me off your back, get pregnant, and that solves that.”
“Jesus, Cira,” Ria rushed out. “I’m not getting knocked up just because you’re crazy.”
“I’m not crazy,” Cira argued. “I’m cunning.”
