Page 22 of His Wife

Now, in hindsight, knowing how much Leandra’s presence in my life and her support has kept me from drowning the last few days, I realize my father was right.

‘A man’s power is communicated and reflected off his wife’s image.’

Like a fool, I misunderstood. A man’s power does reflect off his wife’s image, but only because he draws his strength from their bond like I’ve drawn my strength from her.

I close my eyes and smile, whispering, “You old bastard. You always knew better.”

I pour myself another drink, and out of habit, I move to sit on my chair when Nicoli stops me, smirking. “This one’s mine. You sit in your own fucking chair.”

It’s surreal as I look at the black chair, the silver and gold DS symbol embroidered on the top. This might be my place now, but it will always be my father’s chair.

We both sit at the table, and it takes me a second to settle.

Nicoli leans back in his seat. “I know we fuck around and take a piss at each other half the time, but now I’m serious. We can change it. You and I both know what a snake Roberto is. And you’ve made it abundantly clear the fucker will be dealt with once Father has passed.”

“Oh, believe me, he’ll be taken care of.” I trace my fingertip along the rim of my glass. “But we have another factor to consider.”

“What?”

I glance at Ricardo’s seat, my other uncle, who has been sitting at Roberto’s side for a while. He’s always been the one with the smallest dick around here, keeping his mouth shut most of the time, never contributing, and always following his older brother’s orders like a little bitch.

“Uncle Ricardo is a problem?” Nicoli’s eyebrows lift, a slight smirk on his face. “The man can hardly take a piss without Roberto holding his fucking hand.

“Exactly. Which means if we take out Roberto, Ricardo has to go too.”

“That’s fine by me. When both of those bastards are gone, there isn’t a Savelli left to take their place. Then the Dark Sovereign will finally be ours, and we no longer have to worry about Roberto’s greedy ass pushing to form other alliances.”

I nod. “That was our father and grandfather’s wish for this family. To keep it strictly family. And that’s what we’ll do. Keep it strictly family. Del Rossa family.”

“I’ll drink to that.” Nicoli slams back the rest of his whiskey just as Caelian strolls in.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” he blurts. “You opened Dad’s whiskey, and you fuckers are drinking it without me.”

“Can’t help it if you keep disappearing every five minutes to jerk off, brother.” Nicoli smirks, and I snicker.

“What happened to your face?” Caelian asks as he grabs the bottle and pours himself a glass.

“Isaia happened,” Nicoli answers on my behalf, every word coated with amusement.

“Oh, shit.” Caelian places the bottle back on the table. “He finally figured it out?”

“What? That my little brother is in love with my wife?”

“Yeah. That.”

I sit back. “Leandra thinks it’s bullshit.”

“I kinda do, too.” Caelian shrugs, then points at what used to be Nicoli’s chair, silently asking permission with a cocked brow, and I nod. “See,” he starts as he sits down, “I don’t think he’s in love with her. He cares for her, that’s for sure, but it’s not love. It’s a friendship, and our brother’s dumb little ass is confusing the two because all he knows how to do is think with his dick. So now he thinks he’s in love with her, but he’s not, and now everyone is ready to start World War Three in this house because everything’s just been blown out of proportion.”

Nicoli’s lips curl downward. “Or it’s that.”

“Oh, my God,” I exclaim. “You were the one who brought it up, and now you’re saying you might be wrong?”

“Hey, I only said what you were already thinking, okay?” He taps his finger against his temple. “Twin telepathy.”

“I should have punched you instead of Isaia,” I say dryly.

“Then you’d be going to Italy with more than a busted lip since I can kick your ass with my eyes closed. And what kind of message would that give our good friends in Rome when they see the new leader of the Dark Sovereign managed to get his ass handed to him?”

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