Page 134 of Crazed

As crazy as it is that she and Tristano are together, I'm not going to be the one to break it to Dante. No one saw this coming, and I still believe Dante will go ape shit. Pina's been his assistant for over twenty years. He values her more than us at times. I quickly wink at Pina and lie, "Yeah, he did, but I didn't believe you'd fall for it. Thought you were smarter."

"Shut up," Dante growls.

Relief fills Pina's expression. She whispers, "Thank you."

"Pretty shitty of you to have me tracked," I hurl at him.

The line turns quiet again.

"Yeah, I know all about it," I point out.

"We'll talk about it when you get back," he asserts.

"Oh, we will. For sure," I proclaim.

He changes the subject. "Which Abruzzos were there?"

"I don't know. I didn't recognize them. Tristano did."

"Let me talk to him and Pina," Dante demands.

I hold the phone out. "Dante wants to speak to both of you."

Nerves fill Pina's expression.

"It's fine," I mumble so Dante can't hear.

She breathes a sigh of relief.

Tristano rises and grabs the phone. "Let's take this in the back."

She gets up and follows him into the bedroom.

I turn to my bride, pissed her life was in danger and our wedding night got ruined. I promise, "I'll make this up to you."

"Massimo, you didn't know. I'm just grateful Tristano saw them," she replies.

I reach for her jaw, stroking my thumb over her cheek. She leans into my palm and closes her eyes. I peck her on the lips and admit, "I promised to protect you."

Her eyelids fly open. "You did protect me."

We should never have assumed they wouldn't find us. Tristano and I should have both had bodyguards with us. I sniff hard, pledging, "I'll do better going forward."

She rises and straddles me. I circle my arms around her, holding her tight, still freaked out by what could have happened. She slides her hands to the sides of my head then states, "There's only so much you can do, Massimo. Leo has eyes everywhere. I know this from experience. I need you to promise me something."

My chest tightens. I peer closer at her. "What's that?"

She hesitates a few seconds then demands, "If they ever recapture me, don't do anything stupid."

"What does that mean?" I bark.

She lifts her chin higher and swallows hard. "I don't want you blaming yourself when the inevitable happens."

Anger digs into my bones. I roar, "The inevitable? You still believe I can't protect you, don't you?"

She moves her head in tiny bobs. "Massimo, I have full faith in you. But Leo...he..." She closes her eyes and sighs then adds, "Has ways of finding people."

"Yeah? Well, so do I. And you're my wife now. I'll be damned if he comes near you. Until I have him in my custody, you're not leaving the house," I declare.

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