Page 21 of Till Death Do Us Part

“My consigliere and my wife,” he comments, putting his legs down and resting his palms flat on the desk. He watches us curiously as Leonardo pushes me towards one of the two chairs sitting opposite. I gingerly take a seat, twiddling my thumbs while I wait. “What can I do for you both?”

“Wifey stabbed someone today.” Antonio’s eyes sharpen at the words, his gaze snapping to mine. Biting my lip, I clench my hands, digging my nails into the skin to stop myself from speaking.

“Is that so? Pippa, can I ask why?”

I lift my head, a wry smile on my face when I focus on Antonio. I am not ashamed of the fact I defended myself—nor should I be. However, the way he watches me, his mouth downturned, has me wondering if I was supposed to let myself be taken by a strange man.

A strange man who had no intentions to take me withouttakingmefirst.

“I didn’t particularly feel like being kidnapped today,” I tell my husband, keeping my tone light and casual. “And I doubt me falling into the hands of your enemies is something you want either.”

Leonardo snorts from beside me and my gaze snaps to his face, a scowl on my lips. He only smiles at me, not remotely bothered by my disdain.

“You are correct, Pippa. We wouldn’t want that, would we?” Antonio deadpans, though I doubt he wants an answer as he turns to Leonardo and continues speaking. Truthfully, he sounds displeased that I wasn’t kidnapped. “Did she kill him?”

With his gaze locked on Leonardo, I sink into the chair, pulling my knees up while the two talk. Leonardo seems to know everything that happened in that side street from the moment I stepped onto it, so my narrative isn’t needed. But that does cause questions to form in my mind. If he saw what happened, why didn’t he intervene straight away? How did he even find me there, anyway?

My mind whirls as I take in the room. Antonio seems to be a man of few possessions when it comes to work. There is a laptop on his desk and a few stacks of papers beside it. A leather couch sits under the window behind him and there is an empty bookshelf beside that. The only thing that looks to be used regularly is a small bar cart situated beside his desk. The few bottles on it are half-empty and in dire need of a refill.

There is little in this room to tell me anything about the man I married, which is par for the course. I doubt I will ever learn much about him, besides the fact he wants nothing to do with me.

“Pippa,” Antonio says loudly, pulling my attention back to him. His eyes narrow as he stares me down, and my shoulders tense under his scrutiny.

“What?” I ask, dropping my knees to the ground and straightening.

“Since it seems you aren’t safe alone, I’m going to have to put a man on you full time.” He sighs, running his hand through his hair. “It isn’t ideal, and I really don’t have anyone free to run around following you, but I can’t have you being kidnapped, I suppose.”

“Okay,” I agree politely, not bothering to argue. It’s not like I’m not used to having guards follow me in the background, so I can deal.

“Since I don’t have anyone on hand right now, Leonardo has kindly offered to be your babysitter until I can free someone up.”

My nose wrinkles, my hands twisting awkwardly in my lap. Not that I don’t think he’d be a good bodyguard but spending alone time with this man can’t be good for my sanity…or my health, considering my heart races whenever I’m in his presence.

“I could just—” Antonio cuts me off with a wave of his hand.

“I have shit to do today,” he tells us, gesturing to the door. “Leo, we’ll catch up later.”

“You’re telling me that the fine-as-fuck best man from your wedding is now your bodyguard?” Rolling my eyes at the laughter that follows my sister’s questions, I pop my phone on speaker and drop back on my bed, my eyes landing on the ceiling. The moment we got back from the casino, I rushed up to my room and called her. Needing someone to vent to about the day.

Hearing Rosa’s voice is bittersweet. There’s nothing like talking to your sister when your life is a mess, but the fact she’s over 3000 miles away takes away some of the joy.

“Yep,” I tell her, popping the p, before sighing. “But why I need a babysitter? I don’t know. It’s not as if I can’t handle myself, is it?”

“P, I love you. But the dude was about to pull a gun on you. Even you can’t survive a bullet to the head. Unless you harness some magical powers we know nothing about?”

“No magical powers,” I say with a huff. She’s right; I couldn’t have survived a bullet. “But that’s beside the point, Rosa.”

“Well, what is the point? You’d rather be offered on a platter to these men who want to take you? I’m not sure you’re thinking logically here.”

“No, it’s not that, it’s just—” Pausing, I wrinkle my nose. I know I’m being childish, not wanting Leonardo to be my guard for the time being, but I can hardly say that to my sister. She wouldn’t judge me, that much I know, but this conversation cannot be had over the phone. “Nothing. I just hate being treated like a child. I learnt to shoot a gun at eleven; I’m not exactly a sitting duck just waiting to be taken out.”

She sighs down the receiver, a sad sort of sigh, but says nothing.

“What?” I ask, rolling onto my side and cuddling one of the cushions I bought earlier.

“I love you, P”—I close my eyes preparing for what comes next—“and while I have never understood why Papá only decided to train you; I know that was something between the two of you, Papá and Pippa time.” She goes silent for a moment, no doubt reliving the countless arguments my sisters and our father had when it came to him training me.

For years, they were jealous of the time I spent with him. Jealous of the fact that he never thought to train them. He never told us why, even to this day he says there is no reason, it is just the way it happened. I don’t believe him, nor do my sisters, but arguing the point after ten years of the same answer seems futile now.

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