Page 75 of Say I Do

“You need to come back to work.”

“Excuse me?” Marianna went from looking concerned to angry.

Shit, that wasn’t what I meant. “I mean, Benito’s brother came over and bitched for like an hour because he said I smeared sweet and sour sauce everywhere instead of cleaning it up. I’m not great at doing shit like that.”

Marianna popped a hip to the side, and she stared at me as if I had two heads.

I was fucking this up. I reluctantly looked at Tony.Please help me.I wasn’t going to say it out loud, but fuck, this was hard.

“What is this?” Marianna asked.

Tony shrugged. “He’s not great at this.”

Marianna rested her hands on her hips. Her light brown eyes flickered back to me and then the car. “Mr. Vitale in there?”

I nodded. “But this wasn’t his fault. You’re a very beautiful woman, and I assumed Benito would be interested.”

Marianna sighed, and her hands dropped from her hips. She finally stopped looking angry. “Thank you.”

This was good, right? We were heading toward redemption.

“You need to work on your jealousy.” Her shoulders relaxed as she finally looked over the gifts in her husband’s arms. “Oh, what is this?” She pulled out plane tickets.

“An all-paid trip to the Bahamas.” Thanks to having a phone again, I had access to my bank account. It was fun spending Benito’s money, but I didn’t feel right about using his money to fix my fuck up. “It’s a family vacation. There’s a couples retreat along with a list of nannies who have been vetted and interviewed for the trip.” I pointed to a few more of the items.

“Wow, this is a lot,” Marianna said.

“I did press a knife to your throat.”

“You did what?” Her husband stepped toward me, and I reminded myself not to respond.

The sound of the car door opening was a surprise. “Diego, good to see you,” Benito said. He laid a heavy hand on my shoulder when he strolled up and pulled me against his side.

Was he there because her husband stepped toward me? Benito knew I could handle myself, so why was he out here? My stupid heart flipped, and I swore something was wrong with me.Maybe I’m having a heart attack at 28 years old.

Diego started to speak Spanish too fast for me to pick up even a little of what he was saying. Benito responded all the same, never getting angry with the man. Although Diego’s posture screamed confrontation.

Marianna joined their conversation, and I was left there leaning into Benito. I couldn’t even put in a word. I only knew it involved me because of the way each of them looked at me during certain parts of the conversation.

“Thank you for the gifts,” Marianna said.

I stood up straighter. “Does that mean you will come back?”

She glanced up at her husband before she turned back to me. How could I expect that of her? I hadn’t killed her or maimed her, but it was clear I had done some kind of damage. My shoulders dropped, but I tried not to let it show on my face.

“You’re welcome,” I said. “I am sorry. It won’t happen again.”

Marianna nodded, her expression softening. “Good. I’ll be back to work next week.” She glanced up at Benito. “He’s helpless on his own. Besides, it sounds as if the place needs a good cleaning,” she said as she looked at me once more.

The knot in my stomach eased. Thank goodness she was coming back. We left their home, and I felt oddly lighter.

* * *

“What’s with the turtle?”I pointed to Benito’s hand. I smiled. “You like sea turtles or something?”

“Something.” He grabbed me and pulled me close. “Are you trying to learn about me, mostricio?”

I twisted in his hold, my arms draped over his shoulder. I pulled the knife hidden in my sleeve out with two fingers. “Can’t kill a man like you without knowing a little bit about you.”

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