“She turned out to be much smarter than I am. Much wiser, too.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “What does that mean, Nicky?” I asked, alarmed.
“I want to be honest with you, Dom. No more games or lies. I just don’t know if I can…”
“Trust me?”
“I’ve trusted you with a lot already.”
“Then what is it that you don’t know?”
“If I can make you understand.”
“Like you thought I couldn’t understand why you got wet when you were forced to please an older man?”
Her lips twitched with a sheepish smile. “Well, when you put it this way…”
“Talk. To me.”
“She had this theory about monsters. How only a monster can take down another.” She ran a hand through her tangled hair and hissed. “That’s what I understood anyway. She didn’t exactly say it like that, she was talking about sex, and she most definitely doesn’t see Tino as a monster…or you. Fuck, I’m not making any sense.”
“My little kitten rambles when she’s nervous. You’re full of surprises.”
“Don’t tease me. It’s hard what I’m trying to explain.”
“Let me make it easy for you. Your father was a monster. Tino Bellomo is another monster who takes down your father. But your sister has her ownneeds, and Tino satisfies them. She falls for the monster and overlooks everything else.”
“He’s her fucking hero.”
“Then she tries to convince you to have the same relationship with me. The new monster that can take away the terrible effect your father left on you. But, you being you, refuse to embrace that kinky but happy theory as is and twist it into a dangerous one. You want me, a monster, to take down the other monster you hate the most, Tino Bellomo.”
“True. It’s what I’ve wanted…until today.” Her fingers returned to draw invisible lines along my tattoos. “I finally understood and believed what she really meant. A woman like me needs a man like you, one who isn’t afraid of the darkness, one who would do whatever it takes to protect me, one who knows when to take the lead, to push me to my limits and show me my truth with no judgment, one who understands and embraces every single urge and desire I have, one who is so fucking powerful he can replace the marks the monster left on my soul.”
“Wow. Well said. Signora Bellomoiswise.”
“I should have listened and saved myself all that pain, trouble and anger.”
“So you’re no longer trying to get me to kill him?”
She gazed me for long moments. “If I say what you want me to say, it’ll be a lie.”
Cazzo. My brows hooked so tight my forehead hurt. “Oh, Nicky, what’s it gonna take for you to stop? This is your nephew’s father you’re talking about. Your sister’s hero and dare I say obsession.” It was obvious Il Lupo wasn’t the only one obsessed with that relationship. It took two to tango. “You think she’ll be happy and safe when you take away the husband she loves to the core?”
“Until yesterday I thought I knew the answers to these questions. Now, I don’t know what to think anymore.
CHAPTER 37
Nicky
If anybody had told me I’d be spending New Year’s Eve in Italy as Mrs. Domenico Lanza, I’d have punched them in the face. But here I was, in a designer leopard and gold dress with very exquisite sparkling embroidery and matching shoes that cost more than all my old clothes together, Dom’s ring on my finger, heading out to celebrate New Year’s Eve at the Lanza’s hotel in Taormina. My first appearance as Signora Lanza.
“Okay, what do you think?” I asked Dom, who was in a dashing three-piece black tux and a satin bowtie.
He was standing in the middle of the bedroom, hands in pockets, his jaws tight, eyes squinting with an incomprehensible glow. He kept staring at me without saying anything, making me unusually nervous.
I threw my hands in the air. “If you don’t like it, why did you buy it?”
“Who said I didn’t like it?”