Bound by Temptation (Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles #4)(72)

“She’s the wife of the Boss. The Outfit is with where her loyalties lie. You are part of the Famiglia and that makes you the enemy,” Luca said.

I glanced at Romero. All this because I loved a man I wasn’t supposed to love, and because I wanted to be with him. Was I a selfish bitch? Romero met my gaze. I wished I could say I wouldn’t do it again but looking at him now, I knew I’d stab Benito again to save myself from a horrible marriage and be with the guy I was supposed to spend my life with.

I was a selfish bitch.

“Hey,” Aria said gently. “Don’t look so sad.”

I turned back to her. “You and Val got along so well. I know you talked on the phone often and now you can’t because of the mess I caused.”

“You are my sister Lily, and seeing you happy and having you in New York with us is more important than my friendship with Val. And maybe Luca can negotiate another truce with Dante. Dante is a pragmatic man.”

“Not as long as your father is Consigliere. It would be like a slap in the face for your father if Dante didn’t seek revenge,” Romero said.

“I hate this revenge crap,” Gianna muttered. Matteo stood from his stool, went over to her and pulled her against him with a grin. “I know you do, but it’s how things are.”

Gianna rolled her eyes but let Matteo kiss her. In the past that would have sent a stab of envy through me, but now I walked over to Romero and leaned against him. His arm came around my shoulder and he kissed my temple. “We’ve been at war with the Outfit before. We’ll handle this.”

“I don’t want people to die because of me.”

“Romero is right. We will get through this. And I don’t think Dante will kill one of ours. The Russian threat is still too strong. He can’t risk his soldiers’ lives in a war with us.”

“Nor can we,” added Matteo.

A phone rang, making us all jump. Aria snatched her phone off the counter and peered down at the screen, then she raised her head with wide eyes. “It’s Val.”

Luca got up. “Don’t let anything slip that Fabi helped us and be careful.”

Aria nodded, then she lifted her phone to her ear. “Hello?” She paused. “I’m so glad you called. Can you talk?” Aria listened for a few seconds, her expression dropping. “I know. I only wanted to ask about Fabi. He got shot when he tried to stop us and I’m just so worried about him. He’s so young. He shouldn’t have been involved in this. Can you tell me how he’s doing?”

Aria released a breath. “So he’s okay? He’ll be able to use his arm like he used to?”

I slumped against Romero in relief, but at Aria’s next words I tensed again. “Is he in huge trouble because he wasn’t able to stop us?” Aria nodded, then gave us a thumbs-up. She was silent for a long time after that, listening to Val.

“Okay, I will tell him. Thank you so much, Val. I won’t forget it. I hope our men figure something out soon. I’ll miss talking to you. Bye.”

“So?” I asked, the moment she had hung up.

“Father and Dante seem to believe Fabi’s story. Nobody blames him for letting us get away. He didn’t have enough experience for the job. Only because of Father’s insistence did he get it in the first place.”

Luca looked like a blood-hound on a trail. “Did she say anything else? About Dante’s plans and his mood?”

“He’s furious,” Aria said with a shrug. “But he wanted Val to give you a message,” she told Luca, her eyes flitting to me.

Romero became still beside me. I had a feeling I knew what kind of message.

“If we send Lily back today, they might consider not retaliating.”

Romero pushed himself off the stool. “She won’t go back.”

Luca narrowed his eyes but then he took a deep breath. “Of course not. Dante knows we won’t agree to that offer. That’s why he made it.”

Romero rubbed my arm lightly and brought his mouth down to my ear. “Nobody will take you away from me. I’ll fight a million wars if it means I can keep you.”

***

Two days had passed but they might as well have been a lifetime. Romero had been busy and I’d spent most of my time with my sisters. But tonight Romero wanted us to have dinner together alone in his, no, our apartment. He’d ordered food at his favorite Italian place and spread it all out on the dining table in his huge kitchen.

A few minutes into the dinner, Romero set down his fork. “Luca made me Captain.”

“Really? That’s wonderful!” I could see how much this meant to him. I’d never gotten the feeling that he was unhappy as Aria’s bodyguard but of course it was a big deal if you got promoted, especially because the mob was a place where people usually took over their father’s position. “What business are you going to get?”

“I’ll be taking over a few clubs in Harlem. The old Captain has cancer and needs to retire, but he’s got only daughters so Luca decided to give me his businesses. I’ll be making more money for us.”

I smiled. “You know I don’t care about that. I’m just happy for you because you deserve it.”

Romero grimaced. “Some people don’t think so after I caused war with the Outfit.”