by Penelope Sky
“You’ve been doing well in the gym?”
“Yeah. I’m not close to where my strength used to be, but I’ll get there.”
“Baby steps. No need to rush.”
“Yeah, I know.” I missed being the most powerful man in the room. Siena still looked at me the same way she used to, like my decrease in size didn’t affect her attraction to me. That was the most important thing, that I still turned my woman on.
“I’ve been working out every day, but I’m not a fan of it.”
“I’ve noticed. Your legs get sexier every time I see you.”
She smiled. “Well, I need to work on this gut right now.”
I scoffed. “You don’t have a gut.”
“It’s a baby gut. It’ll take a while to go away.”
“It’s not a gut. You’re perfect.”
“Well, that’s nice of you to say, but I still need to hit the gym.”
“Unless you become pregnant again.” As far as I knew, she hadn’t started her birth control again, and we were having lots of sex every night. She seemed hesitant to have another baby right away, but at this rate, we were bound to make one. I’d knocked her up when she was on birth control. I could only imagine how quickly it would happen when she wasn’t on it.
“I guess that would give me an excuse to stop the gym,” she said with a laugh.
“Especially if you’re just going to get sexy again.”
“I don’t know if being pregnant is sexy…”
“It is to me.” I’d never been more attracted to her, watching her waddle around the house and touch her stomach every time the baby kicked. “I hope we have a son this time. If these are the only children we’re going to have, I want to have one of each.”
“I’d like a son too. I guess we’ll see.”
20
Siena
I’d considered telling Cato how I felt.
But it seemed like a moot point to me.
He already knew my feelings.
He knew I didn’t want anything to do with this life.
I already had a daughter with him, and considering how much we screwed every night, I was probably having another child soon. Our family had already begun, and I was loyal to him. But I still didn’t want this.
I wanted something simple.
Something safe.
I wanted him to give up everything and walk away.
But I knew he never would.
He came home from work that day at his usual time. He walked through the door, gave me a kiss, held Martina, and then stripped off his clothes and got ready for his workout. “You want to have dinner with me tonight?”
“I always have dinner with you.”
“But I thought we could do something, just the two of us.”
It would be nice not to hold Martina while I tried to eat. She was too young for a high chair, so we had to take turns holding her. The only time we were truly alone was when she was asleep in the next room. And during those times, we didn’t talk much. We just made love—over and over.
Not that I was complaining.
“That would be nice. Where do you want to go?”
“I thought we could eat here. We can sit in the backyard and look at the stars.”
It was summer, so it didn’t get dark until late, but it would be nice to do something different. It would be wonderful to sit by candlelight and look into each other’s eyes. Maybe I could forget about the real things that were bothering me. “Oh, that would be lovely.”
“Great.” He pulled on his t-shirt then kissed me on the lips. “I look forward to it.”
After I stepped out of the shower, I found the little black dress lying on the bed. Cato wasn’t there, but there was a note from him.
Wear this. No panties.
A pair of black heels lay there too.
I smiled as I folded the note. The black dress was short and backless, definitely too slutty to wear out to a restaurant. Maybe that was why he wanted to stay here, so his eyes would be the only ones to look at me.
When I put it on, I realized I couldn’t wear panties anyway.
Too sheer for that.
I slipped on the heels, did my hair and makeup, and then made sure Martina was asleep before I headed downstairs. The baby monitor was in my hands because I couldn’t go anywhere without it. Even when Martina wasn’t with me, she was always in my thoughts. I’d become one of those obsessed mothers who thought only about their children and nothing else.
I wasn’t ashamed of that.
“Miss Siena, you look lovely.” Giovanni stood in the kitchen, the pots and pans sizzling with whatever he was making for dinner.
“Thanks. Cato picked this out for me.”
“He has great taste. And I’m not just talking about the dress.”
“Aww…thank you.”
Giovanni took the baby monitor out of my hand. “I’ll keep an eye on her while you two enjoy yourselves.”
“You don’t have to do that. I know you’re cooking—”
He held up his hand to silence me. “It would be my pleasure. Now, please enjoy yourself.”
“Thank you, Giovanni. You’re a sweetheart.”
“No, Miss Siena. I just like you.”
I smiled. “Have you seen Cato? I haven’t seen him since he went to the gym.”
“He’s outside waiting for you.”
“Thanks.” I walked out the back door and onto the terrace to find him standing in a deep blue suit. He wore a black tie, the watch his brother gave him, and the smile he gave me was brighter than the stars overhead.
“That dress…” He gripped my waist as he leaned down to kiss me. He kissed me softly, like he was doing his best to keep the kiss tame so we wouldn’t sneak off into a bush and do what we did best. “I told my personal shopper to get me something short and sexy. She did a good job.”
My hand moved down his chest. “She did a good job with you too. How about we skip dinner and just go to bed?” As good as Giovanni’s cooking was, it was nothing compared to Cato’s fucking. I could never eat again and just live off his lovemaking.
He rubbed his nose against mine. “That’s tempting…but the longer we wait, the better it’ll be.”
“I don’t think it could be much better.”
His hand moved to my lower back, and he kissed me again. “You know how to make me hard, baby.” He guided me down the path with his arm resting just above my ass. “I thought we could eat farther away from the house. You can hear the crickets better. See the stars better.”
“I’ve never been out here in the dark before. It’s beautiful.”
“I don’t take advantage of it as much as I should.”
We kept walking until we reached the dining table in the middle of the grass. A wooden platform had been built to hold the table and chairs. A black tablecloth lay over the surface, and white candles were spread out everywhere, illuminating the spot with subtle light.
“Wow…this is beautiful.”
He took my hand and guided me up the short steps until we were on the platform. “I’m glad you like it.”
“I didn’t know Cato Marino could be this romantic.”
He pulled out the chair for me so I could sit down before he took the seat across from me. “I didn’t either.”
“I mean, it took you a year to admit you loved me,” I said with a laugh.
“But that doesn’t mean I haven’t loved you every day since the day I met you.” He held my gaze as he spoke, his sincerity bright like the stars above us. “The love started off small, mixed with lust. It grew slowly, persevering despite your lies. And then it grew so big I couldn’t ignore it anymore. It was out of my control, a separate living entity. Then one day, it looked me in the face until I had no choice but to accept it.”
My eyes softened just like my heart. “Cato…”
“I’m sorry I didn’t say it sooner. But I promise I’ll say it every day for the rest of my life.”
This man had been
such an asshole when we met, but now he was the sweetest man in the world. He was a wonderful father to our little girl. He was everything I dreamed of in a man—with one exception. If he loved me this much, then maybe he would give up everything to give me the life I wanted. “I know you will.”
A waiter poured us two glasses of champagne and placed an appetizer on our plates.
I laid my napkin across my lap and took a bite of the appetizer, but I felt awkward doing something so normal when Cato had just said something so sweet. His eyes looked even more beautiful in the candlelight. I could see the flames reflected in his eyes. Even in the darkness, they looked more blue, more powerful than ever before. “The stars are incredible.” I looked into the sky as I ate, seeing the endless lights across the sky.
Cato kept eating and sipping his champagne. “It’s beautiful out here. Quiet. Peaceful. Perfect place to raise a family.”
“Yes, it is.”
“A bit of a drive to school, but I can drop them off on my way to work.”
Anytime he mentioned work, I tensed. How dense could he be? Not once did he wonder if he should walk away from the bank? For his safety as well as his family’s?
We finished the appetizer before the main course was brought out. It was a rack of lamb, vegetables, and rice. Just like every night we had dinner together, we ate quietly, looking into each other’s eyes as we dined. It was much easier to cut into the meat when I didn’t have a baby in one arm. “It’s so tender.”
“You want to know something interesting about Giovanni?” Cato asked. “He never went to cooking school.”
“Really? Seems like it.”
“He just has recipes that have been in his family for generations—along with a love of cooking.”
“It shows. I enjoy cooking too, but I’ve always hated doing the dishes.”
“Another reason why I need Giovanni. He could ask for a million euro raise, and I would give it to him.”
I chuckled. “Me too.”
“Speaking of money…” He looked down at his food before he lifted his gaze to look at me again. “I want you to know I changed my trust. If something happened to me, I would leave everything to you.”
I was stunned by his statement, considering he’d asked me to forsake all of that just months ago. “You didn’t need to do that—”
“I wanted to. Before they took me to surgery, I told Bates to make sure you got everything if I died. You’re my family, Siena. Whether you’re my wife or not, you’re everything to me. And I want to take care of you. I want to share everything I have, every single euro of my assets. What’s mine is yours.”
I didn’t know what to say. It was a big gesture—and out of character for someone like him. That was his way of telling me he trusted me completely, that all of his walls were finally gone. “That’s…very sweet.” I appreciated the gesture, even though I actually wanted to leave all of the wealth behind.
The second we finished our meals, the waiter appeared and cleared our plates. Then he placed two brownies with ice cream in front of us.
“Oh my god, that looks delicious,” I blurted. “But we’re supposed to be dieting.”
He shrugged as he picked up a spoon. “It’s just one night. Live a little, right?”
I smiled and scooped a large bite into my mouth. “My belly is gonna look so big when we get back to the room.”
“No, it’s not.” He took a few bites until he stopped.
I didn’t have the self-control to stop. I ate every single bite and left the spoon on the plate. “Don’t judge me.”
He smiled. “Never.”
The waiter came and took the plates away. We were left with the champagne, the candles, and the stars.
“We should eat out here more often,” I said. “It’s nice.”
“Yeah, it should be a tradition.” He leaned back in his chair and stared across his property, his fingers resting along his glass. “I bought this house because I wanted the privacy for my clients. But now I’m glad I bought it to have privacy with you and Martina. We can have our own lives away from everyone else. We can watch the stars without people watching us. I can have a normal life—with the woman I love.” His eyes moved to mine across the table. “I’ve been with a lot of women, but not one of them gave a damn about me. And the only woman who has ever cared about me hated me when she met me. But then she got to know me…and fell hard for me. She loved me despite my flaws. She saw the good instead of the bad. And she proved her loyalty to me…a million times over.”
I listened to him pour his heart out to me, observing a version of Cato no one else ever got to see.
“I haven’t been whole since my father abandoned me. When I became a man, I didn’t think it bothered me. But now I realize it’s eaten away at me this whole time, like I’ve always felt like I had something to prove, like I needed to be someone for another person to actually care. But now that I have you…I realize that’s not true. You love me for me, not my money or my power. And now I feel whole…for the first time in my life.”
I smiled and felt my eyes water at the same time. It was easy to forgive him for the wrongs he committed when he said things like that. He was still a boy with a heart of gold underneath all that man. He was a sweetheart. I saw it every time he interacted with Martina.
“I love you, baby. With all my heart.” He looked at me over the candles. “You have all of me—wrapped around your finger.”
“I love you too, Cato.” He was the only man I’d ever loved. He was the only man I ever wanted to love.
He reached into his pocket then pulled out a small box, a box that could fit a ring.
That’s when I stopped breathing.
He opened the box and placed it in front of me, revealing a small diamond ring. A white-gold band with a simple diamond in the middle, it was sleek, simple, and humble. It fit my personality exactly.
I watched it reflect the lights of the candles, the clarity obvious flawless. It might be small, but it was the highest quality diamond on earth.
He watched my reaction as he left the box in front of me, his blue eyes watching mine stare at the ring in shock. “Marry me.” It wasn’t a question. It was a command. I would be his wife no matter what.
I stared at the ring again, feeling the happiness burst inside my chest. My natural impulse was to say yes. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this man, to grow our family, and grow old together until we were buried together in the same cemetery where my parents rested.
But there was something I needed first.
Cato’s eyes darkened in pain when he didn’t get the reaction he wanted.
“I’m not saying no…” I brought the ring closer to me, admiring its simple beauty. But I didn’t take it out of the box and put it on my hand.
“Siena.” His pain became more noticeable—like I was breaking his heart. “I don’t understand. You love me. I love you. We have a daughter. What…what more do you want from me?”
“You know what I want, Cato.” I closed the box so the beautiful ring wouldn’t tempt me anymore.
“I really don’t.”
I knew this man loved me, so he would probably give me what I wanted. It was a sacrifice he should make whether I was in the picture or not. “I can’t live like this…”
“Like what? In a mansion? With a rich husband? Under the stars? What does that mean?”
“Cato, you almost died. Let’s not forget what happened.”
His eyes narrowed. “I’m not following, Siena. I’m really not.”
“In your line of work, we’ll never be safe. There will be periods of peace before there are periods of war. It’ll happen in a cyclical pattern, but one of us might die during a war period. My father didn’t take me seriously, and he lost my mother. Then he lost his own life. You and I got lucky. Really lucky. We won’t get lucky again.”
His eyes softened as he listened to me. “What are you suggesting?”
“I want you to quit.”
; “Quit?” he asked. “There’s nothing to quit. I own the company.”
“Then sell it. Give it to Bates. Step aside…and let’s have the simple life I want.”
He digested everything I said, his eyes still hard. It took him a long time to come up with a response. He glanced at the ring and looked at me again. “Are you giving me an ultimatum?”
“I…guess so.”
He sat back against the chair, sighing.
“Walk away, Cato. Take your money and walk away.”
“And do what?” he countered. “I will have no purpose.”
“What about Martina and me? Isn’t that your purpose? The only purpose that really matters?”
“Of course. But I need more than that. I’m an ambitious man. If I’m home all day, I’ll get angry. Then I’ll get resentful.”
“Then open a business—a clean business. The Barsettis were criminals until they walked away and started making wine. That could be you.”
“How did you know that?” he countered.
“My father used to be friends with Crow.”
“Well, I’m not Crow Barsetti. I’m much richer than Crow Barsetti.”
“The amount of wealth doesn’t matter,” I argued. “You just told me you feel whole for the first time in your life. That’s because of us—not the money in your bank account. Just walk away.”
He shook his head slightly. “That’s my life’s work.”
“I know. You should be proud of everything you’ve accomplished. But you’re also a crime lord, and one day, someone is going to come after us. I can’t let that happen to our babies…” My eyes watered in pain. “I have to protect them. I have to protect myself—”
“I will protect you.” He slammed his fist down.
“How can you do that when you can’t protect yourself?” I asked quietly.
His eyes turned ice-cold.
“I was the one who saved you, Cato.”
“I never asked you to do that. I never wanted you to do that.”
“But we’re a team. I don’t regret it. But all of that happened because of your business. You need to walk away—to keep us all safe. That’s what I want.”