This isn’t the first time Emilia has cooked for me, but it is the first time I’ve eaten what she prepared. And I’m delighted to learn that she can cook well. Or at least she can cook great omelets.
“This is very good.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“The manicotti looked delicious.”
“It was. Too bad you missed it.”
“I don’t plan on missing meals with you if I can help it, but I need you to be understanding when circumstances keep me away from home.”
“I’m understanding when it’s family and business-related, but don’t expect me to be complaisant when you’re in a club drinking whiskey, smoking cigars, and having women throw themselves on your lap and kissing you while I’m sitting at home waiting for you.”
“Spoken like a true wife. I like it.”
“A wife is what you expect me to be, so you shouldn’t be surprised when I act like one.”
Actually, I am a little surprised. But not disappointed. Not disappointed at all. “All right. Point taken.”
“I hope so.”
“This relationship is still very new for both of us, and it will be for a while. We’ll adjust, and it’ll become easier after we know each other.”
“I guess.”
I return to eating but Emilia doesn’t. And that’s when I notice that she’s barely touched her food. “Everything okay?”
She lowers her fork to the table and leans back in the chair, looking at me. “I want to talk about that woman from last night.”
Why? Is she jealous?
I don’t know, but I want to find out.
“Do you think any good can come from having a conversation about her?”
“Did you think any good could come from talking about Nic?”
Okay. She’s got me there. “What do you want to know about her?”
“Her name? How you met? When you met? I want to know everything.”
“Her name is Angelica. Her father is a soldier for my family, and I’ve known her my entire life.”
“How long have you dated her?”
“Dated?” I chuckle. “I’ve never dated Angelica.”
“Then what kind of relationship did you have?”
“We fucked when I felt like it. That’s the kind of relationship we had.”
One of Emilia’s brows lifts. “That may be all it is to you, but that’s not all it is to her.”
“How would you know?”
Emilia crosses her arms. “She watched us last night.”
“What do you mean she watched us?”
“That room you took me to… she stood in the doorway and watched you fuck me against the wall.”
Last night, I was sucked into the moment when Emilia told me to fuck her harder, but then she told me to give her my son—put him inside her right then—and I fucking lost it.
I wanted to obey this woman like she was my master and I, her servant.
“I had no idea Angelica watched.”
“It hurt her to see us like that. I could tell.”
“She says she loves me.”
“You don’t love her?”
“Fuck no.” I’ve never loved a woman. At least not that way.
“Were you faithful to her?”
“We were never a couple. There was no commitment of any kind, so there was nothing to be faithful to.”
“Have you ever been faithful to any woman?”
“I’ve never had to be.”
“Will you be faithful to me?”
“Do you want me to be faithful to you?”
“For now, yes.”
I don’t like that answer.
“You say for now as though our fidelity to each other will be up for discussion at a later time. It won’t be. I’ll never allow you to be with someone else. I’ll kill any man who touches you.”
“After last night, I believe you.”
“Because you’re mine. I’m the only man who will ever have you.”
“You’ve made me your possession, a shiny toy you don’t want other boys to play with. But I’m not an object, Luca. I want to love a man with the deepest depths of my soul and have that same kind of love returned to me. I want to be ravished in the most loving and tender way until all I’m able to feel is unbearable pleasure. Don’t you want something like that?”
“I do. I want it with you.”
“You’ve killed so many people I love. And then while the women in my family and I were at our most vulnerable, you took everything from us. You’re making me marry you… but only after you’ve disgraced me and forced me into a pregnancy outside of wedlock. How could—”
How could I ever love you? She doesn’t complete the sentence, but I hear it loud and clear.
I thought she was beginning to come around. Now, I don’t know.
“I’m hoping you can come to feel some kind of fondness for me. If not that, at least some kind of devotion?”
“Would that be enough for you? To go through life married to someone who didn’t love you?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never loved a woman and wanted her love in return.”
“Do you ever wonder what your life would have been like if you’d been born into an ordinary family?”
“No, because I’m not a fan of ordinary.”
“I’m not the only pawn in this game. You’ve been one as well. Surely, you recognize that?”
I was never going to be anyone’s rung on a ladder. “I figured out at a very early age that my father was going to use me as a stepping-stone for his ambitions, so I trumped him and made my own aspirations bigger than his.”
“Look at what they’ve done to us. They’ve made us their Frankensteins whom they use to gain money and power.”
“Frankenstein turned on his creator.”
This girl is beautiful and brave and strong and broken all at once. I can’t remember ever having a more real and honest conversation with anyone. Real and honest… that’s something I’ve been missing in my life.
Nicolò Moretti was willing to burn the world down to protect the one person he cared about. And I understand it now—why he looked me in the eye and told me that he would never give Emilia up, and the only way I would ever have her was if he was dead.
So he is.
That’s a man I understand. And damn, I respect him for it.
“I don’t want to do to our children what has been done to us. Promise me that we won’t.”
I understand Emilia’s aversion to arranged marriages, but they are often used for prosperity and peace. “We have no way of knowing what the future holds. Don’t ask me to make that kind of promise to you right now. Because I can’t.”
“I’m telling you now that I won’t go along with it.”
You will, Emilia, if I say you will. But that’s not an argument I wish to have at present.
“There’s no reason to argue about the marriage of a child who doesn’t exist yet. Can we agree to table this conversation until a decision needs to be made?”
“Happily.”
Emilia picks up her coffee cup and takes a drink. “This is cold.”
She takes my cup and hers to the sink, pouring the contents of both down the drain, and returns to the table with hot coffee.
“My parents want us to come over for dinner. They’d like to get to know their daughter-in-law.”
“Seems a little premature. I would have expected them to want a positive pregnancy test before they invest their time in getting to know me.”
Damn. If this girl thinks it, she says it.
“A pregnancy is my condition for marriage. Not theirs.”
She’s bringing her coffee to her mouth for a drink and stops midair. “They don’t know we’re trying?”
“No. My mother would have my ass if she knew I’d taken you before marriage.” That is if she didn’t keel over from a heart attack.
“Well, finally. Someone in this family has some respect for honor and the old ways.”
While I understand why, I don’t like that Emilia feels dishonored by me. “After we’re married, I think you will find yourself very surprised by all the ways I will honor you.”
“I look forward to being surprised.”
I have so many wonderful things in store for us. She has no idea. And I look forward to making her fall in love with me.
19
Emilia Bellini
Viviana asked me to come to the Rossini compound early and help prepare tonight’s meal. The women coming together to cook Sunday dinner has always been a weekly ritual in the Bellini household, but we haven’t prepared a family meal since our men were killed. I miss that time with my family.
An invitation into the Rossini kitchen to cook with Viviana, Luca’s sister, Giada, and their grandmother Zorah is a big deal. They wouldn’t do so if they didn’t see me as part of their family.
Luca’s mother stops what she’s doing when I enter the kitchen and comes to me, kissing both sides of my face. “Look, Zee Zee. Luca’s beautiful girl has come to cook tonight’s meal with us.”
His grandmother comes to me and takes my hands. Beginning at my face, she eyes me from head to toe, paying special attention to my midsection. “She has a pretty face, but how is a girl this small going to birth fat, healthy sons for Luca?”
Oh, no, she didn’t.
Viviana laughs. “Oh, Zee Zee. Her mother is the exact same size and had five children without any complications. Don’t worry. Emilia will be able to birth plenty of fat, healthy babies.”
I’m not nearly as amused as Viviana by Zee Zee’s critical assessment of me.
“Should I call you Zee Zee since I am going to be part of the family soon?”
“If you’d like.”
I’ve only been here a few minutes, but I see no reason to not go ahead and shake shit up early. “If everything goes as Luca plans, our first fat, healthy baby should arrive sometime in April.”
The smile leaves Viviana’s face, and I can almost see the calculations going on in her mind. “You’re pregnant?”
“We’re trying.” I scan the kitchen counter. “How may I help with dinner?”
Viviana looks at Zorah and then back at me. “What do you mean you’re trying?”
“Luca’s trying to get me pregnant. I thought he would have told you since proving my fertility is one of his stipulations for marriage.”
“Luciano Davide Rossini,” she hisses through her teeth and then looks at me. “Have you chosen a date for the wedding? Done any of the planning?”
“He told me to plan it, but I don’t see the point because he says he won’t marry me unless I become pregnant.”
“Oh, no. This will not do at all. You must be married immediately. Luca’s son cannot be conceived outside of wedlock.”
I was dreading this Rossini family meal, but this couldn’t be working out better for me. And now that I have Viviana on my side, I can’t stop here.
“It could be a little late for that. It’s… my time and we’ve been trying. A lot.”
“Holy shit,” Giada says, dropping an egg on the counter and breaking it.
“Being labeled a bastard could weaken your son’s standing among the five families. Do you understand what that could mean?”
This couldn’t be working out better.
“I’m very aware, but Luca insisted on doing it this way. And as you know, I’m not in a position where I can refuse him.”
“No one can know about this.”
“My family already knows.”
Viviana flattens her palm over her forehead. “Oh God. This is awful.”
“I’m sorry, but I had to tell them.”
“Of course, you did. This isn’t your fault. No one blames you. The fault is Luca’s.”
Time to play the pity card. “I don’t want my family to be shamed. They’ve been through enough already.”
“I won’t let that happen. I’ll take care of this with my son. You’ll be married as soon as possible, and neither of our families will be shamed.”
Finally, someone is helping me.
I’m not eager to marry Luca, but I am motivated to secure my place as a Rossini. Taking his name brings me one step closer to my end goal. But marriage isn’t enough. I need his spawn inside of me. And I have the next five nights to get it there.
“Giada, I need you to take over. There’s a discussion that my son and I need to have.”
“We came separately, so Luca’s not here yet.”
“He will be when I call and tell him to get his ass over here pronto.”
Viviana and Zee Zee leave the kitchen, both mad as hell. I’d give anything to be a fly on the wall whenever the two of them corner Luca. I hope they give it to him good.
“So what’s for dinner?”
“Chicken scaloppine.”
“That sounds good. What can I do to help?”
“The bell peppers and onions need to be sliced. Can you do that?”
“Sure. Thin strips?” That’s how my family likes them.
“Yeah, but leave the onions wide enough for Enzo to pick around. He’s still finicky.”
“Oh, I understand. My little brother, Giovanni, was the same way.”
“I’m glad you came tonight.”
“I’m glad I was invited to come early and help out. I love being in the kitchen with family.” Although I would prefer to be with my own.
“I’m happy you’re becoming one of us. It sucks being the only girl. My brothers are jerks.”
“Well, I know one who is.”
“It’s all an act. Luca likes you. He likes you a lot, actually.”
Oh, this visit is proving to be very advantageous for me. “How do you know Luca likes me?”
“I’ve heard him say some things.”
Luca talks about me? “What does he say?”
“What kind of sister would I be if I ratted out my brother?”
“Well, you and I are going to be sisters soon. And sisters tell each other everything.”
Giada smiles. “You’re a smooth one, but I’m smooth too.”
I shrug and laugh. “Hey, it was worth a shot.”
“Yeah, it was.”
Giada goes to the refrigerator and takes out another egg. “Okay. If I repeat what I heard, you can’t tell him I said anything.”
“I would never.”
“He was upset about the way your first night together went. He came to see Mamma about it.”
Well, that corroborates what Viviana said about him being upset.
Giada breaks into a huge grin. “He wanted her advice on how to win your heart.”
Win my heart? Viviana didn’t tell me anything about that.
“When was this?”
“The day after he took you home with him.”
He wants to win my heart, yet he’s forcing me to prove my ability to conceive. Those two things don’t go together at all.
I’m so confused.
Does he want me to love him? Or does he want me only for procreation?
Which one is it?
Giada and I talk as we cook dinner and like Viviana, she turns out to be a very likable person. And informative. I’m finding it impossible to hate her.
We set the table, and I become nervous when Viviana and Luca come into the dining room. I avoid his eyes because I’m afraid of what I’ll see there.
He pulls out a chair for me and leans down, placing his mouth close to my ear. “Someone got me in trouble.”
I sit, saying nothing in reply, and he takes the seat next to me.
“We have a lot to talk about when we get home tonight.”
Shit.
Luca doesn’t speak to me at dinner or in the car on the way home, which only manages to build the tension I’m feeling. The entire ride is a blur as I imagine all the things he’s going to say, and possibly do, to me when we get home.
Sal parks in the garage, and I sit in the car unmoving as Luca opens the door and gets out.
<
br /> “Come on, Emilia. Time to pay the piper.”
I enjoyed getting Luca in trouble with his mother, but now I’m the one in trouble, and I’m not having quite as much fun.
I slide across the seat and get out. I follow Luca into the house, then upstairs to the bedroom, and I jolt when he closes the bedroom door.
“Not so brave now, are you?”
If he becomes physically violent with me, who’s going to stop him? No one. There’s not one single person in this house tonight who will help me.
I should beg for mercy or say that I’m sorry, but I can’t bring myself to do either.
“Do whatever you’re going to do to me, and get it over with.”
“What should I do to you?”
I shrug and shake my head, too frightened to say anything—and certainly not willing to offer any ideas.
“I have an idea about what I want to do to you.” He comes toward me, and my heart thumps wildly in my chest as I brace for the worst.
He shoves me down on the bed and crawls over me, pinning my arms above my head. “Would you like to hear what I’m going to do to you?”
I close my eyes and shake my head. “No. Just do it.”
“I think I’ll whisper it in your ear.” His mouth hovers over my ear, his warm breath sending chills down my body. “I’m going to marry you. Buy a dress, choose the date, and then tell me when and where to show up.”
“After we know I’m pregnant?”
“As soon as possible. No baby required.”
I’m going to be Mrs. Luca Rossini, one step closer to my end goal. But I must have his son before I can end this.
Good thing I don’t mind doing what it takes to get that baby inside of me.
“I think I’ll whisper something in your ear now.”
“Okay,” he says, dipping his head and placing his ear next to my mouth.
Catching his earlobe between my lips, I suck and release. “I still want you to give me your son.”
“That’s not all you want me to give you, is it, pretty princess?”
“I want that, too.”
He releases my wrists and moves down my body. “Then I shall give you both.”
20
Luca Rossini
Waiting for my Queen: A Dark Mafia Romance Page 12