"Correct. His family..." She hesitated and then shook herself. "Fuck it. You told me about yourselves tonight. I can do the same."
Cosimo waited patiently, not wanting to pressure her any more than he already had.
"I am an only child, and my parents have both died. I had already married Carlo when they passed, despite their numerous warnings that he wasn't a good match for me," Marcella began and looked back up at the stars.
"His family is the head of thecongrega, the coven, between Ravenna and Forli. They wanted to have a Sforza's power pulled into their bloodline, and for the first few years, our marriage was okay. His mother had always been controlling, especially over Carlo, and she began interfering. She kept pushing me to have a child. The sooner the better. Oh, she did it kindly at first. She was getting old and wanted grandkids, that kind of thing."
Marcella's hand fluttered to her stomach before she realized what she was doing and let it fall, bunched tight into a fist.
"And you didn't want children?" Cosimo asked, wanting to take her hand and smooth out her fingers.
"Oh, I wanted children. Desperately," Marcella said and swallowed hard. "After years of trying, I found out that I'm incapable of having them. You can probably guess what happened next. Carlo and his mother felt that they had been taken advantage of. There was no way to get the Sforza magic in the family now except to use and abuse me. To cut a long, horrible story short, he got physical more than once, and so did she. I couldn't take it anymore. Nothing was worth the life I was living."
Cosimo swallowed back all the vengeful thoughts he suddenly had. "What did you do?"
"I laced their food with a sleeping potion one night, and I left," Marcella replied and hugged herself. "Carlo tried to get me to come back, made a lot of promises, and then a lot of threats. Divorce is still seen as a shameful thing in that community. Eventually, I sent them official papers, and my lawyer acted as a mediator. I could keep the apartment here in Florence, but they would keep my family's villa. I was exiled from Forli. My ancestral soil. My parents' graves.Everything."
Cosimo's stomach hollowed out. She had fought to escape, and here he was asking her to go back.
"No," he whispered.
"Cosa?" Marcella's brows went up.
"I didn't realize what I was asking of you. I will find someone else to deal with them, or I will throw propriety aside and go to them on my own," he said, anger on her behalf rearing its ugly head.
Marcella rested a hand on his arm, and the restless dragon in him settled. "I wouldn't have said I would think about it unless I thought I could handle it, Cosimo. Your family is something special, as I said, and it won't be complete until you have your sister. I want to help you, but I'll need your help in return."
"Tell me," he said, shocked that she would still want to help at all.
Marcella chewed her bottom lip, and long-dead parts of Cosimo woke up. Dark gods, he couldn't go down this road again.
"It would be better if you came to my apartment tomorrow, and I can show you. For now, I think I want to go and eat some more of your son's delicious cooking."
Cosimo caught her hand as she began to loosen her grip on his arm. "If we have to deal with your ex-husband's family andtheircongregain person, I promise I won't let them harm you. You're under my family's protection now, and it carries a lot more weight than whatever magical clout they think they have."
Marcella's expression softened. "It's cute that you think I'm the one going to be in danger if we have to go to Forli."
Cosimo lifted her chin with a gentle touch. Her eyes were so big and dark that he felt like they could swallow him whole.
"I'm serious, Marcella. There are many ways to wound someone without laying a finger on them. I won't let them hurt you any more than they already have. Do you hear me?"
Marcella nodded, and Cosimo ran his thumb over her soft cheek. He saw it on her face the moment surprise turned to desire, and he quickly stepped back. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Bas's tiramisu ought to be dished up by now. Shall we?"
He offered her his arm before he could overthink it. Giving him a curious sideways glance, Marcella looped her arm around his.
"You are nothing like I thought you would be," she admitted in the darkness under the vines.
Cosimo was glad the night hid his burning face. "Same goes for you. It almost makes me sorry that I beat you to so many books."
That made her laugh brightly. "You liar, you would never be sorry about that."
"Don't worry. I can be convinced to share. I am very susceptible to both bribery and flattery," Cosimo replied and opened the door to the house for her.
Marcella's sly smile yanked on the new threads of desire running through him.
"You probably shouldn't have told me that. I'm skilled at getting men to do what I want."
"A good thing I'm a dragon then," he replied, returning the smile. "It would be a bad idea to try to trick me with your magical charms."
