He took my hand, and as a group, we crossed the street and found a restaurant to eat at. I noticed him watching me as I almost inhaled my food. I sucked up a spaghetti, and he grinned to himself, digging back into his meal.
“I'd rather eat pasta and drink wine than be a size 0,” I said, quoting one of Italy’s greatest.
The table lifted their glasses and we clanked. I was in the process of lowering my glass when someone called my name.
I looked up. Carlo and his sister, along with a group of men and women, stood on the other side of a divider that separated restaurant from walkway. The men that were with him were around the same size as my men. All of them seemed buzzed. Even Carlo. He had a hazy look in his eyes. I smelled it on him, but not to the point that it was his cologne. He was in control of his functions, just laxer.
“Mia,” he said again, nodding. He nodded to Evelina, but none of the men at the table. “It is good to see you again.”
I nodded. I looked between him and Saverio. Saverio had his drink in his left hand, not even looking at him. But that didn’t mean shit. The tattoo there meant everything.
Carlo leaned over the railing and, in a move that seemed deliberate, put his hand over the candle on the table. The flame guttered out. It made no sense to me, but he did it right in front of Saverio. Carlo’s arm was a breath away from my husband’s nose.
I had never seen anyone but my father and brothers move so fast. Before Carlo even knew what hit him, Saverio had. He hit him so hard that he went over, falling to the cement.
All hell broke loose.
Chapter27
Mia
It was the equivalent of a barroom brawl. My husband and brothers jumped the railing to get to the men who came with Carlo. One of them tried to grab Renzo. So the fight was on.
Until it wasn’t.
It didn’t take them long to knock them all out.
Saverio came to the railing where I stood with my backpack. He wasn’t even breathing hard, but there was a gleam in his eyes—almost like he’d just had an intense workout and he felt good.Better.
The women who came with Carlo and his friends stood back, huddled together. Greta watched us, not even concerned with her brother.
Saverio looked into my eyes with eyes that pleaded for…mercy.
This man never asked for it. He’d die standing up before he kneeled for any man on this earth. His only fear was God and…losing me.
I ran my hands through his hair. I was trembling, from the adrenaline and from touching him again. It was only one night, but I vowed that it wouldn’t happen again. No matter how late or how early, we’d talk things through, or go to war if we had to. We’d fight our way to peace.
I wasn’t a slave to my feelings, and neither was he. My love was stronger than hurt. Something told me, though, that he wouldn’t hurt me in that way.
What was done in the past would stay there.
It was like that moment at the altar. It changed everything. We might fight until we bled, but we’d love hard enough to heal.
His hand cupped my face.I melted into the warm embrace. “Mia moglie,” he said.My wife.
“Per sempre,” I whispered.
Abreathrushed from my mouth when he lifted me over the railing and kept me in his arms. He took off running as police sirens wailed in the distance. That made no difference on a normal day, but I knew Saverio didn’t want it known where I was. Evelina’s laughter echoed behind me. Massimo had her over his shoulder and was sprinting, along with my brothers and Saverio’s.
Once to the car, he set me on the seat, then jumped over his door and claimed the wheel. He took off, the tires smoking as we left. Further down the road, I sat up some, turning the radio on. The song faded and one of his old-man songs came on. “Purple Rain.”
I kept my lips tight, but when he looked at me from the side of his eyes, I exploded with laughter. I doubled over with it. At first, all he did was grin, but the more I laughed, he started to. I’d never seen him laugh like that, and when it tangled like our souls, tears streamed down my face.
Even though life was dangerous, I’d never been happier.
“Whoooo!” I screamed out, lifting my arms, feeling the wind fly through my fingers. I felt like I’d just overcome the biggest hurdle, and I got what I wanted.
My man.
