Some kind of off-road vehicle was waiting for me. I was instructed to follow it. As soon as I did, and a little bit of space had been put between me and the off-road vehicle, another one pulled behind me. They were sandwiching me in.
My eyes narrowed against the glare, taking in the vast land sprawling around me.
“Shit,” I muttered to myself, squeezing the wheel even tighter.
When Scarlett had called this a “place,” I assumed it was beyond nice, but I had never expected a city inside of a city. Luca’s…kingdom had streets and rows of villas, and the deeper I drove in, the more space started to come between them.
More privacy.
I assumed this was because those areas were reserved for higher ranking members of the family, like Brando, the first-born son of Luca Fausti, and the first-born grandson of Marzio.
That had to come with some major perks.
The off-roader stopped at a villa straight from a storybook, and I stopped behind it. The car behind me stopped too.
Scarlett and Brando were standing outside. He had on the same suit he was wearing earlier, and she was as picture perfect as the surroundings. Her hair was a dark auburn, and her green eyes reminded me of those globes with the swirling color inside of them. She was wearing a dress like mine, but lavender. She was pregnant again, and her hand rested on her swollen belly. Her husband’s hand rested on her neck.
I had a sudden yearning ache for the loss of my husband’s warmth on my own neck. That protective stance that said to the world,she is mine, and,if you dare to come too close…fuck around and find out what will happen.
I might have hated aspects of this family, but…I loved them too.
Especially the man who loved me back.
Guilt ate at my insides as I got out of the car and walked toward Scarlett and Brando. But I had to keep pushing it down, reminding myself of why I was doing this.
Scarlett’s eyes narrowed some before she opened her arms for me. I all but fell in them, and she whispered in my ear, “I understand.”
I wondered if she ever had to leave her husband for his own good, but he was still standing behind her, and I didn’t want to ask in front of him.
He was fucking intense.
So was my husband, but he wasmyintense, if that madesense.
Scarlett grasped my hand. “I talked to my father-in-law. He agreed to see you.”
I took a shuddering breath, and we started walking away from their villa. A quiet settled between us that was somewhat awkward. I couldn’t help but assume through Brando’s hand on his wife’s shoulder, they were having a silent conversation. Her eyes kept flicking up to his every so often, and his eyes would glance at her at the same time.
I sighed. “Okay, let me just get this out there, because I’m sure I’m going to get…stoned or something for what I’ve done.”
All three of us stopped walking.
“I gave them,probably, lion tranquilizers.” I shut my eyes tight, because I didn’t want to see the look on Brando’s face when I admitted what I’d done to his male family members. “They should be waking up soon,” I finished with lamely.
Scarlett squeezed my hand. “No, not stoned.” There was humor in her voice. “You’ll probably get roses thrown at your feet. You’ll see.”
I slowly opened my eyes and then blinked. Brando was staring far off into the distance, a dreamy grin on his face. It almost seemed like he wanted to…laugh. When I met Scarlett’s eyes, she did.
“Come on,” she said, nodding ahead. “I’m sure you want to get this over with.”
Roses thrown at my feet? I wasn’t sure what the fuck was going on, but I was thankful Brando wasn’t sending me packing back to my husband right then. Or maybe making a case that I needed to be sent back to Malum.
We walked longer than I expected, and by the time we arrived at hiscastello,I was worried about my appearance.
“You look more than presentable.” Scarlett reassured me. “You look beautiful.”
I ran a hand down my dress and acted like I was straightening up again, but the truth was, I was taking this all in.
This scene, maybe without Brando and Scarlett, was what I had always dreamed my time with the family would be. I’d be invited inside of their gates to get an exclusive, because I had been dedicated to them for almost my entire life, and I’d write a true and just piece on them.
