“Towhomhas been taken care of. As of when?” He opened his desk drawer and produced a gold wedding band. “Done.”
“Who is she?”
A knock came at his office door. He told whoever it was to come in.
She looked between us. “Oh. I’ll—”
“I remember you.” A shit-eating grin came to my face. She worked at Dynamic.
“I remember you too. Is Leo here?”
I told her where she could find her, and when I turned back to Gio, he looked like his face had been drained of blood.
“I’m truly fucked.” He drank down the rest of the whiskey.
It would take Gio time to accept this. He was an eternal bachelor and had one of the hardest heads I’d ever encountered. But I thought marriage was going to be good for him—eventually.
I poured myself a glass of water. “You’re in a new club now.” I tapped my glass against the bottle and said, “Saluti,” before I downed it.
Mr. Big Extended
Months Later…
CHAPTER16
Mrs. Big
Summer camein as hot as Lady Luck at the blackjack table. The arid heat was expected, since…Vegas. But it still took my breath away when I stepped outside. The cool air from Casino Portofino seemed to dissipate, and goosebumps scattered on my arms from the jump in temperature. I slid my sunglasses on and tried to ignore the chaperone we had following us to where Angelo pulled the car around.
My hands were nervous as they kept smoothing out my dress. My engagement ring snagged on a piece of fabric. When I looked down to fix it, the diamonds on my left finger shimmered softly, caressed by the natural light. They were fairly new, but like the fairly new husband beside me with his hand on the small of my back, I knew even when my hair turned silver and my skin wrinkled, they would always serve as a reminder:
I was his.
Just as the rings felt the warm kiss of the sun, I felt when the warmth of his protective hand seemed to ooze deep into my skin and relax my bones, even if my heart sped up.
It sped up even faster, but in a cold way as my eyes darted around. Casino Portofino was packed with tourists, the summer rush, but I couldn’t stop the instinct to search for any signs of danger, like I’d be able to stop something terrible from happening before it did.
“Aphrodite.” Big’s voice was deep and calm as the pressure on my back increased. “You’re good.”
I took a deep breath in and tried to push down the panic that seized my chest like a hand squeezing my heart. “It’s not me I’m worried about,” I grumbled. “It’s you.”
Before I could stop and face him, he lifted me off my feet and set me in the back seat of the armored SUV. The windows were tinted dark.
We faced off.
He lifted his eyebrows. “Now you’re just acting like you love me.”
I touched him where the bullet had gone through his shoulder. He didn’t wince, but I knew he was working hard to control his features. Beads of sweat rolled down his face.
“You’re human, Big, and the situation could haveeasilygone an entirely different way.”
A month ago, some fucking crazed person decided Tullio Bigatti needed to die. He was coming out of a business meeting, and he was lucky the shooter didn’t have a great aim, hitting Big’s shoulder instead of his neck.
Thinking of it—all of it—made me feel bloodless. The guy was still on the loose.
“It didn’t.”
“But itcouldhave.” Like him, I was trying to disguise my pain, but the sources were coming from two different places. His was physical. Mine was much deeper than skin. And my voice reflected the truth, even if I was trying to hide it.
