She took my hand and squeezed, the music still playing lightly in the background.
We grew into a comfortable state of silence as the truck moved forward. Atta concentrated on the road, and Judge and Juri each took a window in the back, their heads barely poking out. Atta had taught them how far. She did not allow much out. She loved and protected them as much as they loved and protected her.
The entire ride, I gazed out, looking at a world that I had wished was mine many times. Wyoming was rugged and somehow still the most beautiful place I had ever seen. Perhaps the way New York was wild and classy at the same time. I blew out a frustrated breath.
The comparison was for me. It always was. Because it seemed to symbolize who I was. Not the same, exactly, but the same in that I, like Wyoming, had two sides. However, I realized that…
…ever since Mariano Fausti entered my life, all that I was feeling, thinking, and acting on was rooted back to him.
If I could describe Mariano Fausti, I would describe him the same way: the most beautiful man I had ever seen, but he was so rugged, it made a woman curious as to why.
However, the problem with men like Casanova? Men who had two very different sides and so much charm it should illegal? Once they had all of a woman, they moved on. In the Casanova Prince’s case, he would probably run.
No, sprint.
I had seen the other tattoos that marked him the day he went shirtless, and Iggy was going to take a shot at him.Half of a fierce lion took up the left side of his chest. On the right side of his back was a stallion, the wordoutlawcurved over his shoulders.
Also worth mentioning was that he was somewhat of a legend amongst the entire Fausti family. He was known as the Casanova Prince. A title he seemed to have inherited from Romeo Fausti, the previous wearer of the crown.
I had seen the dark side of that family when it came to women. How they would be connected to one while buying jewelry for another. Not all of them, but the ones who messed around. I was sure they were truthful about it, but that was what happened when a man had numerous choices and endless resources. It made infidelity seem acceptable.
Still, jewelry is a claim.
My hand automatically went to the pendant on my necklace. I would have given it back, but he had pulled that stunt where he took another of my clips for his own. He did owe me, even if in gold and diamonds. Besides, secretly, I absolutely loved the design. I had wanted it for my own. I loved the name Annie as well, and a smile came to my face when I thought of how he had given me the nickname. It was as if Mariano Fausti saw me—he could see straight through the layers of who I was.
The version of me the world got to see.
The version of me not everyone got to see.
The moment he looked at me, there was a version of me that seemed to be made for him only.
A sigh that felt heavy escaped my lips, and Atta reached over and grabbed my hand. “You want to talk about what happened at the concert?”
“Not now.”
She nodded. “I wouldn’t either.”
The truck rumbled, and silence engulfed us again. Although this was my time, my place, to enjoy the person I could be here, I still felt as if I had leftmein Italy. If the window had been rolled up, I would have beat my head against it.
“You said his name is Mariano?”
I groaned. “Yes, according to legal records. His entire family has dubbed him the Casanova Prince.”
“The Casanova Prince, huh? That’s something. In a family that’s known to be romantic.”
All I could do was nod in agreement. “However.” I held a finger up. “There is something different about him.”
“So you keep telling me. What is it?”
I looked at her. “He has a wild mustang—Friesian, perhaps?—tattooed on his back.”
“You told me that too.” She grinned.
I did, after I had seen his bare chest and back. “He also hasOutlawabove it.”
“Go on.”
Ah, maybe I had told her this as well. However, I did not go on. I let the moment linger between us. Atta was the first person I called whenever anything important, sometimes not, happened. She would call me as well. It was no surprise that, when Mariano Fausti appeared in my life, details had been passed on to her. Except…there were instances when I felt like Iwanted to keep things from her. Things that seemed to belong to him and me only, which was odd for me.
