Reiko tensed at the presence of the stranger.
Santino slid his other arm around her back. “This is Ken Napier. He’s Mamma’s personal jeweler, most of the family wives use him. He does excellent work.”
Ken let out a self-conscious chuckle. “You’re too kind, Santino.”
“Jeweler?” Reiko repeated as she tipped her head up to look at him.
Santino grinned wide. “Ken, my fiancée, Reiko Matsunaga.”
Ken’s eyes blew wide.
Santino shifted his gaze to Reiko. “Ken here is going to show you samples of his best pieces. I want you to look through them, decide what you like and don’t. We’re going to design your ring today. It’ll take Ken a little time to make, but it’ll be worth the wait.”
“Design my ring.” Reiko dropped her head to his chest. “Why did I not consider you would insist on custom ordering everything?” She leaned back before he could do more thanchuckle. “You don’t have to spend so much. I’m sure a ready-made ring is fine. If he’s that good, I’m sure it’smorethan fine.”
Santino cupped his hand around her cheek and stroked his thumb beneath her lip. “Fineis not good enough for you, beautiful. You’re getting the best. Period. But I’ll help you make the selections if you feel overwhelmed.”
She pursed her lips, because she was still adjusting to the way he did things, and slowly nodded. “Please.”
He smiled softer and bent down to kiss her forehead. “Good girl,” he murmured against her skin.
The quiet gasp and the way her fingers clenched over his shirt assured him his words hit their mark.
Santino straightened and turned outward. “Let’s move to the dining room, shall we? It’ll be more comfortable for this.”
“Certainly, sir,” Ken said, almost eagerly turning in the appropriate direction. “I’m very honored to be creating such an important piece. Whatever selections you decide on, I promise to do my best work yet.”
Santino chuckled and said, “I look forward to that. I want only the best for my future wife. But of course, you know I’ll pay fair price.” Quality work—and loyalty—were things to be paid for, after all. That, and he was one of the few in the family who shelled out full-price for Ken’s work.
There was always a cost to associating with mafia.
He pulled out a chair for Reiko as Ken set himself up in a seat across from them, then lowered himself into the seat beside her. Ordinarily he would claim the seat at the rounded head of the table, but this setup felt more natural for their purposes.
It was Reiko’s first time sitting at the formal dining table, since they’d eaten dinner Thursday on the veranda outside their bedroom for some fresh air and breakfast that morning in bed. And while Santino could have been bothered that he was sharingthis first with another man, he chose to let that go in favor of the occasion.
Then Ken popped open his briefcase and spread out his display of jewels, cuts, sizes, and band colors for Reiko’s inspection, and Santino came to the swift decision that he wanted to drape his beautiful soon-to-be wife in jewels of every color. Slowly, so as not to overwhelm her. But every damn one would shine like stars against her skin. Every color would be brilliant, and yet only a sparkly underscore to her natural beauty. He’d order her a bracelet with a rainbow of colorful gems, on a band in a plating different from her ring, before Ken left. And he’d save it for the day they learned she was pregnant the first time. Then, maybe for an anniversary, he’d order a necklace and earring set. Classic and stunning.
More rings, more everything, every year. He could already see he would need only the slightest excuse.
He could also see he needed another business to fund this new addiction. But spoiling her—watching her eyes light as she lifted a clear, crisply cut stone and held it high for examination—was so fucking worth it.
“I have another surprise for you,” Santino whispered against her ear almost as soon as the door closed behind the friendly jeweler.
Reiko turned enough to arch a brow at her fiancé. Which was a word she had not become accustomed to yet. “Is it that you’re bailing on work again?”
He grinned at her, his eyes dancing with laughter. “Not quite.” He pulled up his phone, tapped open a conversation thread, and a picture filled the screen. When he tilted the device toward her, it took her brain a moment to process the sight.
A mid-sized moving truck, parked at the curb of a shabby looking apartment.Hershabby old apartment.
Reiko’s mouth fell open. “What is this?” Her gaze snapped up to Santino’s. “Tell me you haven’t decided to dump all my old things.” He’d only purchased her a few days’ worth of clothes, and she had some important things in that apartment. Like her documentation, her laptop, her chrysanthemums, and her bike.
Santino gave her a pained look. “Have a little faith in me, beautiful. This”—he indicated the photo again—“is the truck which is going to move anything and everything you can’t bear to part with. Today.Weare going to put on shoes and head over to help the guys pack up. Mostly because I’d have to kill them if they lay a single finger on your laundry.”
She raised a hand to her head as her rampaging thought process did a full reversal. “Okay.” Maybe. “But I haven’t— There are things I—”
Santino bumped her raised hand aside and framed her face in his palms, pulling her close and speaking softly. “If you want it, you keep it. If you keep it, we make room for it. That’s all that matters.” He pressed his lips to her forehead. “If it’s functional but you don’t care for it, or serves a purpose but you dislike some feature—anything like that—you tell me in what way the thing benefits you, in what way you might miss it from your life, and we will decide together on how to deal with that situation as it comes. You don’t have to worry about the cost of the truck, anylast month’s rent, or whatever expenses there are in thinking over what you keep. I’ll handle the money.”
Her fingers were curled into his shirt again. How had she so easily transferred her well-established nervous habit onto him? That seemed like a thought for reflecting at a later date. Instead, she released a slow exhale. “Most of what I need to keep is small, on its own.” Her entire wardrobe was small in comparison to his closet, she had learned. “But I have an exercise bike I want to keep. It’s not fancy. It’s just been … reliable.”
