I take the plate from her and set it down on the counter. “I see I have to start from scratch with you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re always in the kitchen during parties. You think too much about other people and never put yourself first.”
“Jesus, I’m just helping your mom,” she gasps, then her eyebrows draw together. “And you can be happy I don’t put myself first, or we wouldn’t be married right now.”
“My mother has an entire team coming in to clean the place tomorrow.” I pull Sienna out of the kitchen. “Say goodbye to everyone. I want to go home.”
“Whose home?” she asks.
“We’re going to the penthouse.”
As she walks toward the sliding doors that lead to the veranda, she says, “Just so you know, I’m not giving up my apartment.”
I let out a chuckle, too happy to care about what she does with her place.
Chapter 20
Sienna
While I climb into the backseat of the SUV, Nico loads my overnight bag into the trunk. Just as well I packed some clothes. I knew Christiano would insist we go to his place after the wedding.
I plan to move out of my apartment in stages because I don’t have the energy to do it all in one fell swoop. Besides, I have no idea what the penthouse looks like.
Christiano takes off his jacket before he gets in beside me, and when he lays it over my lap, he says, “Finally.”
“Finally, what?”
“We’re married, and I get to take you home.”
Even though he forced me, there’s a big part of me that can’t deny that today is very special. Things might change in the future, but right now, Christiano loves me, and I’ve never seen him so happy before.
Thank God, Mom had extra Xanax on her, though. I was struggling to keep it together after we said our vows, and I hate that I had a mini meltdown in front of everyone.
When I glance at Christiano, his eyes soften on me as he says, “Thank you for saying you love me. It meant a lot to me.”
My heart squeezes, and I feel terrible for not saying it sooner. Even though I’m scared of what our future will hold, I still whisper, “I have and always will love you.”
“Then why did you put up such a fight?”
“It’s our wedding day.” I give him a pleading look because I can’t handle much more today. “Can we not talk about that, please?”
He nods and leans in to press a kiss to my forehead.
My gaze lowers to the gold band I pushed onto his ring finger mere hours ago.
There’s no such thing as divorce in the Cosa Nostra. What will Christiano do when he finds out I suffer from thanatophobia?
“What are you thinking about?” he asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I latch onto the first thing that pops into my mind. “About everything I have to pack.”
“Have you even started?”
Tired from struggling with the extreme emotions and anxiety today, I whisper, “No.”
His eyes flick to me while he unbuttons his cuffs. “Are you going to fight me on where we live?”
