Angelo spends most of his time holed up in his office, presumably lording over the Vitale empire and all the various enterprises it entails. That responsibility now falls to him, and it’s a significant endeavor. The Vitales have a wide portfolio of legitimate businesses, all of them benefiting their less-than-legal activities through theCosa Nostra. Real estate, luxury tourism, nightclubs, shipping companies—even I don’t know the full extent of what they own.
When Genevieve isn’t in the office with him, she’s flitting about in her bikini and tossing me annoying little smirks while I try to ignore her.
This morning, I saw the two of them leave together in the helicopter, and it made me queasy. I know he’s doing it to test me. He could have married her if he wanted to, but he didn’t. And every night, when I feel the bed dip as he lays beside me, I know he isn’t with her. But it still doesn’t make it any easier to swallow.
I consider a group call with my friends, but ultimately, I decide to have a private conversation with Mariella instead. It’s something I’ve been putting off, and I shouldn’t have.
She answers on the third ring, and the moment I see her face, all my emotions come flooding back to the surface.
“What did Angelo do?” She narrows her eyes.
“Nothing.” I smile at her through my tears. “It’s not him. I just… I needed to make sure you don’t hate me.”
“Of course I don’t hate you.” She softens her voice.
“But Matteo?—”
“Is that why you called me?” she asks. “Because you wanted to punish yourself?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “Maybe. I just didn’t want to listen to the girls tell me it’s not my fault and I don’t deserve this.”
“Well, you’re out of luck,” she says. “Because I’m going to tell you the same thing.”
“He was your brother—” I choke out.
“So is Angelo.” She offers me a grim smile. “Uncle Sal filled us in on everything. Am I sad that Matteo’s gone? Yes. But did he deserve it? Also yes. He destroyed Angelo’s life and ripped our family apart. There was no coming back from that.”
“So you believe he did it?” I ask.
“He confessed to it,” she answers. “So did the men who helped him.”
“But was it under duress?”
She stares at me for a moment and shakes her head. “I never could figure out what went on with you two. Were you with him just because you didn’t want to marry Angelo?”
I hesitate, then answer a little too honestly. “It was never that I didn’t want to marry Angelo.”
“Then why?” she presses.
“I want to tell you.” I close my eyes and blow out a breath. “And I will soon. But just not right now, okay?”
A beat of silence passes before she concedes and changes the subject. “How is the honeymoon going?”
“Well, he’s spent most of it with his assistant,” I mutter. “You remember Genevieve Wilkes?”
“Seriously?” She rolls her eyes. “What a dick move.”
“He wants to punish me.” I shrug. “I probably deserve it.”
“Abella, no.” Mariella glares at the screen. “Stop that right now. You aren’t going to let him get away with that.”
“Well, what would you suggest I do?”
A sly grin curves across her pretty face. “You punish him right back.”
22
ANGELO
