He has his arm wrapped around me as we leave the gym and walk through the dark hallway in this part of the wing, his shoes clicking against the tile. I think about what that felt like—how I melted at his touch, which leads me to realizing that he finished inside of me.
I nearly stop dead in my tracks.
I’m not on birth control.
My plan was to have a conversation with him about it—I assumed we’d be starting a family quickly—but then our marriage became a hostage situation. I should have brought this up after the first time we had sex, but things were too crazy with him killing Marco afterwards that I didn’t even think of it.
I flash him a nervous smile and wonder if I should say anything. But it’s too much right now. And besides, what are the odds that I get pregnant the first time?
Chapter 25
Alessandro
Dantepushesthelastof the bodies into the incinerator. Hopefully, this is it. This was the second round of culling a handful of soldiers and capos who were dissatisfied with the shift in management. Gio overheard whispers and then hacked one of their phones, finding a conversation with plans to kill me.
Some of the names were concealed—they must have been using burner phones. But, luckily, I have Dante at my disposal to torture out that information to get the complete list of those who were planning to betray me.
I clap my hand on Dante’s shoulder. “Thank you.” Then I turn to Sal. “A word?”
“Of course.”
I gesture my hand forward towards the door that leads to the basement staircase, guiding us out of the dungeon. Once we’re far enough away from Dante—I trust him to torture, but I don’t know if I’ll ever trust him completely considering his personality deficiencies—I say to Sal, “Don’t sugarcoat it. How fucked am I?”
“Regarding?”
“This was our second round of having to murder soldiers and a capo who were planning to kill me. What if that never stops?”
“Well, it’s early yet. And if it makes you feel better, Marco’s transition was less smooth. Many, many died. Some disloyal, some not.”
That makes me feel better.
He continues, “In my opinion, that was likely the last of them. Anyone who is unhappy will feel less optimistic about overthrowing you and simply leave instead of trying to plot anything.”
“Good.” My phone vibrates, and I pull it out. It’s Sofia’s grandfather.
“That, on the other hand,” Sal nods at my phone. “You are truly fucked, my friend.”
He knows about the package that Dante sent over and the fact that me and Sofia are playing house together and finally gettingalong. Everything about work has been hectic and stressful. And despite my efforts, I still haven’t been able to smooth things over with Elena. But when I come home to Sofia? All of that stress goes away. I know things aren’t perfect, and I’m still waiting for the floor to drop and for this relationship to come crumbling down. But right now, anytime I’m near her, I can’t wipe the smile off my face.
So, it really sucks that her family is thinking that I’m torturing her. Sure, I can put them on a video call and show them that I haven’t maimed her. But they aren’t going to believe that I’m not holding her here as a prisoner anymore. If I did, they would demand she come home.
And I won’t allow it.
So, in a way, she is still my prisoner…
“Have you talked to them since they received it?”
“No.”
“It’s not good to run from things—”
“I know!” I snap, then force myself to calm down. “Sorry, I don’t have the capacity to deal with her family at the moment. I just want to spend time with Sofia and see where things go. Maybe she’ll start annoying me in the next couple of weeks and I’ll want to send her home, anyway.”
With how I’m feeling about her, I doubt it.
“I don’t envy you. And I don’t have any advice to give. But you’re doing something right. She has the ability to walk out of the castle and hasn’t.”
He has a point. Kind of. She thinks she has the ability to run away, but I let the guards know to capture her if she leaves.
