ChapterForty-Two
Catarina
“Where do you think you’re slinking off to?” Massimo asks an hour later as I slip out of the marquee.
I circle my arm around his waist and tip my head up for a kiss. He indulges me with a slow sensual kiss, and I grab a hold of his shirt, pulling him closer and deepening it. When we finally surface for air, we are both grinning at one another like lovesick fools. “You are so beautiful and all mine,” he says, playfully swatting my ass.
“Forever,” I promise, tugging him with me as I start to walk. “To answer your question, I am going to the bathroom, and then I need a private word with Cruz. I saw him heading inside a few minutes ago.”
“You’re not confronting him without me.”
I slam to a halt. “Massimo, you will only antagonize him. I need to ensure he understands things have changed and warn him to keep quiet.”
“I don’t trust that fucker. This is nonnegotiable. I’m coming.”
I surprise myself by agreeing. My husband is as stubborn as me, and there’s little point arguing. “Okay.”
We head into the house, and I go to the bathroom. After I’ve attended to business, we search the house for my brother-in-law, finding him alone in the large library. Cruz is seated on a studded green leather couch to the left of an open fireplace, nursing a glass of whisky in one hand. His lips pull into a grimace, and his eyes narrow when he spots Massimo at my side.
Cruz lifts a second glass of whisky from the end table, offering it to me. “I wasn’t expecting the lackey when I poured this for you.”
I accept it, leveling him with a cold look as I sit down on the matching couch to the right of the fireplace. “Play nice, Cruz. Massimo is my husband and my partner in business as well as life. He is no one’s lackey.”
Massimo smirks as he walks to the liquor cabinet, helping himself to the Macallan.
A muscle pops in Cruz’s jaw. “You don’t need a mouthpiece, Catarina, and what we have to discuss is sensitive.”
“Massimo knows everything,” I say as my husband sits beside me, pressing his thigh to mine and sliding his arm around the back of the couch behind me.
“Whatever needs to be said can be said to both of us,” Massimo coolly replies, eyeballing his former friend with a laser-sharp look. I discreetly sniff my drink before swallowing a mouthful.
“So, it’s true then.” Cruz swirls the amber-colored liquid in his glass. “You have fallen for his lazy ass and cheesy charm. I must admit I’m disappointed, Catarina. I thought you had discernible taste, but I was obviously mistaken.”
“Enough.” I lean forward, warning him with my eyes. “These juvenile taunts are beneath you, Cruz. And you aren’t the only person disappointed. How is it you failed to mention your past with Massimo to me? And how is it my sister knows nothing about your first fiancée?”
“Our past is irrelevant, just like Rita. Why would I mention some stupid whore to my wife?”
Massimo tenses beside me but only for a second.
Cruz goes in for the kill, fixing Massimo with a condescending grin. “I never had any interest in the slut except to prove I could take anything from you. I bet you still harbor notions of being president of The Commission. I know that’s why you married Rina. You think she’ll give you the credibility you’re lacking, but even my genius sister-in-law can’t work miracles. I will enjoy taking that from you too.”
“Your arrogance was always your undoing, Cruz,” Massimo says, running the tip of his finger around the rim of his glass. “It’s strange you wouldn’t mention Rita to Anais. From what I’ve heard, she’s a bigger whore than the first woman who stupidly wanted to be your wife. HowisCaleb Accardi these days?”
I hop up as Cruz lunges for Massimo, stepping in between them as my husband climbs to his feet. I stretch my arms out, keeping them at bay. “Stop this!” I glare at both of them. “It’s pointless and not what we need to discuss.” I am going to rip Massimo a new one when we get home.
“We have nothing to discuss,” Cruz hisses, straining against my hand. “If you have sided with him, you are now my enemy.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Cruz. We’re family.”
“Maybe not for much longer,” he cryptically replies, sending an icy shiver tiptoeing down my spine.
“What the fuck does that mean?” I snap, lowering my arms while cautioning them both with my eyes to stop being idiots.
“It means I am done letting your slut of a sister play me for a fool.”
I prod my finger in his chest. “Touch Anais and you’ll sign your own death warrant.”
“Is that a threat, Donna Greco?”
