Fiero squeezes my hand. “He won’t be here. Joshua and Caleb aren’t overly close with Pagano, Volpe, or Agessi though they did invite Dominic Mantegna from The Outfit. I’m not sure if he’ll be here though.”
“Okay.” I rub my vacant ring finger. “I know why we have to keep our marriage a secret, but I hate not being able to shout about it from the rooftops today. Especially surrounded by so many happy couples and families.”
“It won’t be too much longer.” He takes a sharp right that brings us into Glencoe town center. “If my meeting with the cartel goes to plan on Tuesday, I should be able to wrap this up fast. A few of Ferraro’s men are singing like canaries, but most don’t know the specifics. I’m still piecing the last few elements together, but it shouldn’t be too long before I have enough evidence of Dominic’s betrayal to go to the board.”
“Great.” My words sound hollow to my own ears. I chew on the inside of my mouth as my skin crawls. I’m hoping Fiero gets his evidence without anything linking to me because I don’t want to tell him. I know it’s not wise to start a marriage with such a big secret, but I can’t tell him. It could be the very thing that tips him over the edge and makes him realize how unworthy I am.
Guilt threatens to drown me, and I stare out the window at the gorgeous town as we drive toward the property the Accardi twins purchased shortly before their double wedding to build new homes for their growing families.
“We’re here,” Fiero announces, slowing to a stop in front of tall, thick solid wooden gates. All around the vast property are imposing high gray stone walls with a row of barbed wire running around the top. Various cameras are visible from the road, spaced at regular intervals all around the wall, as far as my eyes can see. Two men stand outside the gates, and the one with the clipboard approaches. Fiero lowers his window to talk to the man. He ticks our names off his checklist before asking Fiero to press his thumbprint into a digital scanner. When all is good, the gates open, allowing us entry.
Fiero whistles under his breath as we drive along a winding driveway, past empty field after empty field, with no house in sight. “This place is something else.”
“They clearly take security very seriously.”
“We all have to.” Fiero clasps my hand in his, looking over at me. “Are you okay? Is something troubling you?”
“I’m just nervous. It’s a lot of people to meet.”
“I won’t leave your side.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t stay glued to my side, and I’m not that needy. I’ll be okay. I’m well used to situations like this.”
“These are my people, and they’re good people. They’ll welcome you warmly, and you’ve already met some of them. Zumo and my sisters will be here, and you know Natalia and Caleb, Massimo and Cat, and Rico will be here with his family too.”
“Why do they think I’m here?”
“I’ve told them Cesco was a threat to you, so I moved you to my house as a protective measure. Excepting the people I mentioned, most don’t know we’re together.”
I bark out a laugh, staring at him incredulously. “And you think you can stick to my side like glue and someone won’t notice the way we look at one another?”
“I don’t give a shit if anyone figures it out. It’s all going to come out soon anyway.”
I turn around in my seat, the leather squelching with the movement, as Fiero draws up to another set of wooden gates. Like out front, there is another gray stone wall ringing the inner circle of the property with more barbed wire and cameras on top. The twins are not messing around. I wait until Fiero has pressed his thumb to the keypad and the gates have opened to let us through before I reply. “You need to give a shit. I won’t have anything happening to you. Not after you’ve gone to all this trouble to be careful. We need to stay away from one another, as much as possible, so we don’t set tongues wagging.”
“No can do, my love. I can’t share the same air and not be close to you.”
“We’ll just stay for a couple of hours, mingle and chat, and then leave. You can manage two hours.”
“I don’t think I can.” He pouts as he drives through the gates. Two imposing properties loom in the near distance, one on either side of the road. The styles of both houses are different, confirming the couples built homes suited to their own needs and tastes.
“You’re ridiculous, but I adore you.”
My husband grins at me like a loon as we drive past a large playground still under construction. My siblings would have loved a playground like that in our backyard growing up.
“Not as much as I adore you. You’re my everything, kitten. My entire world starts and ends with you.”
I stretch over the console and kiss his cheek. “I feel the same.”
Fiero parks the car alongside a row of other expensive cars in a specified outdoor parking lot, extending to the left and right, in between the driveway a few feet from both houses. He gets out and opens my door, helping me outside before grabbing our gifts from the trunk of his Aston Martin. Thankfully, Elisa and Gia had an online gift list, and Fiero purchased their gifts, ensuring they were delivered gift-wrapped. Neither couple did a gender reveal, which I personally love.
“Let’s go,” Fiero says, holding both gift bags in one hand and taking my hand with the other.
I instantly wrench my hand back. “We can’t.”
He snatches my hand again. “The fuck we can’t. I can hold your hand as a friend, kitten.”
“You can’t call me that either.”
