I slide a glance over at Angelo. Does he know, or at least suspect? Fina catches me staring and shakes her head.She doesn’t want him to know yet.But why? If anyone can rescue her from this patriarchal bullshit, it’s her older brother.
But then I remember Angelo is the man who forced me to marry him at gunpoint. Well, not quite, but it sure felt that way on the day.
No, Fina can’t count on him. I purse my lips as I push back from the table. Fina might think she has nobody on her side apart from Matteo, but she’s not alone. I will do my best to help her.
Hell, if it comes to it, I’ll put a fucking bullet in Lorenzo’s brain. I’ll be the silent assassin he never saw coming.
“Is something wrong?” When I wake up from my brief fantasy, Angelo is staring at me like I’ve had a breakdown.
“Nothing wrong. Indigestion.” I rub my stomach and wince like I’m suffering from painful trapped wind. He grimaces. “Guess I better go lie down for a bit. Want to watch something on Netflix?” Fina nods and stands with me.
“Great! Let’s go watch a romantic movie on the big screen.” She grins at me while Angelo grinds his teeth like he’s the one with indigestion. Oh dear, I ruined his plans to watch the football game he mentioned earlier. Oops. He can catch the highlights later or something.
I tug Fina into the family room, and we search the Netflix catalog for a movie neither of us has seen, which, in my case, is most of them.
Once it begins and the opening music blocks out our conversation, I lean in and whisper in her ear.
“Don’t worry. I’ll figure out a way to get you out of this marriage.”
Her eyes well up. “I appreciate that, Chiara, but it’s fine. There’s nothing I can do for now. Matteo is working on a plan, but there are many moving parts.”
“I’m more than willing to poison your father,” I murmur. “I hear it’s possible to overdose on Viagra. Pretty sure we can swing that as an accidental death.”
She snorts through her tears. “God, if only.” I reach for her hand and squeeze.
“I won’t let him hurt you.” It’s a promise I fully intend to keep. Nobody protected me, but I will do my best to protect Fina. She deserves to be happy with the man she loves.
I toss and turn for ages before falling asleep. The thought of what might happen to Fina if her father finds out she’s pregnant makes me want to vomit. Coco and Felix both get sick of me thrashing around and eventually jump off the bed and into their own beds.
When I next wake, it’s light outside. Coco yaps to tell me she wants to go outside, so I drag a robe on and stumble downstairs.
It’s early, and there’s no sign of Angelo or Fina, but I spot a familiar figure sitting at the kitchen table with a steaming mug and his phone.
“Coffee?” Kane asks with a smile.
“Yes, please,” I mumble before letting Coco outside to pee. When I come back into the kitchen, Kane hands me a cappuccino dusted with cocoa powder. Despite my bad mood, I can’t help but smile.
“Thank you. You’ll make some lucky girl a fabulous husband one day.”
“Doubtful,” he snorts.
“Don’t put yourself down,” I reply. “There are lots of women out there who’d love a scary mafia enforcer who gets a kick out of drugging innocent females in parking lots.”
He groans. “Damn, you’re never going to let that go, are you?”
“No.” I pull out a chair and sit down. It’s too early for Dominic, but I’m hungry. My body clock is all messed up from the trip overseas, and I’m craving sugar.
Kane chuckles when he hears my grumbling stomach. “Cereal full of e-numbers?”
“God, yes!” I perk up at the thought of all that tasty sugar as Kane fills a bowl with chocolatey goodness, and then my mood sinks like a stone.Poor Fina.
Kane spots my despondent expression and frowns. “What’s wrong? You know you’re safe here, right? We won’t let anything else happen to you.”
I can’t tell him. It’s not my place.
“Yeah, I know. I was just remembering shit,” I lie.
He drops the cereal box on the counter and lifts me from my chair, placing me on the table. Then he cages me in with his body. The scent of his minty bodywash rolls over me as he grips my chin and tilts it upward.
