"I won't let that woman hurt you ever again," he promises.
His voice is solemn, the same way it was when he was making vows at the altar this morning. I try not to read too much into it, but I can't help it.
I'm free-falling.
"You're my woman now." He presses his lips to my temple. "I protect what's mine."
My throat feels tight again. It dawns on me that this man holds more power over me than anyone else.
I swallow everything that's rising inside me, but it's like trying to tame the ocean.
"So much happened today," I say, playing with the hair on his chest. "It all feels a little surreal."
His chest rises and falls in a gentle rhythm. I’m obsessed with how incredibly wide his torso is. It feels big enough to protect me from everything that seeks to harm me.
"Have you heard from your Don?" I ask, glancing at his face.
His jaw hardens. “He sent an email this morning."
"Oh?"
"He didn't say much, only that I would be seeing him soon," he says.
"What is the relationship like between the two of you?" I ask. "Do you hate each other?"
"I wouldn't say that, but I wouldn't say we like each other either," he says. "He has a hold over me. He always has. And that makes things complicated."
I remember what he told me the other day. His boss knows who killed Dante's parents. It’s the reason Dante has been working for him for all these years.
"Do you ever wonder what life would have been like if we hadn't had such messy upbringings?" I ask. "If we had a normal childhood with normal parents?"
“I don’t let myself think about my past,” he says. “It takes me into a dark headspace where the only thing that would make me feel better was getting blood on my hands."
I shiver in his arms. He's sweet and loving with me, but I can't forget that he's also a killer.
"I used to be the enforcer for my Don," he says. "I didallof his dirty work. It's why I'm known as the Reaper in mafia circles."
"That sounds extreme," I say.
"It was fitting," he replies. "It was all I did for a few years."
I cling tighter to him. "What about now?"
"My role has changed now," he says. "I have other duties apart from hunting, torturing, and killing the ones who have wronged theCamorra. And I also have my own agenda now."
I stare at the horizon for a moment, at the twinkling lights of the city. Everything’s changing so fast.
“Tell me about your Don,” I say. “What is he like?”
“I’ve known him for two decades, but most days, I feel like I barely know him at all,” Dante replies. “He’s a big man, much taller than the average man. He’s incredibly charismatic when he wants to be. And he has one too many secrets.”
“Is he involved in cruel practices like my mother?” I ask.
"It's less about what he does and more about who he is," Dante replies vaguely.
This curiosity feels strong enough to kill me, but I guess it's none of my business. I shouldn't push him to share information he doesn't want to.
"He loved a woman once," Dante says into the dark. "That love was never returned. And because he couldn't have her, he shut off the part of him that made him human. People say that he’s been heartless ever since.”
