Understanding dawned on her face. "So you sacrificed me to save face."
"I sacrificed both of us," I corrected. "You think I wanted this? A wife I didn't choose, can't trust, don't know?"
Silence fell—heavy, loaded.
We were both victims of this situation.
"I didn't ask for this either," Paola said quietly. "I was supposed to have brunch tomorrow. Go to work Monday. My life was normal. And now..."
"Now you're married to a monster," I finished.
She looked at me—really looked. "Are you? A monster?"
The question caught me off guard.
"Yes," I said simply. "I've done things that would give you nightmares. Killed people. Ordered deaths. Built an empire on blood and fear."
I expected her to flinch.
Instead, she just nodded. "At least you're honest about it."
For some reason, that response hit harder than fear would have.
Paola finally moved toward the bedroom. She stopped at the doorway.
"Which side of the bed do you sleep on?"
The mundane question in this insane situation almost made me smile. I had to think about it for a moment; it had been a long, long time since someone else was in my bed.
"Left. You take the right."
She nodded. Hesitated. "And you'll stay on your side?"
"Tonight, yes."
She caught the qualifier immediately. "Tonight?"
"You have a week, Paola. Use it wisely."
She disappeared into the bedroom. I heard the door close—not slam, just close. Testing boundaries.
I didn't follow. Let her have some privacy to change, to breathe. Alone, I topped off my scotch. Didn't drink it.
I'd had a plan: marry Bianca, secure the alliance, maintain the status quo. Simple. Clean. Transactional.
Instead I had Paola: complicated, unknown, challenging everything. She wasn't what I'd expected. Not the polished society wife I'd been prepared for, and surprisingly distancedfrom the mafia lifestyle, despite who her father was. She was real. Raw. Scared but not broken. Defiant even in surrender.
And that defiance... it did something to me I didn't want to examine.
My phone buzzed. Piero:How's married life?
I typed back:Complicated.
Piero:The good ones always are.
I didn't respond.
Twenty minutes passed. I finished calls, checked security reports, reviewed tomorrow's schedule. Stalled.
