He hadn’t kept his big mouth shut, and seeing as the guys were just talking about married life in general, he had come up with the first thing that came to his mind.It helped that they were currently having a party to celebrate entering fall, but that was beside the point.
Giovanni loved her energy and excitement.For the first time in his life, he looked forward to coming home, and he knew that was all down to Mia.
It wasn’t that she was childish or immature, she hadn’t lost that excitement about life.Life always seemed fun to her.There was always something to look forward to, even during the summer months.
She tore everything down in her space.He didn’t know what it was that had made her do this, but he knew there was more to it.He couldn’t stop her, couldn’t even let her know he had lied to her, that there were cameras in every room of the house, so he could watch her.
She had stopped greeting him at the door when he arrived.Their mealtimes were separate.She didn’t ask him to come shopping with her anymore, or even to throw a party.He’d been the one to arrange the last party.His wife was freezing him out, and he hated it, but there was nothing he could do.
No one knew this, but from the moment he had met Mia, when she was eighteen years old until the time he married her, he had fucking adored her.She was a breath of fresh air.The smile on her lips always seemed genuine.He had wanted to marry her at eighteen, but one commitment and problem after another had kept them apart.Their wedding had been a trial.There was even one point when her own father had asked if he was attempting to sabotage the wedding.He hadn’t.He wanted to marry Mia.
And now, he needed to fix whatever fuckup this was.He knew he was probably the only one to fucking blame for what was happening right now.Squeezing his stress ball, he got to his feet and pressed a few keys on his computer to lock it, so Mia wouldn’t know he liked to watch her.
He left his office and made his way down the hall, out toward the back, in time to see some of his men carrying Mia’s furniture around the front.
“What is going on?”he asked, calling to Steven, one of the men who worked for him.
“Your wife has asked us to take all her stuff to the trash.”
Giovanni nodded, and then he was able to make his way down toward the end of the garden, where he heard a small growl coming from her shed.The shed was designed to look like a small house on the outside, and it still looked the same.Some might consider it a child’s playhouse, but it wasn’t.It was a luxury shed, one he gave her so she could have her own space.Married life for mafia women could be overwhelming, and he wanted her to have the best.Unlike most sheds, this was fully heated, well-insulated, and he had made sure to get an electrician to install some outlets so she could have whatever her heart desired out there.There was no television, but there was a small beauty space, along with a music player as well.
They couldn’t seem to get past this nonsense, and it was driving him crazy.It didn’t matter what he did or said, it was like she couldn’t hear him.Standing at the doorway of her shed, he looked inside and stared at her.
“Are you ...redecorating?”he asked.
Mia looked toward him, a little red in the face.She wore a pair of jeans and an overly large flannel shirt.
“I’m doing a pre-spring cleaning.Do you think I can go to the DIY store?”she asked.
“What do you need?”
“Paint and brushes, and whatever else I think of that will change this space.”
“Mia, why are you doing this?”he asked.
“Because it’s time.I’m not going to have that old stuff there.It’s time for new.”
Giovanni had no interest in going to the DIY store.There was a reason he hired interior designers, so he didn’t have to deal with any of that shit.
He liked killing people.He liked taking care of his sector.Do-It-Yourself maintenance was not him, and he certainly was not a nine-to-five kind of guy.But even though he had a lot of men at Mia’s disposal, he found himself agreeing to go with her.At first, she tried to tell him she could find someone else, which he fucking hated.If anyone was going to take his wife anywhere, it was going to be him.End of fucking story.
Once in the car, he kept his annoyance at bay, and Mia sat beside him, arms folded, and stared out the window.
He didn’t have a clue what to say to her.There was this distance between them he couldn’t seem to cross.He never had difficulty communicating with anyone, not even fucking rats or snitches.He was an expert in getting whatever shit he wanted out of people.Only, right now, he felt like a fucking failure.
“It’s a good day,” he said, looking for anything to fill the silence.
“Spring’s nearly here,” Mia said.
Spring!That was a change of season.“Is there anything you’d like to do to ...you know, celebrate?”He glanced over to her, then returned his attention back to the road.
“Nah, it’s okay,” she said.“No one needs a spring party, especially with Easter around the corner.”
There was a time she would have been all over it, and now she was giving him the cold shoulder, and he was struggling with it.
“Are we hosting Easter?”he asked.
They hosted most events.
