Page 58 of Aldo

He hesitated, then leaned down and kissed me. “Thank you,” he breathed out, moving away before I could ask him why.

The man was as much a mystery to me at times now as he’d been the first day I’d met him.

I wondered if it would ever change.

ALDO

I relaxed once the ceremony was over, the speeches done, and the dancing began. No one had stepped out of line, tried to stop the ceremony, or bring up business. Everything was going well. Luca and Justine were happy and married in a way that pleased her father, and they would now be able to experience their lives out in the open with each other. He was obviously crazy for her, and it was good to see. Nonna V beamed during the ceremony and was still smiling, although she looked a little tired. She had danced with Luca, and I knew once she danced with Roman, she would leave.

I glanced at Vi, who was watching the room and seemed to be enjoying herself. She had danced with Luca as well, and I admired how lovely she looked on the floor. Several men had come over to ask her, but she had declined politely, leaning toward me in her chair as she did so. My hand on her shoulder told them she was taken, and they didn’t linger long.

I couldn’t blame them. She was beautiful tonight in the candlelight. Her dress set off her dark hair and lovely eyes, and when she moved, she was graceful. Elegant. And completely sexy. My cock had been hard the entire night, wanting her.

Keeping my hands off her had been the hardest thing I’d ever done. But the thought of causing her pain kept my libido in check every day. I tried to show her my affection, but I was beginning to think I had failed.

And I had never expressed out loud the way I felt about her. The thought of living without her had become unfathomable. I’d heard her mention to Wanda she’d be moving back to her place in a few days, and the idea that she wouldn’t be there, at the house, with me, threw me into a tailspin.

I had bought the house as a place to put down roots. But once I’d bought it, I rarely stayed. The hotel was easier. Less lonely somehow. But since Vi had been there, the house felt like home. We cooked together on occasion—neither of us great, but it was fun, because it was with her. Knowing she was waiting for me when I got home made me hurry a little faster to get to her. I lingered there long after I should have gone to the casino. I looked forward to the day her injuries were totally healed and she would join me in bed the way she used to before the attack.

Roman approached and offered his hand to Vi. “Dance, doll?”

She stood and took his proffered hand. For some reason, that bothered me. I turned and studied them on the dance floor.

“So elegant,” Nonna V said. “They dance well together.”

“He’s a little short for her,” I replied.

“He is the perfect height. Not all can tower over the general population, you know. They move very well.”

They did. Both were graceful and fluid. I narrowed my eyes. His hand was a little close to her ass.

That was my ass to touch.

“He is fond of her.”

I huffed a snort.

“He calls her doll. I’m not sure Roman has ever given someone a nickname.”

He did call her doll. It never bothered me until Nonna V pointed it out. I was sure Vi preferred it when I called her baby. She always smiled when I did.

At least, she used to.

I looked again. The bastard was holding her far too closely.

And she was leaning her head on his shoulder.

What the fuck?

She lifted her head and said something to him, and he nodded. They stopped dancing and headed out to the balcony, disappearing through the door. Together.

I blinked. She didn’t come back to the table. To me.

She went with Roman.

Red-hot anger tore through me. Jealousy, a feeling I had never experienced, raged inside my chest, and of their own volition, my hands clenched into fists on the table.

Nonna V looked at me, then toward the balcony doors. “Oh dear,” she murmured.