Page 4 of Worth Risking It

“I already asked that once.”

“And you were still trying to force him into monogamy. If he knows you’re willing to compromise, he might be willing to meet you halfway. It’s better than losing you.”

“Compromising?” I choked on a breathy, cynical laugh. “I’m debating ‘compromising’ with my future husband over his affairs.”

His finger under my chin, he gave a hard glare. “Remember, he’s not the only one who can have secrets.”

Squinting, I tapped into my anger, pushing the hurt down. “You really willing to die to pick up our affair again—”

“Yes,” he whispered, his fingers stroking my cheek.

A force slammed into my chest, knocking the breath from my lungs. “Wyatt—”

He held the ring up again. “I’m asking you as your friend, don’t do anything stupid that will get you hurt or worse. I’ve never had a real friend until you, Chazzy. I’m not ready to lose you.”

My heart ached for the loneliness I saw in his eyes. How had I never noticed it before? It was so clear.

Dropping my focus to the pink band with the flawless diamond, my insides twisted with shame, heartache, love, and fear. Could I do this? Did I want to? Did I have a choice?

Reluctantly, my hand quaking, I took the ring and slid it back on my finger.

He heaved a sigh of relief, closing his lids and bowing his chin. “Good girl.”

Scrambling to his feet, he hooked the back of my head and dropped a kiss to my forehead. “I’m going to cook us something to eat while you finish in here. Life isn’t going to be so bad, kitten. I promise. It’ll be a little unconventional, but you’ll be happy, I’ll make sure of it.”

I stared after him as he crept from the bathroom, disappearing into the room. Holding my hand out, I eyed the ring. I just agreed to marry a man who would never be faithful, add my own secret lover on the side, and continue building a future as the wife in a mafia family, just so I didn’t die.

Standing, the water sloshing and splattering, I stepped out of the tub and grabbed my robe, wrapping it around my drenched body. It stuck to my skin as I pulled my hair from the collar and wiped the fog off the mirror to look at my reflection.

Embarrassed, I turned away and went to the bedroom, gazing around at all the beautiful furniture and decorations. Thinking back on the last nine months, I really didn’t have much to complain about. Milo treated me like I was a queen and the time he spent with his mistresses never interfered with our time. He never brushed me off to be with them. There was no doubt in my mind the man loved me.

Perhaps I could convince him to just have his mistresses in other towns. When he was globetrotting without me, that was one thing, but here, at home, in Chicago, I was going to put my foot down.

The very fact that I was even standing here, working out rules in my head about my fiancé’s infidelity was absurd. How had my life changed so dramatically in less than a year?

Folding my arms, I shifted to one leg, my expression set to determination. I didn’t want to lose the style of life I had grown accustomed to, plain and simple. I absolutely still loved Milo, but I was losing respect for him. He wanted to have his affairs, fine. He would pay, however. It was time I stopped being selfless and accepted that I had unlimited funds at my fingertips. Everything I had ever wanted growing up but couldn’t have because I was poor, was finally going to be mine.

A mischief smirk curling my mouth, I went to the closet and grabbed some clothes. It was time to go shopping.

Chapter 3

Chastity Monroe

Standing in the expansive, rectangular shaped sitting room that was surrounded by windows, I folded an arm over my stomach, my elbow on top, and tugged at my lip. The view looked out on a narrow park with a small lot that only had about a dozen spaces for vehicles, Lake Michigan just beyond it. The sky was turning gray, clouds rolling in quickly.

My head tipped, I thought about viewing this scenery twenty years in the future. Would I be standing here like I was now, wondering where Milo was? Or who he was with, rather?

Wyatt dropped down the two small steps from the master suite, heaving a groan. “You really going to do this?”

Taking a ragged, deep breath, I straightened my spine and smoothed my blouse over my stomach, pausing to rub it for a moment, hoping to ease the curdling of nerves. “Yes,” I whispered, that one word quivering.

“I wish you’d reconsider.”

“You’ve told me before, when Milo gets fed up with a woman, he cuts her off. If I piss him off hard enough, he’ll break up with me. Then I can walk away safely.”

“It isn’t that easy, kitten,” he muttered from right behind me. “I done warned you, you know too much.”

“I don’t even speak Italian. I don’t know what I heard.”