Page 48 of Worth Risking It

The only time we ever showed one another affection was when Milo was out of town, behind closed doors. Thankfully, my fiancé’s position in “the family” was liaison. He was the one who did all the traveling to make connections and create business deals, while Theodore and Jack handled the more illicit details I was not allowed to know about. All I knew was on a scale of one to ten, Milo came in around a three because the laws he broke were mainly smuggling or embezzlement. To my knowledge, he did not have anything to do with anyone’s death, or the likes.

Huffing, I waved my hands back and forth in the water, turning my head slightly to peer at the palm leaves blowing in the breeze outside. I was marrying into a mafia family. I had long ago dealt with the fact that things happened that should scare and horrify me, but did not. I don’t know if that made me a horrible person, but I accepted it for what it was and moved on.

I had so many other things to deal with in my head to worry about a conscious toward things I would never know about.

I snorted, gazing toward the sky once more. I guess I had a bit of selfish streak in me, as well. Maybe that’s why I was so willing to forgive Milo’s affairs. Part of me understood his selfishness. It was what he was used to, he had never had to worry about someone else’s feelings, and it made him feel better.

I had always turned a blind eye to strangers’ struggles, never feeling too much compassion. Raising myself since I was a kid, living on the streets, I never would have survived had I put my focus on someone else’s needs. I had always concentrated on my own, only caring about those in my circle.

Perhaps I was perfect to be a wife in the mafia.

Catching movement to the right, my heart skipped as Milo stepped through the sliding glass door wearing only a pair of black, silk pajama pants. A lazy grin on his face, he winked, strutting toward me arrogantly.

“Goddamn, you are so fine, baby girl.”

My belly fluttered with a million butterfly wings. “Hey, sexy.”

Rolling the legs up, he plopped on the edge, dropping his feet into the water. His sight roamed over me, one side of his smile rising higher as he slowly shook his head. “I could look at you all day and never get tired. I am one lucky son of a bitch.”

I bent my waist and dunked underwater for a moment, pushing my hair off my face as I stood and broke the surface. Grinning mischievously, I hooked a finger under a strap of my bathing suit, arched a brow, and acted as if I would pull it down and reveal my breast.

His expression fell, his Adam’s apple lurching. His lids rounding, his chest heaved with his quickening breaths. “Hell yeah,” he muttered when the cup slid down to just above my nipple.

I giggled and shrugged it back into place, putting the strap on my shoulder.

“Goddammit, that was fucked up,” he chuckled, pulling at his crotch.

I waded toward him, my hands on his knees, and stretched my neck to brush our lips. He groaned, dragging the side of his finger along my jawbone.

“What’s wrong, Chazzy?” he whispered, gazing into my eyes. “I know you, baby girl. Something’s wrong.”

I shrugged and pouted, circling my thumbnail through his leg hair. “I just feel really bad for Wyatt.”

“You two seem to finally be friends. Good, I’m glad.”

A knot formed in my throat, anxiety shaking my bones. Too afraid to look at him until I calmed, I gave a tiny nod. “We get along better now. Mutual agreement, I guess you could say.”

“Well, that’s good. My two favorite people in the world need to get along.”

Shame pulled my chin lower, my lids clenching.

“When I marry you, and he’s standing next to me as my best man, I need to know there’s no resentment.”

Sighing, I slid my arms around his waist and laid my cheek to his chest to keep him from seeing my disgrace. Oh, there would be resentment, but because he wanted to be the groom, not because he didn’t approve.

“He’s going to be okay,” he muttered, kissing my wet hair. “He’s a strong guy. I’m trying to hurry things up here so we can get home early, but he’ll be okay.”

I cleared my throat, wanting to change the subject. Standing upright, I forced a fake smile, praying the lights were too dim around the pool for him to see it didn’t reach my eyes. “So, why such a basic house?”

His chin jutted forward to purse his bottom lip, his head rolling around his shoulders to gaze about. “You don’t like this place?”

“Actually, I kind of love it. I’m just so used to skyscrapers, penthouses, opulence, and glitz. This place is pretty basic. Why the change?”

He shrugged, twirling a lock of my hair around his finger. “I don’t always rent the best of the best. I didn’t think I’d see you this trip, so I didn’t bother getting anything to impress you. A lot of the time, me and Frank are in places like this.”

“Wait, so you get those places to impress me?”

He nodded, glimpsing at me through his lashes.