I sigh. I’ve asked myself this over and over again.
She doesn’t know the vow I took that supersedes all others. She doesn’t know Romeo’s already promised her to someone.
“Maybe this time…” her voice trails off.
“Babe, I’m on probation. They sent me to Italy to exile me, you know this.”
She sighs.
“I do. But Romeo isn’t the one in charge now, is he?” Rosa asks, a wicked gleam in her eye.
He is, but at a distance, and we both know this.
I roll her over on top of me and hold her to my chest. Her heart beats along with mine.
“What if?” I ask her.
“What if what?”
“What if you were mine.” My voice is choked as I hold her to me. I run my hand along her back, the soft skin melding to my touch. “How would that change things?”
“We wouldn’t have to hide, for starters.” She laces her fingers with mine. “We could be openly… well, just with each other.” She kisses the palm of my hand. “We wouldn’t need protection. I could have your babies, Santo.”
Fuck.
Fuck.
“I’ll have to prove myself to the brotherhood, Rosa. I have to start there.”
She looks up at me, her eyes wide and a little surprised. “Do you think that would work?”
Not if she’s fucking engaged to another man.
I hold her gaze and don’t betray what I know. I can’t do that to her, nor to Romeo or Tavi. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, betraying that confidence would end with swift and merciless punishment.
“I don’t know.”
She winces and looks away.
“What?”
“I just remembered that time one of Elise’s bodyguards…”
I look away. It’s a time none of us wishes to remember.
“She thought she was in love with him, didn’t she?” she says softly. “But she was just a kid.”
“Just a kid? She was eighteen years old. Old enough to know better.”
Old enough to be sent off in marriage to someone else.
“Who was it?” she asks softly. I know what she means.
Which one of us was the one who pulled the trigger? Who ended his life?
“You know who I am, Rosa.”
She nods.
“Then you know who it was.”
We sit for long minutes while the sun sets. This is borrowed time. Soon, they’ll be looking for me, if they aren’t already. Soon…
“I have to go,” I tell her. “We’ll have to be careful. We’ve spent a lot of time with each other today.”
Suddenly, she sits up, her eyes wild. “And what if I don’t care?”
Her voice is louder than before, careless. She scowls at the door as if defying someone to overhear us.
“Don’t talk like that, Rosa.”
“Like what?” she says, even louder.
“Rosa.” My voice holds a warning edge. She bites her lip and shakes her head.
“No. No, I know.” She sighs. “Let’s get through this, Santo. Do what you think you have to. Let’s get Romeo out of jail. Then… then let’s see what we can do.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Rosa
The days pass slowly, but I don’t mind it. Normally, I’d be out of my mind with boredom, dying to get back into town with Elise for the fall collection reveal. I love this time of year, but it isn’t the same when we’re all stuck within the walls of The Castle.
Don’t get me wrong, there are far worse places for one to be confined in. We have the full staff here preparing our meals, and with the exception of the basement levels and outside grounds, we have the run of the place.
We haven’t hired a new nanny for Natalia, but there are so many here to occupy her for now, I barely see my little girl except for the few nights she spends in her own bed. When Tavi lifts our lockdown, that will change.
Santo’s still here. And Santo is very, very much present.
Always.
He keeps himself distant and brotherly when we’re around anyone else, or in the near vicinity of a security camera. He panicked once when Tavi first told him they’d revamped the security system, but after a thorough sweep with Mario, he discovered there was no evidence of the two of us that’s suspect.
And the maid hasn’t said a word.
Still… a part of me feels as if we’re waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like the deep, dark secret of our love for one another will be brought to light, and that we’ll regret the consequences of what we’ve done.
I don’t, though. I don’t. How could I?
Santo is the only one for whom my heart beats. The only one that truly loves me, the way a lover should.
“I’m bored,” Marialena announces over lunch one day. We’ve gone swimming, made playdough with Natalia, made knotted fleece blankets to donate to charity, done family yoga which was wildly amusing, learned how to make Russian teacakes, and brewed new iced tea recipes. It’s nice having the cousins here, though. They’re funny and easy to get along with, even if I know they’re ruthless and stern like my brothers, when they feel the situation warrants it.