Stefano picked the pillow out of the air, his face totally expressionless as he shot the pillow back at her. “Honey, every single person in this room has thought about strangling you, including your husband at one time or another.”
Elie erupted into laughter with her brothers. A smirk flitted across Dario’s face and was gone. Elie knew Dario loved two people in the world—Valentino and Emmanuelle. He would give his life for Emmanuelle Ferraro Saldi whether he occasionally thought about strangling her or not.
Emmanuelle caught the pillow to her with a little pleased grin. “If that’s true, then my mission in life is going very well. I wouldn’t want any of you to be complacent and think you’re getting everything your own way.”
The Ferraro brothers laughed uproariously and Valentino joined them. A look of amusement flashed into Dario’s dark eyes. Elie couldn’t help wishing Brielle was there watching the way the family interacted. Like him, she didn’t have the best model with her family, and seeing the Ferraros together always made him realize what he wanted for his wife and children.
Elie had made it a point to study Stefano and the way he treated his siblings, his wife and his children. Elie hoped both Valentino and Dario did the same. Neither man had much in the way of example of a really good, loving relationship. He knew Giuseppi, Valentino’s adoptive father, had loved his wife, but he also loved his business and ruled with an iron fist. Val had grown up with the old-school ways of running the family business. Elie knew Val didn’t run the business the same way, although Val was quite capable of ruthless behavior if it was needed. Dario certainly could—and did—handle that end. Now that Dario was running his own territory, Elie was trying to keep a closer eye on him, worried that his way of handling anyone stepping out of line might be more like Giuseppi’s.
Elie didn’t want Emmanuelle’s loyalty ever to be caught between her family and her husband’s family. He was absolutely certain Valentino would never place her in that position. He knew Dario loved her and was protective of her, but Dario was the most ruthless man he’d ever come across. He wasn’t as certain of Dario as he’d like to be, but then he didn’t know him as well. Val believed in him implicitly and that carried a lot of weight both with Elie and Stefano. At the same time, Elie wasn’t a trusting man and neither was Stefano. Until they knew Dario as well as Val, they would hold back just a bit and watch him. Dario was a shrewd man and easily read body language as well as registered every inflection and expression. Elie had no doubt that Dario was aware the Ferraros and Elie watched him carefully.
“I have to hand it to you, Dario,” Vittorio said, “this is a great office. The space alone is amazing.”
Taviano nodded and went straight to the double doors. “I like the balcony. Your view is incredible. I do my best thinking outside.” He glanced back at Dario, seeking permission, and at Dario’s nod, opened the doors. At once a cool breeze entered the room.
The flames in the fireplace flared so that the wood crackled behind the heavy chain screen. Taviano stepped outside. Dario and Elie followed him. On the balcony, Dario had two very comfortable chairs made of dark wicker with thick cushions in a chocolate-and-white stripe. Elie was coming to believe the color scheme reflected who Dario was. The chairs looked inviting. Certainly, the view was incredible.
Below, wild lavender grew in long rows over one section of the rolling hills. An emerald lawn rolled down the hill; lavender plants in rustic wood planter boxes framed the pathway leading the way to the lake. White sand covered the beach leading up to the water. Two boats sat in a covered boathouse situated between two long docks that jutted out into the lake.
“You not only have a great office, Dario, but a beautiful piece of property,” Taviano said.
“I like it. Very remote. It has a full basement. Two office spaces. The other office is nearly as nice as this one. The property itself is a little over eighteen acres.”
“You ever find yourself a woman, you’ll have it made,” Elie said, testing the waters.
Dario shrugged, his expression unreadable. “Never brought a woman here. Never needed to. Don’t like anyone knowing the layout of my home. If I find a woman, she’ll be safe here from everyone but me.”
“She’ll be safe from you,” Elie said. “You find a woman and you know there’s only the one, then you don’t chance losing that.”
“Should have said, she knows she’s safe from everyone else. Don’t want her to think she’s safe from me. She’s going to learn to do what she’s told if she’s mine. Can’t live any other way and survive.”
Elie heard the honesty in Dario’s voice. There was a reason for his house to be beyond neat, with everything in its place. Dario was one of the few men Elie would not want to get a “kill” order on. Not just because he genuinely liked him and considered him family, but because he was one of the few men he might have trouble actually killing.
“You don’t have to worry about her, Taviano,” Dario continued. He stared out over the lake, no expression on his face or in his voice. “I can see by that look you think it’s not a good idea for a woman to hook up with me. I don’t think it’s a good idea, either. The chances of me finding one I’m compatible with and would actually want in my life are close to zero. The chances she’d want to be in my life are even less.” A faint smile lit the darkness in his eyes for a brief moment. “Then I have that interfering sister of yours. She’d bring my chances down to zero for certain.”
“Emmanuelle wants to find you someone,” Elie said. “She’s keeping her eye open.”
“Yeah, Valentino told me, but she looks in all the wrong places. She’s not going to find a woman for me in a church.”
Taviano burst out laughing. “Emme doesn’t look in a church for women for you. No way.”
“She might as well be looking there.”
Elie had to laugh, too. “If she’s looking, Dario, beware. She’s a determined matchmaker.”
“She doesn’t like my dating apps. I keep them to annoy her.”
“You show them to her every chance you get, Dario,” Elie accused. “Emme has shared some of the worst ones with me. Those women are crazy.”
“I know. I only let her see the really insane ones.” Dario sounded happier than Elie had ever heard him, which made Taviano laugh all over again.
“You’re good for my sister.”
Dario turned away from the railing to look at Emmanuelle’s brother. “Emme’s good for us. For Val and me. She changed our lives just by being who she is.”
Taviano nodded as he started back inside. “I know what you mean. She’s Emme, Dario.”
Elie knew what Taviano meant. He loved her, too. It was impossible not to. He wanted Emmanuelle to extend her magic to Brielle so she’d feel the acceptance of the entire Ferraro family the way he did—the way Val and Dario did.