She bursts into a laugh, "You have achieved the impossible, you know that?"
"No, not exactly." I frown.
"The Sovranos have egos bigger than...than—"
"Their dicks?" Cass offers.
"Which are sizable," Karma nods. "Also, how do you know about their dicks?" She furrows her forehead.
"Lucky guess?" Cass says in a droll voice. "I haven’t worked with them all these years without having some idea of their voracious appetites."
"Hmm," I scowl at her, "you mean to say, you haven’t seen Adrian’s—"
"Nope," she makes a popping sound at the end of the word.
"I am sure that’s going to be remedied soon enough." I waggle my eyebrows at her.
"Not happening," she says in a firm tone, "and don’t try to change the topic." She turns to Karma, "You were saying?"
"That you’ve set a record of sorts, by proposing. The Sovrano men are way too dominant to not want to take the lead in their wedding proposals, but you did it. You can be proud of that. Only," she chews on her lower lip, "you need to be careful."
"Careful?" I tilt my head, "How do you mean?"
"As you said, he didn’t have much of a choice but to agree to marry you. I am assuming the rest of the Sovrano brothers wouldn’t have let him walk away if he had said no?"
I shrug my shoulders, then nod. "I still don’t understand what you are getting at?"
"You hurt his ego, babe." Karma touches my shoulder. "I one-hundred percent support what you did. Hell, it’s about time someone came along and took the brothers down a notch, but it’s not without consequences."
"Hold on," Elsa jumps up to her feet, "are you saying that he might hurt her?"
Karma turns to her, "You must be Elsa. I have heard so much about you from Theresa."
"Oh, shoot, you guys haven't met before, have you? Elsa meet Karma, Michael's wife, and Karma, this is Elsa my life-saver who is also my friend."
"I am her employee, actually," Elsa laughs, "and it was Theresa who literallydidsave my life when she gave me this job. And hold on, isn't Michael the Don of the Cosa Nostra?"
"Oh, so you’ve been reading up on the Sovranos?" I chuckle.
She shoots me a sideways glance, "I may be new to this city, but you can't go a day without hearing all about the Sovranos and how the Don killed his father to take over his current position... Oops," she firms her lips, "no offense meant." She turns to Karma.
Karma raises a shoulder, "None taken."
"So, it doesn't bother you, uh, being married to a man who has killed?"
"Elsa." I gape at her.
"It's okay." Karma's lips kick up. "Iammarried to the Don of the Cosa Nostra, after all, and it does bother me. Except, I know that Michael is often in situations where, if he doesn't make the first move, he won't live to see the next day, and I love my husband too much for that to happen."
"So, you turn a blind eye to what he does for a living?" Elsa asks.
"I embrace what he does." Karma holds up her hands, "Being part of the Cosa Nostra is a part of Michael, as much as being a designer is in my DNA. I couldn't ask him to leave it any more than I could give up working with fabrics. And it's because I know Michael so well that I am confident Axel won’t hurt you physically." Karma glances at me with a considering look on her face. "If he did, he’d have the rest of the Sovranos to answer to. No, he won’t do something that obvious."
Elsa scowls at her. "Then? Do you think he’ll hurt her mentally or emotionally?"
"It’s possible," Karma says slowly. "I reckon, he’ll get back at you in some form though. How and what? That, I don’t know, but you’d best watch out for it."
"But she’s going to be marrying him." Elsa folds her arms across her chest. "Doesn’t that put her in a vulnerable situation?"