“Yeah, but I thought you just wanted me to share with you.”
“So you ate it all?” I chuckle.
“Well, yeah, I was eight and I thought my mom was going to throw it away. It was better I ate it all than no one get to eat any.”
“Your logic is fucked up, baby. I was your husband.”
She laughs harder. “It made sense back then.”
I kiss her shoulder. “How could you not know I’ve been crazy about you?” I murmur against her shoulder.
“We were kids. We were playing. You couldn’t have known I had a real wedding planned with a dog and four kids of our own.”
“Best day of my life.”
“It was a highlight in mine too,” she says with a smile in her voice. “You were so cute. You had gelled your hair for the first time, and you were dressed up in a suit. I still have that little dress.”
She pauses in thought for a moment and peeks over her shoulder at me. “Although, that’s when I knew your grandfather hated me.”
I wrinkle my brows. “My grandfather?”
We had our wedding on the playground. My grandfathers weren’t there. I know Papa Esposito pulled me aside a few days later to tell me how important it was for me to marry an Italian woman, but I never gave any of that much thought.
I never thought I’d marry anyone. Carleen has been it for me for a very long time as far as true commitment goes.
“Yes, I don’t know how he knew. Your mom and mine were the only ones at the playground, but the next day he appeared at our school. I thought he was there to pick you up.
“He stopped me and told me I’d never be the type of woman you would marry. He said to stick to my own kind.”
I almost explode. I stand up so fast my head spins. “I thought you said he never said anything to you. That’s a whole lot of something to me.”
“I forgot about it until just now. My memory and the fall, you know. Besides, we were eight, Dario. I went home and cried to my mother about it and forgot it after she made me feel better.”
I run a hand through my hair as I vibrate with rage. I try to calm down as I remember her accident. It’s so easy to assume she’s recovered all her memories. Every now and then, it becomes clear that’s not the case.
“Babe,” she calls as I stare into space. I look down as she palms my shaft. “Forget about it. I have. Let me help you relax.”
She takes me into her mouth, and I have to reach out to place my palm against the wall. This isn’t over, but she doesn’t need to know that. I have a conversation for my grandfather. I’m starting to see why my brothers hate him.
“Fuck,” I groan as Carleen pulls my full attention.
Chapter 11
What We See
Carleen
Dario wraps his sweaty arms around me as I towel off. We’ve been in the training gym for the last hour. Fraya, my trainer, has been kicking my ass.
Dario kisses my sweaty shoulder. “You’re revealing your left side too much. Fraya is taking advantage of that,” he murmurs.
“You want to spar with me instead?”
He turns me in his arms and looks down at me. I give him a teasing smile. Dario and I stopped sparring when I turned nineteen. He’ll watch and bark orders, making sure I push to my limits, but he hasn’t been in the ring with me in years.
“If that’s what it takes. Let’s go.”
I tilt my head at him. “What has changed to get you in the ring with me now?”
He frowns. “One, I won’t be distracted by wanting to fuck you because I plan to as soon as we shower to get out of here. Two, I’m leaving. This is the one thing I know you have to protect yourself while I’m gone.”
I lift a brow. “You say that like I’m in some type of danger,” I say and search his eyes.
He purses his lips but doesn’t say more. I can see the wheels turning in his head. I wrap my arms around his waist and look up into his eyes. As much as I don’t what to pry, I don’t like to see him stressed more.
“Rio, it’s me. What’s going on?”
“If anyone ever wanted to hurt me, you would be the way to do it. Women and children aren’t off-limits to everyone.” He pauses and kisses my forehead. “You know what, never mind. We can spar another day. Are we still going to your parents’?”
I groan. “Do we have to?”
He chuckles. “I told you I’d go for moral support. I need to go to my father’s after. Nonno is in town.”
“Oh, man. I’m having lunch with Antonia and Blake. Maybe I can cancel or reschedule.”