Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 30098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 150(@200wpm)___ 120(@250wpm)___ 100(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 150(@200wpm)___ 120(@250wpm)___ 100(@300wpm)
“I had no idea.”
He lifted his head and looked into her eyes. “Forgive me.”
She frowned. “Why?”
“I knew what I was doing, Aria. I didn’t give you the chance.”
She pressed a finger to his lips. “Don’t worry about it. You assumed I was like my father, or I was in some kind of cahoots with him. I wasn’t. We all make mistakes.” She smiled at him. It wasn’t a fake one, but the kind that lit up her whole face, and made him want to always make her smile. He was done making her miserable and forcing her to pay for other people’s mistakes. “Besides, you’re making up for it now. Uh, I think we need to start wearing a condom, though.”
Dante didn’t want to talk about condoms.
Aria was going to get pregnant and then conversation of divorce was off the table.
“How about I keep making this up to you, and you love it?”
She started to giggle. “You’re on.”
“Trust me, it can get even better.”
“It can?”
“Yeah, you’ve just got to give me a little time, and then I’ll be ready.”
His cock was already starting to thicken again. He wanted to fuck her, to show her how good it could be between them.
This time, he wasn’t going to stop until Aria had fallen in love with him.
Chapter Eight
“Did you always want to be a capo?” Aria asked, taking a bite of a strawberry.
They hadn’t left his bedroom. Dante had to go and get food for them. They hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and although Aria loved what they were doing, her stomach had growled for food.
“When I was old enough to realize what it was we did, yes. My place is taking over for my father.”
“What about when you were a kid? Before you knew what a capo was, what being part of the family was like?” she asked.
Dante blew out a breath and rubbed the back of his head.
“You wanted to be something else, didn’t you?” Aria asked.
“Like a lot of young boys, I wanted to be a fireman,” Dante said.
This did surprise her. “It would have been hilarious if you said a police officer.” She couldn’t help but smile.
Dante reached for a grape with a laugh. “I’m pretty sure there could have been a cop along the way, but Dad made sure I didn’t linger too long on that little obsession.”
Aria looked at him. She knew her brother had a hard time. It wasn’t the same for boys and girls within their world. There were always different expectations from them.
“What was it like for you?” Aria asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, for me, I know I was a disappointment. For Isabella, my sister, she was the good daughter. She’d been born beautiful, blonde hair, blue eyes. Everyone marveled at how pretty she was. Men and women would say she was going to be a star. For me, I was this brown-haired, brown-eyed dump, and trust me, they said I may be the ugly duckling that somehow miraculously turns into a swan.”
“People said that?” Dante asked.
She nodded. “All the time. Trust me, I’ve been called ugly so many times, it doesn’t even make me sad anymore. I know my brother had it rough, I was just wondering if it was the same for all the boys.”
Dante sighed. “I wouldn’t call it rough. I would say we were being prepared from an early age. We have to be. Our enemies don’t believe in an age restriction for their victims. They’ll kill anyone—men, women, children, babies. I’ve seen it all. They only care about winning.”
Aria reached out and put a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to be. I don’t imagine being constantly prepared to be married off is easy.”
She laughed. “It does suck. It is never about love, is it? It’s always about power, and who will make the better suitor.” She shrugged.
“You believe in love?” Dante asked.
She ran fingers through her hair and frowned. “I don’t know. I think I used to, but life kind of gets in the way. Our world doesn’t allow for love.”
“That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.”
She licked her lips. “Do you know of any couple that have fallen in love from an arranged marriage?”
“My parents,” Dante said.
“Oh.”
“Trust me, it wasn’t always easy for them. Far from it, but something happened, and my dad changed. Mom did as well, and they are very much in love. They have each other’s back, you know.”
“That must be nice,” Aria said.
She was surprised as Dante reached out and took hold of her hand.
“If we can’t get that evidence, Aria, we’ll be together, forever.”
“Wow, it sounds kind of scary, doesn’t it?” Aria said. She wasn’t quite so scared or upset at the prospect of being married to Dante for a long time. He wasn’t so bad, not the past couple of months. She found herself growing fond of him, which was a surprise.