A Thousand Cuts (Underworld Kings)

I crossed my arms in front of me. “He’s hardly old enough to be my father.”

“Not by much,” he argued, his voice hard. “Not only that, he’s dangerous, Sienna.”

I sighed. This was where the predictable, alpha male speech usually came in. “I know,” I conceded before he could launch into that speech. “I know he’s dangerous, Aiden. And I like it.”

His eyes widened ever so slightly.

“I know that you don’t understand it, I hope you never do, but I’ll never want the good guy. The nice guy. It would kill me to end up with one. Slowly drain the life from me. Cristian is perfect for me.”

I held my hand up as Aiden opened his mouth to protest.

“It means a lot to me, knowing that I have a good and decent man in my life.” I unfolded my arms, clasping my hands in front of me. “You mean a lot to me. I want you living a safe and happy life. Hopefully with my best friend, if you two can get out of your own way.” I attempted a smile, but Aiden’s expression was grim.

“You’re the kind of man whose first instinct is to protect the woman from the Big Bad Wolf. But I don’t need protection, I have teeth of my own. I can take care of myself.” I sucked in a breath. “And in order to keep you safe, I need you to back off. No talking about Cristian. The family. Your safety depends on it.”

Aiden stared at me. I hated the way he stared. Like he didn’t know who I was. Or worse, he did.

I swallowed the bitterness that came with that look. “Will you promise me, Aiden? To live your life? To serve us drinks and laugh and pretend you don’t know anything about who Cristian is?”

Aiden blinked at me, his jaw rigid. “Yes,” he sighed. “I can promise for me.” He narrowed his eyes. “But keep Jessica out of this.”

A warning. One from a bartender with no ties to any kind of crime family. Not dangerous under normal circumstances.

But he was a man in love.

A most dangerous creature.

“I promise,” I vowed.

He nodded once then walked away.

I’d lost him. Not completely. But our friendship was tainted now. As it would be forever.

I’d lose more before the day was out.

Vincentius walked me down the aisle.

The aisle that led from the house deep into the garden, which had been repurposed to accommodate the hundreds of guests sitting on black chairs. Everything was black. Down to the lanterns that ran along the aisle. The arch which Cristian was standing under. The grandeur of it all wowed me. The work that Sofia had put in to make this wedding ... ours. This was not some white, WASPy wedding that made me feel uncomfortable and wrong.

No, this was perfect.

Most of the guests were criminals and murderers.

That was perfect too.

My eyes went to the end of the aisle, to the man standing there in black, waiting for me.

The mafia Don.

The criminal.

The monster.

My husband.

The ceremony passed in a blur, Cristian dragging me off to his office once it was done. We hadn’t had a moment alone. Not since he took me with Felix. We stole another one, in between the photos, when I dragged him into the gardens.

“The fact that you gave me to another man just showed me you’re the only man for me,” I breathed, the chatter of our guests not far away.

His eyes darkened. “I did not and will not ever give you away. It is impossible to give away a part of myself. I’d sooner carve out my heart.”

There it was. As close to a proclamation of love as I’d ever get.

“Ever since we met, you’ve painted me as the villain.” He trailed his hand across my jaw.

His touch was featherlight. Gentle. Yet it was an assault across my skin.

“It’s the story you told yourself to keep you sane. To hold on to the notions that allowed you to pretend you were like the rest of the world.”

His thumb brushed my bottom lip.

“But, Sienna, we both know you are not like anyone else. We both know that you are not the victim here. You are another villain.”

I shivered under the words, letting my husband’s sacred proclamation settle someplace deep inside of me.

Chapter Twenty-One

I’d expected our reception to go on until the wee hours of the morning. Especially with Sofia and Jessica at the helm. Then there were all the people who had attended. Important people. To the family. I may have still been learning the intricate relationships and workings of the mafia, but I understood there were different families here. Powerful families. Families who didn’t often get together. Couldn’t often get together without something like a wedding structuring the meeting, keeping it off law enforcements’ radar, making it so it was harder for one side to kill the other. I didn’t resent that. Wasn’t pissed that my wedding day was all about the business of the mob instead of love and romance, all of Cristian’s attention on me.