Just like I had chosen not to kill Connor mysteriously in his sleep and worm my way into Samara's life and bed. The thought had crossed my mind several times over the past couple years, and I now severely regretted not acting on it. Everything changed the day she told me she'd filed for divorce, and even though I gave her time to get the divorce completed, I'd started making plans and arrangements for our future. Plans that I'd thrown out the moment I learned Connor hurt her, but the end was the same.
She was mine in truth. No one could take her from me now.
"Hey, pretty lady," I said as I stepped into the kitchen. I should have been surprised to find Ivory cooking and Donatello cradling Luna, but I wasn't. From what I'd seen, I wondered if Matteo needed to worry about the older man running away with the baby he considered a granddaughter.
"Hi Lino." Ivory's face morphed into a smile. "You’re still alive, I see.”
I rubbed my hand over my head sheepishly. Given everything Matteo had put Ivory through in their brief, chaotic courtship, I wondered how she would react to the truth behind my marriage with Samara.
That I'd had to threaten her into it.
"Yes," I said finally. She shook her head at me, teasing but communicating just how much I should be ashamed of myself. But I wasn't. How could I be, when Samara wore my ring and bore my last name?
My wife.
It felt like I'd never get over saying it.
"Matteo's on the phone," Donatello said. "Not to be interrupted, but he shouldn't be long."
"Come help me assemble these Cubanos for lunch, and maybe I'll even let you eat one," Ivory said with a grin. I nodded, stripping off my suit jacket and rolling up my sleeves before washing my hands. As soon as I helped her pick apart the pork roast, she settled in for arranging it on the rolls. "How is she handling it?"
"Better than I expected, honestly," I sighed. "I wish I hadn't had to threaten her, but you understand why I did, right?"
Ivory paused a moment, worrying the corner of her mouth between her teeth as she thought about it. "Now? Yes. After what happened with Adrian, I completely understand going to extreme measures to keep her safe. That said, if you'd asked me before that? The answer would be a hell to the fucking no. I'm sure Samara falls in that same category. She hasn't been kidnapped or had to face the thought of abuse like that."
"He raped her, Ivory," I admitted. "That's why she finally filed for divorce." I knew it wasn't my place to tell her, but it felt like I couldn't get an accurate opinion without giving that information. "I don't want you to make a thing about it, or even let on that you know. Samara wouldn't like people kno
wing, but—"
"I get it," Ivory sighed, finishing with the pork and sprinkling cheese on top. "I won't say anything, but I don't think that changes much. Samara is stubborn, and I assume she didn't tell you until she had no choice?"
"You assume correctly," I grunted.
"She thinks her problems are her own. She has always thought that she should be responsible for herself and the consequences of the decisions she makes. You remember when we all went to that lake, and she climbed up on the rocks because she saw Matteo and I do it?"
"But then she got scared and didn't want to jump," I finished.
"You offered to help her down, but she wouldn't let you. Your offer to help actually made her jump even though she was terrified. She was that desperate to not let you help her," Ivory laughed. "I expect this is a lot like that. She'd rather flounder on her own and be afraid than reach out. In the long run, you forcing your help on her is probably a good thing because she'd never accept it any other way, but for now I think you'll have a rough road ahead of you."
I opened the jar of homemade pickles, following behind Ivory as she sprinkled the cheese. "When is anything with Samara ever easy?"
"The things worth fighting for never come easy, sweetheart," Ivory murmured. "I think you need to just be honest with her, slowly. Ease into certain aspects of the marriage and give her stubborn ass some time to acclimate. She's living with you already? So maybe start there. Get a realtor for her house and push her to sign papers to sell it. Things that make her feel like she has a say, even if she really doesn't since you're you and we both know you could sell her house out from under her if you paid the right people off."
"That makes sense," I admitted. "I'll call my realtor tomorrow morning. Get her on it, and in the meantime send some guys over to pack up the rest of her stuff."
"I know you aren't used to going without sex, but if Connor hurt her—"
"She needs time. I know. I've already waited for almost a fucking year, a little longer won't kill me." Ivory turned to stare up at me, tears pooling in her eyes.
"Almost a year?"
"Since she told me she was getting divorced. I knew that she would be mine. I wasn't about to fuck around while I waited, not when I knew our future was coming."
"Lino, I think that might be the sweetest thing I've ever heard," Matteo's gruff voice interrupted, a mocking chuckle to his lilt. But the look on his face bore nothing but open approval.
"Shoo you," Ivory laughed. "This is an important conversation. I'll send him in when we're finished."
"Fine," Matteo groaned, but he grinned as he walked past to snatch Luna out of Don's arms. "I'll spend time with the most beautiful baby in the world. She's much prettier than you anyway, Lino."