It was about forty-five minutes out of town, just close enough to make the regular journey. Just far enough to separate me from all the crap that went on back in the city.
I’d bought a hundred acres up here. So far, there was only a road and a foundation poured for a large house, garage, and a pool. Sewage. Electrical hookups, that kind of thing. I needed security—fences—if I was going to go through with my plans.
I even had plans for the house drawn up and ready to go.
But I hadn’t pulled the trigger. It had always seemed like something far away. Just a few hours ago, everything had changed.
I had something to protect. Something worth hiding away from the world.
I had Evangeline.
I took the long road through the property, driving a little slower now. I kept going until I reached the build site. I parked and sat on the hood of my car, watching the sun come up.
I knew what I had to do. I was clearheaded, even though my body was on edge. I wasn’t going to push things too far, too fast.
I’d made a promise to go slow and I would.
But I drove like hell to get home. I wanted to be there to watch her wake up. I wanted to make sure she was okay.
I wanted a good morning kiss and maybe a little more. Maybe a lot more.
I could take what I wanted, up to a point.
Just as long as I did it slowly.
I was still smiling when I slipped into bed and pulled my bride-to-be’s warm and soft body into my arms for a kiss.
Chapter 22
Evangeline
“Cream lace. Not white. But not too much of it.”
I stood there feeling ridiculous while women bustled around me speaking a combination of Italian and English.
“Maybe just the arms,” Auntie offered while her cousin Maria held up fabric this way and that. “Pearls on the bodice.”
“I don’t need anything fancy,” I tried to protest. I had been touched when Antonio woke me up that morning with a kiss and a cup of coffee. He looked like he hadn’t slept. I didn’t ask him where he’d gone.
That was probably a good policy for a mafia wife.
I’d been shocked and a little bit alarmed when he announced that I was having my dress fitting today. And that his aunts and other relations would be making the dress themselves. I was impressed by all that Auntie could do, but I wasn’t ready for it. It seemed too soon.
That was before he kissed me senseless, with only the blankets between us, then sent me into the shower. He’d waited patiently, handing me another cup of coffee when I came out. He’d even made the bed and picked out something for me to wear.
The big, fuzzy sweater was nowhere to be found, I noticed.
And now I was here, feeling a little bit like Apollonia from the second Godfather movie. An innocent married to a monster. But the monster had loved her, as Antonio had pointed out when we watched the trilogy the other night. Most people only watched the first two, apparently. But Antonio was a purist. He always finished a trilogy or series. He’d told me he thought the third film had value, even though it didn’t live up to the first two.
We’d even read the scathing reviews together on his iPad after watching. It was . . . cozy. Never mind the fact that he locked the iPad in a safe while I got ready for bed. He thought I didn’t notice, but I did.
I wondered when I would get my phone back. If I would get it back. If I would be allowed to complete my classes or get my degree.
I wondered if anything would ever be normal again.
“Ouch!”
“Scusa, scusa, Bella,” Auntie said soothingly, but she was smiling. The woman had gone wedding crazy. She was always smiling at me like I was the greatest thing since sliced bread.
At least someone is happy about this wedding, I grumbled to myself. But that was a lie. It wasn’t just Auntie. Antonio was happy about it too. His cousin Michael also seemed genuinely pleased for us. Even Tiny had a little bit of a sparkle in his eyes lately.
Vincent and I had yet to be convinced.
And I knew without a doubt that his opinion was the only one that mattered. His and Tony’s. They ran things nationwide, but mostly on the West Coast. They had real aboveboard businesses and . . . other interests that Tony swore up and down he would shield me from.
I didn’t like it. I wasn’t sure I believed it. But I let him make those promises.
I had a terrible feeling that being his wife might get me killed. Not might. Would. I just didn’t know how long it would take.