I awoke at dawn, but Lily was not there. I jumped up, reaching for my gun on the nightstand, as usual expecting the worst. But Lily was there at the window, looking out. I didn’t have floor-to-ceiling windows like Luca’s ‘attic, but they weren’t exactly small. But Lily had grown up as the daughter of a Consigliori. She had had the best of everything all her life.
I pulled my legs off the bed and walked over to her.
“It’s not as grand as you’re used to.
Your family’s townhouse and Aria’s penthouse are much bigger than my apartment. You will be a simple soldier’s wife.” Lily winced slightly, then looked over her shoulder at me. “Do you really think I care about things like that? When I lived in a huge house and had more money than I could spend I was never happy, but when I’m with you I am.” “However, this will be a big change for you,” I said.
I was not exactly poor, but she would not be able to afford as much as she had before. Lily turned fully toward me and touched my cheeks. “I just want you, Romero. I don’t care about money.” She gestured around. “And this is a wonderful place.
Most people would be happy to live here. I love it.” That’s why I knew Lily was the one. The sun finally peeped over the surrounding skyscrapers. “Look,” I said, pointing to the city. Lily turned in my arms, her back pressed against my chest, as we watched the sunrise. I wanted to enjoy this moment of peace and tranquility, because I knew there would not be many more moments like that today. The Family was at war with the Outfit now. “I’m worried about Fabi. I wish there was a way to find out if he is okay. What if Dante and Father don’t believe his story? I could never forgive myself if something happened to him because of me.” “I’ll find a way to get information, but I’m sure he’s fine. He is your father’s only son. Even if your father is not happy with him, Fabi will not be punished too harshly.” “He is now married to a young woman. He may produce a new heir,” he said bitterly. “Let me call Luca and see if he knows anything,” I said and released myself from her. Luca would probably already be awake if he had gone to bed. Luca answered after the second call. “Did you kill another member of the Outfit?” He said it mostly in a joking tone, but I could hear the tension in his voice. “No. Have you heard anything? Has Dante tried to contact you?” “No. He just sent me an e-mail through one of his men to tell me that our partnership is over.” “He didn’t even contact you in person, or at least through his counselor?” I asked. That was a display of blatant disrespect and showed how serious the situation was. “I don’t think Scuderi has much desire to talk to me right now,” Luca said wryly. Lily approached me, with an anxious expression on her face. “I guess not,” I said. “Listen Luca, Lily is really worried about her brother. Do you have a way to find out if he’s okay?” “Aria has tried to get in touch with Valentina but so far no luck. She will try again later. You and Lily should come anyway. We have a lot to discuss and the women can spend time together.” “Good. We’ll be there soon.” I hung up. “And?” asked Lily hopefully. “Luca still has no information about your brother, but he and Aria are trying to contact Valentina.” “Do you really think Val will respond to Aria’s calls? She is Dante’s wife, and now that there is a war between New York and Chicago, she would risk a lot by contacting Aria.” Romero touched my cheek. “We will find out about your brother, Lily, I promise.” We took a quick shower before heading to Aria’s apartment. When we entered the penthouse, Gianna and Matteo were already there despite the fact that it was only seven in the morning. The smell of freshly brewed coffee greeted me and the Danes were waiting on the kitchen counter. My sisters were standing and talking, and I headed toward them as Romero approached Luca and Matteo who were sitting on stools at the kitchen island. Aria put her arm around me. “How are you doing Lily?”
“Okay. I haven’t slept much but I’m happy to be here with you and Romero.” “Of course you are,” Gianna said. “I’m so glad Romero got rid of that sick bastard Benito.” An image of Benito’s bloodied body leapt into my mind, but I pushed it away. I didn’t want to think about him anymore. He was no longer a part of my life. Aria handed me a cup of coffee. “Here, you look like you need it. And you should eat something.” “Active hen mode,” Gianna teased me, but then she too fixed me with a worried look. “E?
How was your first night with Romero?” “Gianna,” Aria warned me. “Lily’s been through a lot.” “It’s okay. I enjoyed spending the night in Romero’s arms without being afraid of being discovered. For the first time we were able to watch the sunset together.”
“I’m so glad you’re happy,” Aria said. I nodded, “But I can’t stop worrying about Fabi. I want to know if she is okay.”
“I left two voice messages on Val’s phone. I really hope he calls me back.” “Even if he does,” Matteo said. “We don’t know his motives. He might do it on Dante’s orders and look for information.” “Val wouldn’t do that,” Aria said uncertainly. “She is the Boss’s wife. The Outfit is where her loyalties lie. You are part of the Family and that makes you the enemy,” Luca said. I cast a glance at Romero. All because I loved a man I shouldn’t have loved, and because I wanted to be with him. Was I a selfish bitch?
Romero crossed my gaze. I wished I could say I wouldn’t do it again, but looking at him now, I knew I would stab Benito again to save myself from a horrible marriage and be with the guy I was supposed to spend my life with. I was a selfish bitch. “Hey,” Aria said kindly. “Don’t look so sad.” I turned back to her. “You and Val used to get along so well. I know you used to talk on the phone a lot, and now you can’t because of the mess I made.” “You are my sister Lily, and seeing you happy and having you in New York with us is more important than my friendship with Val. And maybe Luca can negotiate another truce with Dante. Dante is a pragmatic man.” “Not as long as your father is Councilor. It would be like a slap in the face for your father if Dante didn’t seek revenge,” Romero said. “I hate this revenge shit,” Gianna muttered. Matteo got up from his stool, walked over to her and pulled her to him with a smile. “I know you do, but that’s the way it goes.” Gianna rolled her eyes but let Matteo kiss her. In the past it would have given me a twinge of envy, but now I moved closer to Romero and leaned into him. He put his arm around my shoulder and kissed my temple.
“We’ve already been at war with the Outfit. We will make it .” “I don’t want people to die because of me.” “Romero is right. We will get through this. And I don’t think Dante will kill one of our own. The Russian threat is still too strong. He cannot risk the lives of his soldiers in a war with us.” “Neither can we,” Matthew added. A phone rang, jolting us all. Aria grabbed the phone from the counter and peered at the screen, then lifted her head wide-eyed. “It’s Val.” Luca stood up. “Don’t let it slip out that Fabi helped us and be careful.” Aria nodded, then brought the phone to her ear. “Hello?” She paused. “I’m so glad you called. Can you talk?” Aria listened for a few seconds, her expression drooping. “I know. I just wanted to ask you about Fabi. He was shot when he tried to stop us and I’m so worried about him. He is so young. He shouldn’t have been involved in this. Can you tell me how he is?” Aria let out a sigh. “So is he okay? Will he be able to use his arm like he used to?” I let myself fall back against Romero in relief, but at Aria’s next words I stiffened again. “Is he in big trouble because he couldn’t stop us?” Aria nodded, then gave us a thumbs-up. She was silent for a long time after that, listening to Val. “Okay, I’ll tell him.
Thank you very much, Val. I won’t forget it. I hope our people will understand something soon. I will miss talking to you. Bye.” “So what?”
I asked, the moment he hung up. “Dad and Dante seem to believe Fabi’s story. No one blames him for letting us go.
He didn’t have enough experience for the job. Only because of Dad’s insistence did he take it in the first place.” Luca looked like a bloodhound on the trail. “Did he say anything else? “About Dante’s plans and his mood?” “He’s furious,” Aria said with a shrug. “But he wanted Val to give you a message,” she told Luca, her eyes shifting to me. Romero froze beside me. I had a feeling I knew what kind of message. “If we put Lily off today, they might consider not responding.” Romero got up from his stool. “She’s not coming back.” Luca squinted his eyes but then took a deep breath. “Of course not. Dante knows we will not accept that offer . That’s why he made it.” Romero lightly stroked my arm and moved closer to my ear. “No one will take you away from me. I will fight a million wars if it means I can keep you.” *** It had been two days, but it could have been a lifetime. Romero had been busy and I had spent most of my time with my sisters. But tonight Romero wanted us to have dinner together alone in his, no, in our apartment. He had ordered food from his favorite Italian restaurant and arranged everything on the dining table in his huge kitchen. A few minutes into dinner, Romero put down his fork.
“Luca made me captain.” “Really? That’s wonderful!” I could see how much this meant to him. I had never had the feeling that he was unhappy as Aria’s bodyguard, but obviously it was a big deal if you got promoted, especially since the mob was a place where people usually took their father’s place. “What business are you going to get?” “I’m going to take over some clubs in Harlem. The old captain has cancer and has to retire, but he only has daughters, so Luca decided to give me his businesses. I’ll get more money out of it.” I smiled. “You know I don’t care. I’m just happy for you because you deserve it.” Romero grimaced. “Some people don’t feel that way after I started the war with the Outfit.” “I thought the majority were anxious to stop cooperating with Chicago?” “Those people think I deserve to be Captain,” he said amused . “So who’s going to protect Aria?” “That’s a little problem.
Sandro will protect Aria and Gianna for now. But it will not be enough, especially when you will be with them often. He can’t protect all three, but we will find a solution.” When we finished with dessert, Romero stood up and walked around the table toward me. I looked at him confused .
Did he look nervous? Without warning, Romero knelt right in front of me and pulled out a small satin box from his pants pocket. I froze when he handed it to me and opened it, revealing a beautiful diamond ring. Obviously I hoped we would be married soon. It was expected in our world, but I did not expect that Romero had already bought a ring. He had wasted no time, that was for sure! “I know you’ve been through a lot and your last marriage experience was horrible, but I hope you’ll give it another chance. I want to be the husband you deserve. I want to make you happy and love you, if you let me. Will you marry me?” I threw myself into his arms, my knees collided with the hard floor but I hardly felt it. “God yes.” I kissed him fiercely. Romero smiled as he pulled back. We did not get up from the floor. As long as I was in Romero’s arms I didn’t care where I was. “I understand if you want to wait a while before marrying me. You’re probably not in the mood to plan another wedding.” I quickly shook my head. “This is a wedding I want to plan. I’m going to have fun this time. I can take Aria and Gianna wedding dress shopping with me and be really excited about it.” He chuckled. “But I want you to meet my family first. That way we can tell them the good news.” “Oh, sure,” I said slowly. I was excited to meet Romero’s family, but I was also worried that they would not appreciate me. *** The next day Romero took me to his family. His mother lived with her new husband and Romero’s three sisters in a modest apartment not too far from us. I should not have worried that they would not appreciate me. They were kind and humble people. I already knew her two older sisters from my birthday party many years ago, but we had grown up and her older sister T amara had already started college. Something I had never considered because I knew my father would not approve of it. Family dinner had always been a formal event, with my father sitting at the end of the table and everyone being on their best behavior, well except maybe Gianna. But this was easygoing and fun. We talked and laughed all evening, and when Romero told them we were getting married, they hugged me and were really happy. No one looked at me funny because I had married Benito less than a week before. I knew at that moment that I would be happy in this new life, not only because of Romero’s love, but also because of my sisters and my new family. This would not prevent me from missing Fabi, but I had to trust that one day he would find his happiness, even if we never saw each other again. Epilogue Liliana I had been waiting for this moment for a long time, had imagined it so often that it seemed almost like deja-vu. When a few weeks earlier at my wedding to Benito there had been only anxiety, sadness, and fear, now I felt as if I could fly. Happiness and euphoria buzzed through my body. I couldn’t wait for the party to end so Romero could undress me and make love to me again and again. The only thing missing for a perfect day was Fabi. I hadn’t seen him since our wedding night and wasn’t sure if I ever would. I didn’t even know if he was okay. If he had gotten in trouble for being shot and letting us go. Romero lifted me into his arms under the excited applause of our guests. I couldn’t help but laugh.
I had never felt lighter, as if at any moment I could hover in the night sky. I risked looking up, wondering if Mom was watching me. I had done what she wanted. I had risked happiness, and it had been worth it. Romero kissed me on the cheek, bringing my attention back to him. Our eyes met and my heart swelled with love. He began walking toward our room, and this time I was looking forward to arriving, to be alone with my husband, to have him all to myself for the night. This was how it was supposed to be. Every woman should be happy on her wedding day, should feel safe in her husband’s arms, should have the right to marry for love and not because someone decided on her soul mate. I pressed my face into the crook of her neck, smiling to myself. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of my sisters and her husbands. Aria smiled radiantly at me, and Gianna frowned. I stifled a laugh. Romero brushed my ear with his lips. “I can’t wait to undress you and kiss every inch of your silky skin.”
Desire surged through me. “Hurry up,” I whispered.
Romero chuckled, but actually sped up.
He opened our bedroom door with his elbow, then closed it with a kick before crossing the room to the bed and putting me down.
“God, you are so damn beautiful. I can’t believe you’re finally mine.”
“I’ve always been yours.”
Romero took my cheek and kissed me ardently before his hands began working on my dress, slowly uncovering inch by inch of my body. He kissed each new spot, but not the spots I wanted. When I lay before him in my corset and panties, his eyes traced my body with hunger and reverence. I loved that look. He made me feel like the most beautiful girl in the world. He let his fingers slide over my ankles, then up my calves and thighs until he reached my panties. I lifted my hips. Romero let out a soft laugh and kissed my hip bone, then licked the spot.
“Romero, please.” He slipped his fingers under my panties and slid them down. When he came back up, he opened my legs and closed his mouth over my folds. I exhaled. With slow strokes of his tongue Romero pushed me higher, and when he slipped a finger inside me, pleasure overwhelmed me.
My toes curled and my bottom lifted off the bed, but Romero continued to pleasure me until I could take no more and pushed my head away, laughing and panting.
“Your first orgasm as my wife,” Romero said with a smirk as he crawled up until he was hovering over me.
“I hope not the last,” I teased him.
“Are you saying you’re not done yet?”
He slipped a finger inside me again and moved it slowly.
I shook my head.
Romero pulled his finger out and unfastened my corset, uncovering my breasts. He sucked one of my nipples into his mouth as he slipped his finger inside me again.
It felt so good and I could feel myself getting closer, but I needed to feel Romero inside me. “I need you inside me,” I pleaded.
Romero wasted no time. He got off the bed and quickly undressed. His cock was already hard and glistening. He moved between my legs. I closed my hand around his member, enjoying its firmness and warmth. I stroked him a few times before guiding him toward my entrance. When the tip grazed my opening, I relaxed against the pillows.
Romero began to move slowly inside me. I could feel every inch of him until he filled me completely. I wrapped my fingers around Romero’s neck and pulled him to me for a kiss. I loved kissing him, the way his uncombed beard lightly scratched my lip, the taste of him, everything. I couldn’t get enough of him.
Romero moved at a slow pace, sliding almost completely out, only to push his cock back into me.
“Stroke yourself,” he ordered in a low murmur.
I didn’t hesitate. I slipped my arm between our bodies and my fingers found my clit. I began to draw small circles. My fingertips grazed Romero’s cock from time to time and pushed me even higher.
“Yes, honey, come for me,” Romero croaked. He kissed my neck and one of his hands grabbed my leg and hooked it on his hip. I stroked myself even faster and when Romero pushed inside me again, I shattered. My body arched off the bed. Romero moaned, his thrusts became stronger and faster, and then I felt him release himself inside me.
I trembled from the aftershocks of my orgasm.
Romero buried his face against my neck and I ran my hands through his hair and down his back. After a moment, he rolled off me and onto his back, pulling me with him so that I lay half on his chest. I ran my fingers through his chest hair and listened to his accelerated heartbeat.
“I can’t believe that you are finally mine. No one can take you away from me now,” Romero pressed a kiss to the top of my head. I smiled, satiated and happy. For a moment, my thoughts went to Fabi, wondering what he was doing now. Without him and my sisters, I would not be lying next to Romero right now. They had risked so much for my happiness, as had Romero. I will always be grateful for what they had done. I would have tried to make their sacrifices worth it, I would have tried to live life to the fullest.
I turned around and Romero wrapped his arms around me from behind. It was late and I was exhausted. Eventually Romero fell asleep. I loved to feel him sleeping next to me. He always made me comfortable.
Romero’s regular breathing caressed my bare shoulder. I couldn’t fall asleep even though I was full and exhausted. I slipped under Romero’s arm and slid out of bed. I grabbed a robe and put it on before heading for the door and out onto the balcony, which had a beautiful view of the premises and the ocean . The next day we would return to New York and then our life as a married couple would really begin. I looked up at the night sky. The stars were always brighter outside the city, yet there were always a couple of stars shining brighter. As a child, I thought they represented people who had died and were watching over us like stars. I had stopped believing that a long time ago. Yet I couldn’t help but wonder if somewhere somehow Mother was watching me. Would she have been happy for me? Maybe even proud? I would never find out, but I had kept my promise to her. I had risked everything for love and happiness. I glanced over my shoulder at Romero’s sleeping figure, then with one last glance at the stars, went back to bed and snuggled against him. He wrapped an arm around me. “You were gone,” he muttered.
“I needed fresh air,” I said softly.
“I’m glad you came back.”
“I love you,” I whispered.
Romero’s arms tightened around me and he kissed me on the temple. “And I love you.” Things might not always be easy in the future, but I knew I would never regret taking that risk. Love was worth any risk.