Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 128209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 641(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 641(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
I held Gianna’s hand tightly, happy to have her back. I’d missed her voice, even her colorful language. Gianna slipped into the backseat and I was about to follow when Luca gripped my arm. “No. I want Matteo to keep an eye on your sister.”
Gianna rolled her eyes. I squeezed her hand once, then released her and got into the passenger seat beside Luca, who would be driving. I hoped things would fall back into place now, but I knew all of us had a long road ahead of us.
LUCA
Aria was glowing with happiness over having her sister back, and Matteo looked like he was going to have a fucking boner from a look at Gianna.
“You’d probably jump out of the moving car if I gave you the chance,” he told his fiancée.
“I’m not completely crazy. Do you think I’d risk running around Chicago unprotected when my father’s men are obviously out to hurt me?” Gianna bitched back.
She was a pain in the ass, and I wasn’t happy about having to deal with fucking Scuderi because of her.
“So you trust me to protect you but still don’t want to marry me,” Matteo said.
Gianna sucked in a breath. “You still want to go through with the marriage?”
“You could probably ram a knife into his back and he’d still want to go through with it. He’s a stubborn fucker,” I said. Aria put a hand down on my thigh, a small smile playing around her lips. That sight softened my annoyance toward Matteo and Gianna.
“I didn’t hunt you for six months only to let you go.”
After he’d found her screwing around with another guy, I’d have thought he’d lose interest in her, but not Matteo. The mere idea that someone else could touch Aria, see her perfect skin, fuck her, drove me up the wall. Matteo was far more forgiving than me. I’d have skinned the bastard who touched what was mine. I wasn’t sure what I’d do to Aria if she cheated on me, if she betrayed me like that. My pulse raced at the mere idea. I loved her more than anything else, but I didn’t think I could control myself if she was disloyal to me.
Aria’s blonde brows drew together. She squeezed my thigh in silent question. She knew me too well. I gave her a small smile, and she relaxed. My own pulse slowed. There was no sense in losing my shit over something that was never going to happen. Aria was only mine.
Matteo had really gone through with marrying Gianna. Of course Scuderi had gladly handed her over. She was ruined in our circles. Word about her fucking around would be the hottest gossip in New York and Chicago soon. Nobody would have wanted her, nobody of worth at least. If Matteo hadn’t agreed to marry her, Scuderi would have to give her to a low soldier or worse. She was lucky my brother’s obsession with her was still going strong. I hoped he wouldn’t come to regret his decision after he’d fucked her and satisfied whatever itch he had.
But more than that, I fucking hoped he’d figure out a way to keep her under control. Things in New York would be tense now that Gianna was his wife. I could only imagine what my uncles and aunts and the rest of the fucking family would say to his decision, and worse: to my decision. I had allowed him to marry a ruined woman, after all.
Fuck him. He was practically fucking Gianna with his eyes. He hadn’t stopped leering since we’d boarded the plane in Chicago after the wedding, and he was still at it now that we’d arrived in New York. Of course Aria, too, had noticed, and tension radiated off of her in waves as we stepped into the elevator of our apartment building. She was worried for her sister, always worried. I tugged at her hand to draw her attention away from my brother and her sister, but she didn’t seem to notice.
The elevator stopped with a bing and the sleek doors glided open. Matteo practically dragged Gianna into his apartment. I really hoped he’d get a handle on his anger because I’d be the one left to deal with the mess, and my worry-struck wife.
Aria took a step forward as if to follow them. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her back against me. “What are you doing?” I murmured as the elevator doors closed before us. Aria tilted her head up, her face pale with concern.
“He looks like he’s out for blood. I don’t think he’ll take no for an answer.”
The elevator sprang back into motion. “Of course, he won’t, Aria. After what your sister did, she can be glad he didn’t kill her. He was supposed to have her on their wedding night, and she ran off and let other men have what’s his.” That he still wanted her was so fucking typical for Matteo.