Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
To that, his gaze moved over me, cast in nothing but shadows, but still naked, and he let out a deep breath, then slid in beside me, reaching for me, and pulling me up onto his chest.
“Thought you were sleeping,” he said as I snuggled in.
“Partly. But I wasn’t about to miss the chance to watch you undress,” I told him, feeling his chest jump under mine as he let out a little laugh.
“You okay?” he asked. “With all of this,” he added.
“With you alone in a very private hotel room where we don’t need to wear clothes or be quiet?” I shot back.
“You know what I mean.”
“I’m… processing,” I admitted. There was no denying that. My mind was all over the place. But the dominant feelings I had, all logic aside, were about how happy I was, about how much I adored this man. “But yes.”
“I understand if after all the processing, you decide you want out.”
“I won’t.”
“Savannah…”
“Nino…” I shot back in the same sort of frustrated, but sweet, tone.
“You don’t know how you’re going to feel when all of this really sinks in,” he reasoned.
To that, I took a deep breath.
“I might not know what I will think,” I agreed. “But I know what I feel, and that isn’t going to change. And I’ve always been someone who goes with their heart, not their brain.”
Come better or worse.
I just didn’t know at the time, nestled in the arms of the man I had begun to love, that it was about to get worse.
A lot worse.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Nino
A part of me felt guilty.
The entire Family was up, working through the night, trying to figure out what the fuck was going on, who I had pissed off enough to want to put a hit out on me, putting Savannah in danger at the same time.
I should have been working with them.
I normally would have been.
Even if I was doing so from a safe location.
But there I was, fucking this woman I’d begun to love all over the suite, then curling up with her in bed, and getting the best damn night of sleep I’d had in my life.
I woke up before her.
The tint on the windows dulled the sunrise, but it was enough to rouse me, to make me want to shower, and check in with Luca and my brothers.
As I got dressed and made coffee, though, there was no denying that my fucking gut was twisted into endless knots, waiting for Savannah to wake up, to go through her morning routine, to see the whole situation from the right side of morning, without her brain dulled by scotch and orgasms.
Was she going to decide that it was too much?
That she wasn’t the kind of woman who could be with a man in the mafia?
That she couldn’t stomach the bullets and bloodshed and uncertainty?
Savannah wasn’t like Luca’s wife, Romi, who’d known before she’d even met Luca that he was in the mafia. Or Lucky’s woman Via, who’d been raised in organized crime. Or even my brother Massimo’s wife, Cammie, who’d dated a gang leader, then had come to Mass to help her get out of a dangerous situation.
Savannah was just a normal woman.
No ties to anything illegal.
I guess the closest comparison I could draw was Matteo’s wife Josie. Who’d just been an employee at his event-planning business, and adamantly refused to believe the rumors that Matteo was in the mob. Until she found herself wrapped up in his mess.
A part of me wished I could invite Josie over some way, to have her talk with Savannah, maybe soothe over any concerns she might be having about the whole situation.
Because, all things said and done, our women didn’t usually have to flee to safe houses. Our mothers and sisters all led normal lives. And, sure, there were times when shit was going down that made us put everyone on high alert, otherwise things were generally pretty average for the women and kids.
But it wasn’t Josie’s place to reassure Savannah, or even try to make her change her mind if she decided that she wasn’t the kind of woman who could be with someone in organized crime.
It wasn’t my place either.
All I could do was wait for her to fully make up her mind.
And make myself fucking sick about it while I did so.
I heard her moving around the bedroom. Then, after a moment, the sound of the water running in the tub.
I should have known she’d want to take advantage of that. She’d complained to me about how her house came with one of those shower/tub combos that she couldn’t take a decent bath in, and that she hoped one day to be able to put a good soaking tub in.
I made her a cup of coffee, thankful that one of my brothers had dropped off a bag of fresh shit like creamer, fruit, veg, bread, and some eggs first thing in the morning.