She sighs. “Lead the men to the market square when you get my call. And then, you wait for me in the church. Don’t make a move until I meet you there.”
Again, she’s not giving me anything to go on.
“I need to know what you’re planning,” I grind out.
Placing her hand on my cheek, she says, “Tell me you love me, and that you’ll wait for my call.”
I don’t hesitate. “I love you.”
As she disappears out the door, I step forward, noticing two things. One, she hasn’t declared her love for me, and two, she climbs into her car, taking Trey with her.
Cristian joins me as I watch the car pull up the drive and out through the gates.
“Where are they going?”
“I have no idea. We’re to wait for her call and lead the men to the market square.”
“I would’ve thought now that you’re between her legs, she’d offer up more information on her plans.”
I clench my hand into a fist, wanting nothing more than to smash into his jaw. Instead, I keep it at my side and say, “You’re the only family I have left besides Sienna. Don’t make me kill you. Talk like that again about her, I’ll make it hurt before you draw your last breath.”
The fucker laughs and darts inside before I can reach out and grab him, changing my mind on following through and causing him pain.
“You know, it’ll be something to see, you not being able to go about your business calling all the shots. I never thought I’d see the day when Raphael Marocchi did as he was told.”
He’s seriously wearing on my last nerve.
“How’s Clara?” Wisely, he shuts his mouth.
Besides Mila, Clara is one of the most patient women I know. She’s put up with Cristian for the last nine years, and even though he hasn’t proposed marriage, or moved in together, she loves him, and is happy to wait for him to make that final commitment. I don’t personally understand him. He doesn’t stray behind her back, and I see he loves her in return, yet he doesn’t fully commit himself to her.
“She’s fine. And she listens to me, and answers my damn questions.”
Cristian may be happy to have his woman act like an obedient dog, but I’ll take Mila’s passion and fire any day of the week.
“You should go to her. If this is to be our last day, don’t you want to spend some time with her?”
“And leave you on your own?” Shaking his head, he takes a seat on the couch.
“She’s your woman. Don’t put me before her, not if you love her.”
Narrowing his eyes, his scrutinization digs deep into my soul. So much so, I can feel it.
“Family first,” he counters with such conviction, guilt begins to gnaw at me.
“Is that why you haven’t moved out and married her? Because of me?”
“We’ve been at war, Raphael, and I’m your second. I’ve had no time for marriage.”
My guilt grows, swelling around my heart.
“Cousin, you can’t put that on me. We could have kept her safe all these years. No harm would’ve come to her.”
“Like it didn’t to Leo? Like Sienna wasn’t picked up from thousands of miles away?”
He has a point, but Mila has known about her for quite some time. Clara hasn’t been as safe from this war as he’d like to believe.
“Do you want to marry her?”
He opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. For once, he’s speechless, and my guilt lessens. Maybe he isn’t quite as in love with her as I thought.
“She wants to, and she wants a family. I’ve tried letting her go so she can find those things with someone who can give them to her and make her happy, but we always find our way back to each other. Perhaps if we survive this war with the DiMarco’s, I’ll be able to think about such things. Why are you so interested in Clara all of a sudden?”
Good question. Actually, it’s not her so much as him. I had amazing plans as a teenager, and then got trapped into a turf war for over a decade. But with Mila back in my life, possibilities for the future are racing through me, and I’m hungry for them all.
“I guess I don’t want you missing out on something great for you because of me.”
“Jamila’s changing you, Cousin, and I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, just a… different thing.”