and stunted.
We’re silent for a moment, our eyes just watching one another’s. His lips twitch into a smirk as his gaze searches my own. He tilts his head to the side, then shakes it once before he speaks.
“Everything with your aunt will be taken care of, I don’t want you to worry about that, yeah?”
“Does that mean what I think it does?”
His smirk turns into a beautiful, blinding white smile. “No clue what you’re talking about. Just know it’s handled.”
“Massimo,” I warn.
“You’re taking good care of Rosana?”
Licking my lips, I can’t help but match his smile with one of my own. “I am. She’s able to be just a regular teenager. I’m so proud of her. All straight A’s. She’s going to make something of herself.”
“Smart, just like her sister,” he says, squeezing my fingers.
“I’m not,” I mutter, looking down at our clasped hands.
Massimo lets out a grunt and I lift my gaze to meet his. “You are, Pippa.”
“Are you sure about that?” I ask, arching a brow.
He shakes his head once. “I am. Book smart and street smart are two totally different types of intelligence, and both you and Rosana are equally smart. You’re more street smart and she’s more book smart.
“You’re loyal and kind, your heart far too welcoming. Rosana is free-spirited and naïve. All of that is okay. I could never be with a woman like Rosana, it would be far too hard to protect her delicate nature from my world.”
“But someone like me is easy to tear apart? Easy to treat like shit and walk away?” I hiss.
Massimo squeezes my hand tighter when I try to take my fingers from his grip. “Do not put words in my mouth, dolcezza,” he growls. “You are strong, you are aware of this world and you are someone who can stand up and survive where a woman like her would assuredly crumble, no?”
“Yes,” I grind out.
He tugs my hand closer to his, my body forced to lean over the table a bit more. His eyes focus on mine and my heart hammers against my chest at the sight of him.
I want him to kiss me, to touch every part of my body, to remind me who owns me. I want it more than I want anything else right now, even though I’m angry with him.
“Made for me, Pippa. And when I get out, you will be right there, stronger than ever waiting for me.”
“You know that I will,” I say as my anger ebbs from my body. “And when you’re out, we’ll start our family and we will be happier than ever.”
“Telling yourself that or me?” he asks.
Lifting my eyes to his, I press my lips together before I turn them up into a small smile. “Both of us.”
The guards call out a warning that our time here is about to end. Standing, Massimo releases my hand. I rise to my feet as well, stepping away from the chair and positioning myself directly in front of him.
Massimo takes my hands in his, dipping his chin, he touches his lips to mine in a chaste kiss, but still sends a thrill throughout my entire body. He rests his forehead against mine, his eyes closed as he just breathes.
“Come see me again next month?” he asks.
My heart thumps against my chest, my lips turn up into a bright smile. I can’t believe he wants me to come back. I feel like a giddy schoolgirl.
“I’ll be here,” I eagerly reply.
“I’ll call you. Avoiding you because I feel like a failure as a man and a husband does nothing for us but cause pain.”
My thumping heart cracks from his words. “You could never be a failure, not to me, Massimo.”
“I hope you still feel that way in five, ten, twenty years, dolcezza.”
Without another word, he takes a step back from me, the guards calling the inmates back in. I watch his retreating form as he makes his way into the lineup.
Each man gets searched, but I can’t watch Massimo go through that, he wouldn’t want me to. Instead, I turn away and I make my way out of the prison.
“Beautiful young woman like you, throwing your life away for some deadbeat gangster? Sad really,” a voice calls out as soon as I step away from the prison doors and into the sunshine.
Turning to look at the man behind the voice, I’m not surprised to see the cocky look he’s wearing on his face. Arching a brow, I refuse to speak to him. He