side.
After silently appraising her, I start to walk down the hall. Viviana trails me. With the house quiet today, the clanking of her heels is the only indicator she’s following me.
The air between us is silent as we walk to the garage, and then we get into the G-wagon. Although it is a nice car, that’s not why we take it. Despite what it looks like, it’s my safest car.
Bulletproof.
Built to withstand almost anything.
Roberto is in the front seat. He will be driving us tonight.
I take a seat in the back beside Viviana.
She won’t look at me when I get in beside her, and as we drive, she stares out the window.
To the untrained eye, she’s acting unfazed. But I see past her façade.
She’s nervous.
Her finger is tapping a pattern on her thigh she doesn’t even realize she’s doing. I wonder what she’s nervous about? Obviously telling her parents that she’s married. Is she nervous her father will try something? She must know she’s safe with me. But really, why would she know that? I’ve given her no reason to feel that way.
“Stop tapping. Everything will be okay.”
“And how do you know that?” she fires back as she stares out the window.
“Because it always is.” I wait for her to turn to face me, but she refuses to budge. It’s infuriating talking to her back.
“Easy for you to say,” she mumbles under her breath to the window.
“You are with me now, Viviana,” I state by way of explanation.
“That’s supposed to make me feel better?”
“Yes.”
“And why is that?”
“Because he would never fuck with you.”
“Didn’t he fuck with you by trying to barter a deal with your cousin . . .?”
She’s too smart for her own good.
“Yes. And see what happened? I married you. Your father knows better. Regardless of his alliance with Salvatore, I am not to be trifled with. Our war precedes us. Your father, if he’s smart—and I have to imagine he is—doesn’t want to get caught in the crossfire. The last time there was a war like this, the collateral damage was heavy. Your father can ask the senator from Boston what the price he had to pay for going against me was. Oh wait, he can’t. There is no speaking to him where he is now . . .” My words hang heavy in the space between us. You would have to be living under a rock not to have heard about the senator’s untimely demise.
She finally turns away from the window and looks at me.
“So, what’s the plan now?”
“Don’t worry about the plan. You are just here to sit and look pretty.”
She lets out a laugh. “Wow, sexist much.”
“It’s not sexist when it’s the truth. I married you to prove a point. I married you because you benefitted me strategically. That’s it. Nothing more. The only point you have to make now is sitting there.”
“And if I don’t.”
I lean toward her, my arms reaching out to trap her against the window. Our faces are so close I can feel her breath tickling my lips as she exhales. Her jaw trembles, but it’s the lip that does me in; the way she sucks it in and bites it ever so gently. If she was anyone else, I’d grab her and fuck her in this car.
“Do not mistake my kindness for weakness, Viviana. I have not hurt you . . . but I can.”
My words hang in the air like the threat they are.
I have kept my distance.
I have not demanded anything of her.
“You will be obedient. Do you understand?”
She doesn’t respond, just continues to nibble on her bottom lip.
“Speak, Viviana.”
“Yes, I understand,” she grits out through clenched teeth.
“Good.”
Now that’s settled, I pull my phone out of my pocket and call Lorenzo.
“How are things up ahead?” I ask.
When I travel, I usually bring an army of men. This time I only brought enough to keep us safe during the drive.
Two decoy cars, as well as one to scope out the terrain.
“Clear. No sign of anything out of the ordinary.”
It takes us about one hour to leave my family’s estate in New York to get to the governor’s house.
He doesn’t know we are coming, so this should be interesting.
“When we arrive, you are to speak to security. My men will be positioned if anything goes wrong, but we are going in relatively blind.”
“Relatively?”
“I have a man inside.”
“You do?”
I lift a brow. “I guess it shouldn’t surprise me. You seem to know everything.”
“I am always one step ahead. Remember that.”
Her