Page 60 of I Would Die For You

Mywifedoesn’tspeakto me for over twenty-four hours.

I’m tempted to go to her and start a conversation, engage her in some talk, even beg her to speak to me. What good will it do, though? Kaya is fully in her right to give me the cold shoulder treatment. She called me ‘husband,’ and what did I do? I froze, shut her out, made her feel insignificant and unworthy.

That she’s recoiled into herself now is no surprise. She nodded when we got back to the Andretti household and I told her the visa had come through. E-tickets for the next flight out of Newark made it to my phone soon after. We’d have one stop in France, but all in all, at just around thirteen hours for the trip, we should count ourselves lucky. Flying first class will also help.

We said goodbye to Valentino, this time our farewells being final. Kaya and I can never set foot back on US soil—she’s still the last person who saw her father alive, and we’re also the last two people to be seen with Mandy and Rocco in that bar before they disappeared. Mandy’s body will be sent as a message once we’re safely back in Torino.

It’s bittersweet, leaving my cousin behind. For much of the past two years, I’ve been carting Valentino around with me like a sidekick, a green rookie to be educated into the ways of the real Italian mafia. At the same time, he became an essential member of our family, endearing himself to my parents, and gaining the trust and respect of Don Rossi. But most important of all, he's become the brother I've always wanted. The brother of my heart, if you will. I will always love the bastard, and that doesn't even count the fact that he saved me and Kaya from a situation that could easily have gone to shit.

To see him embodying the boss he is now was an eye-opener, and I’ll never be able to see him again as the quiet yet carefree young man he was with me in my hometown. He’s on to bigger and darker things here, and I can only pray the fortitude and strength he’s displayed so far will keep moving him forward.

I’d said goodbye to my other cousins before we left for Portland, as they each would be going their separate ways that same day. The killing of Marcello Andretti destabilized his family, and at the time, they didn’t know who had it in for them. For the entire family to be in the same town, much less under the same roof, painted a large enough target on them that a drone armed by a savvy operator could lock in their coordinates and take them all out with a single push of a button.

My chest constricts as I watch Kaya being engulfed against Valentino’s big frame as they hug goodbye. He murmurs soft words in her ear, and she nods with a small tearful smile. Had I not seen him do this with Francesca, I would’ve been livid, thinking he was putting the moves on my woman.

To think of any man putting his hands on her now… This thought brings me to the predicament weighing heavy on me since the day I was activated. Kaya was the Don’s woman before she came to me. She’s mine now, but will she ever return my love after the fucking mistake I made in that SUV several nights ago?

So I don’t talk to her, engage her in conversation, beg her to give me just one ounce of her attention. Nothing I can do regarding her, regarding us, until I’ve cleared the air and know where we both stand. Kaya, she is worth everything, and I will fight for her. Even if I have to lay down my life in the process. I won’t go down without trying with all I’ve got.

Gianluca picks us up at the airport. After more than half a day in a plane, we’re overdue for a shower, a nap, some decent food, or at the very least breathing some fresh outdoor air. All this will have to wait, though, until I take care of one more thing.

“The Don at Demos tonight?” I ask. When he nods in the rearview mirror, I tell him to head over to the club.

There’s a sharp intake of air from Kaya, and I’m pretty sure she’ll open her mouth to say something. But she doesn’t. She’s seething, I can feel it, wanting to get as far away from me as quickly as possible. And here I am dragging her in my wake again. Then it’s the same blank, eerie static settling between us.Dio santo, how I hate this!

Sandro welcomes us with hugs, Dino the same.

“We need to see the Don,” I tell the bodyguard.

He escorts us up to the office a few moments later. One knock, and we’re inside, the door closing behind us. Don Giacomo is standing at the floor-to-ceiling windows, peering down at the lounge. His face breaks into a wide smile when we enter, and he opens his arms to Kaya, who runs into them and hugs him tight.

Fuck this! If she wants to be with him… No. She was fully with me when we consummated our marriage.

He releases her and runs a hand over her hair, raking his gaze over her.

“Stefano,figliolo,” he says, beckoning me with an open arm. “I hear congratulations are of the order.”

Here it is. My cue.

“Don Rossi,” I ask. “A word, please.”

Kaya shoots me a puzzled look punctuated by a frown.

The Don clasps her hand. “Would you mind waiting downstairs,cara?”

She stares at us in turn, but ultimately, there’s nothing she can do but acquiesce and leave.

The Don waits me out once the door closes behind her.

I take a deep breath and swallow hard. “We’ve consummated our marriage, so I can’t get an annulment. And I’m not divorcing her, either.”

His gaze narrows. “Which you can’t. You were raised Catholic, weren’t you?”

My jaw clamps. “I’m not letting Kaya go.”

“No?”

“No.”

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