Page 23 of Scorned Obsession

I could feel her irritation at how lightly I was treating the situation. However, I didn’t want to delve deep into our shared history. Not right now. I glanced in the rearview mirror to make sure my men were following me. Owning a dance club, I didn’t depend on Rossi soldiers in matters of security. I didn’t trust all of them and had my own men.

“You know how they say there’s a thin line between love and hate?” she asked.

“Fair enough. So that means there’s a chance you’ll fall in love with me again.”

Silence. She realized she admitted she loved me. She’d never spelled it out that what she felt was love. I felt the affection in her hugs and when she told me to take care. Again, this was before the fraternity house incident. That marked the beginning of Bianca driving me crazy with wanting something I shouldn’t have.

“That’s a lot to expect.”

“You’re my wife.”

“I was forced to be your wife,” she shot back. “You know my family is against the made-man culture.”

“There’s Dom.”

“My cousin is a confirmed bachelor. If he ever takes a wife, it would be for an alliance, not love.”

“You don’t have a good outlook on made men.”

“They should take a wife who knows what to expect,” Bianca’s voice rose. “Tell me, Sandro, about that oath you took today before you said your vows to me.”

She got me there, so I didn’t answer but kept my eyes on the road. At my continued silence, she gave a snort.

“Exactly. You became a made man who swore loyalty to the Rossi crime family. That they will come first before your wife and children. And then when you said your vows to me, you promised I came first. You will be with me in sickness and in health, but we know that won’t be true when mafia business comes calling.”

“Bianca.”

“Just look what happened to Luca!” she said. “Natalya was giving birth and he couldn’t be bothered.”

I pinched my brows because there was no defense. Bianca was right.

“What would you do, Sandro? Would I come first?”

“You’ll always come first, but while I try to figure this shit out, you’ll have to trust me and not defy me at every turn.”

“You mean show them I’m your meek mafia wife?” Contempt laced her tone like arsenic.

“In case you haven’t noticed, Raffa has expectations.” I shot her a brief glance. She was still looking out the window as if she was going to find salvation or answers outside the confined space of the vehicle.

We arrived at a red light. I picked up her hand in a way that felt like the past few days hadn’t happened. Before I crashed Nico’s wedding. Before I collaborated with Luca to bring down my own brother. “If you ever cared for me at all, you’ll be patient a little longer. You, of all people, know I never wanted to be boss.”

She glanced at our joined hands. I could make out her sad smile in the dimly lit interior. She lifted her gaze to mine. “Most of this is my fault. And what the hell was that with Griselda? Are you her baby daddy or not?”

Of all the… I was so pissed that she would believe I would marry her while another woman was pregnant with my child, I refused to answer.

At my continued silence, Bianca said, “There’s something else going on there, and now that I’m your wife, I deserve to know.”

“O-ho, now you’re playing the wife card?”

“Is this how it’s going to be? Us at each other’s throat? Why not give me a straight answer?”

I gave a humorless laugh. “You’ve grown up around the mafia enough to know that no one gives straight answers.”

I could feel her eye roll.

The whole Griselda shit show still left a nasty taste in my mouth and I didn’t feel like explaining it.

The safe house was another ten minutes away. We stewed in silence while I recalled the ceremony. Despite her defiance in her makeup choice, she could never hide the beauty of her heart-shaped face and the stubborn chin she inherited from Ava. She might not have her mother’s red hair, but Bianca’s rich dark brown glinted red under most lighting, and in that ceremony room, it magnified her rebellion. And what a hauntingly beautiful rebel she was as she marched down the aisle toward me.

---