Page 151 of Empire of Seduction

The truth tumbled out. “With someone I love. You are too important to me. I should’ve known the Red Raiders wouldbe stupid enough to retaliate. Yet I did nothing because I was distracted. I didn’t plan for the inevitable. And I would rather lose you than see you hurt by my negligence.”

“Do you mean it?”

“I never say anything I don’t mean.”

“Do you still love me, then?” When I didn’t answer right away, she bit her lip again. “Because I love you. I don’t know how it happened in such a short amount of time, but god, Vito.” She put a hand square on her chest. “I haven’t been able to breathe since you left. And I wish I’d told you how I felt sooner.”

Something thudded in my chest—low and warming—like a cold engine coughing to life. She deserved honesty from me in exchange.

“What I feel for you,” I said quietly, “is frightening, a terrible storm in my very ordered life. I hate it. I’m not sure I can control it, and if I could scoop it all out of my chest, I would.”

Slowly, Maggie reached over and placed her hand atop mine. It was warm and soft, but strong. “I don’t want you to get rid of it. I want us to suffer together. Maybe by giving in, we can turn this awful misery into something beautiful.”

My mouth dried out and I stared down at our hands. “I don’t want to bring pain and suffering to your world. Seeing you hurt, the devastation after the fire, it still haunts me, bella.”

“Oh, Vito.” Her fingers squeezed. “Some things are worth the risk.Youare worth the risk to me.”

“You don’t mean that. The vineyards?—”

“Are just plants.” She gave a dry laugh. “I can’t believe I’m saying that, but it’s true. Yes, they are living organisms, but they aren’tyou. Plants can be replaced. You can’t.”

I peered at her, trying to weigh everything she was saying against the worst-case scenario. “What if you are the one they hurt? You can’t be replaced, angelo mio. Not to me.”

“You said you can protect me,” she said with a small smile. “And you never say anything you don’t mean.”

Diavoletta mia, throwing my words back in my face. My chest swelled, an unfamiliar emotion filling me. “You have to be sure, bella. Because once you say yes, you belong to me again.”

She edged slightly closer, her mouth crooking with mischief. “And what would that look like, belonging to you?”

“It might look something like me taking you into that mausoleum and fucking you hard and fast.”

Her chest rose and fell a little faster as her breathing picked up. “I didn’t mean sex. I meant our lives. What would being with you look like?”

“Are you willing to move to Toronto?”

“No. Are you willing to move to Paesano?”

My upper lip curled. “Fuck no.”

“I didn’t think so.” She stroked my hand with hers, almost like she was petting me. “But it’s only a forty-five-minute flight.”

“So, we go back and forth?”

“Would that be so terrible?”

No, it wouldn’t. It was similar to what Enzo and Gia did in the beginning of their marriage. This could be done. Even if I didn’t like it.

And it didn’t need to be forever.

But it didn’t address the communication issue. “And you will be okay with not knowing some of the more unsavory aspects of my life?”

“Yes, if you promise to tell me if one of those unsavory aspects affects our lives.”

This was fair. “Yes, I promise.”

“He’s willing to compromise,” she said, her voice growing thicker as we drew closer to one another. “I like this. Anything else?”

“I insist on building us a proper home on the winery grounds. Something safe.”

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