Page 37 of The Virgin's Dance with the Devil
A short while later, when Rico suggested they take a shower together, Marisa’s innate shyness had immediately taken root. He’d smiled indulgently with a look that quite clearly said, ‘You’ve shared the most intimate night of your life with me, and now you’re afraid to get naked in a shower?’ and disappeared to the bathroom. He’d left the door open.
It was when she heard the water running that the longing to be in there with him had taken root, and she’d hurried in there before she could change her mind.
Now, as they left her room to head for the beach –theirbeach – she could feel happiness like a glow that permeated every cell in her body.
From the screams and shouts of laughter drifting through the air from the main poolside, most of the guests were there, and as she listened to them, the happiness clinging to her began to dissipate. They were only taking the scenic route to the beach’s pathway instead of walking through the swimming pool area to lessen their chances of being spotted together.
“You’ve gone quiet,” Rico observed once they were on the path.
“I’m just thinking.”
“About?”
“About telling my family about you.”
“You’re going to have to tell them at some point – unless you want to marry me without your family being there,” he teased lightly.
“I know. It’s just timing it right. Being here has put them all under a lot of stress, and there’s your family to consider, too. This is your sister’s wedding, so it’s her moment, and it doesn’t feel fair to detract from that.” And Rico Esposito, notorious playboy and son oftheLorenzo Esposito, announcing his engagement would certainly cause a stir.
“Okay, so that’s the argument for waiting until after the wedding to go public. What are the arguments against?”
“I hate that we have to sneak around to be together. It feels like I’m living a secret life. I’m not cut out for secrets and lies.”
“Marisa, you’re incapable of lying.”
“Lies of omission are still lies.” She tilted her head to watch a pair of pretty, colourful birds swoop over them, and sighed. “I wish I could guarantee that they would accept you. I think my parents will at least pretend to accept you for my sake, but Luisa... I just can’t call how she’ll react; whether she’ll try and kill me first or kill you.”
He laughed, his straight white teeth gleaming in the sunlight. “It’s funny,” he said, “But I’d have thought you’d be more worried about marrying intomyfamily than me marrying into yours.”
That would have been the case not even a week ago. The way she felt about Rico now, he could be the son of Satan himself, and she’d still want to spend the rest of her life with him.
“I’m marrying you,not your family.”
“But they are my family, and marrying me will make them your family, just as marrying you will make your family mine. I’m a part of them, and you know what we are, angel. Our businesses are legitimate, but you know they were built with dirty money and where that dirty money came from.”
“Have you been involved in that side of it?”
“No, my father was pretty much legitimate by the time I reached my teenage years, but I’ve done plenty of bad things to keep our past under wraps and maintain and build our legitimacy.”
She hesitated before asking, “And would you still do them now?”
He was silent for a long while. “If it meant protecting my family, then yes.” Suddenly, he stopped walking and cupped her face in his hands. “It’s not too late for you to walk away. No one knows about us. You can walk away, and no one need ever know.”
The last of her glow of happiness seeped away. “You’ve changed your mind about marrying me?”
“Not a bit, but I’ve been so wrapped in my feelings for you that I’ve not thought through what marriage will mean for you. You have the purest soul, Marisa, and I don’t want to be the one to damage it.”
Staring into his troubled eyes melted something inside her, and she looped her arms around his neck. “I love you, and loving you means accepting you for who you are, but Rico, the man I’ve got to know and fall in love with is far from the man people say you are.”
“That’s only because it’s you. I’m different with you. You make mefeeldifferent. I want to slay dragons for you, make love to you, protect you, laugh with you, all the things. I want to shrink you to the size of my hand so I can put you in my pocket and carry you everywhere with me.”
The glow bubbled back up inside her, a smile breakingfree at the imagery. “If you did that, I could be your conscience.”
He pressed the tip of his nose to hers. “You already are. But you have to accept that if you marry me, my loyalty to my family will remain unchanged, and that’s what I’m talking about when I say it’s not too late for you to walk away.”
“But I’ve already made my choice, remember? I choseall, and I have faith that when you need it, my conscience will protect both our souls.”
“If I have a soul, it’s black.”
