Page 114 of My Dark Ever After
“I cannot have been the only who heard her say she would not marry anyone who did not ask her the other day in thecastello,” I added.
“No,” he confessed, turning his head to watch as Guinevere tossed a squealing Mattia into the water and then Zacheo right after him. “I heard that.”
“You believe I want to marry her just to solidify my power base,” I said, and it was not a question, because I could see the suspicion in the way he had looked at me since the idea had come to light at the Pietracastello.
“It would work,” he noted. “Joining two prominent families that have feuded for years would be a coup for you. Something to settle the worry and gossip about the Venetian. But my daughter is not some pawn.”
“I call hermia stella cadente,” I told him, because there was no way Guinevere could ever be a pawn to me. “She brought such light to my life I was sure it could not last, even though I wished it would. Now I know she will stay even if I do not ask. I know she will fight for us even when I do not want her to. I think you know these things too, so let me tell you what you do not know because you do not know me.”
I breathed deeply. Being vulnerable with another person was not something I took lightly or did easily, but Guinevere’s father deserved it despite sharing blood with Gaetano Pietra.
“You think I am the kind of man to end lives without thought, to amass fortunes because I am greedy, and to lie because I have no morals. You might be right. But the man I am will also kill anyone who so much as looks at Guinevere the wrong way. I am the man who will use every dollar I have to buy her whatever her heart desires, and I am the man who will lie without blinking if it means protecting her from harm. I have sacrificed many of my dreams to keep my loved ones safe, Stone. But I will sacrifice many more to keep Guinevere safe and by my side.”
John stared at me for a long time, his deep-brown eyes so like his daughter’s, though filled with sharp scrutiny. I let him look, leaning back in the chair with one ankle across my knee so I could enjoy the merriment of my family around me.
When Guinevere got out of the pool, dripping wet in only a tiny red bikini I wanted to undo with my teeth, and glanced over at me, I patted my thigh with one hand.
She bounded over without hesitation and plopped herself in my lap with a giggle as she soaked my clothes through to the skin.
“Sorry,” she said with a sassy grin before kissing my cheek.
“Worth it,” I assured her.
Instantly, she melted into me, curling up against my chest as if content to stay there, wet and cooling in the autumn air, forever. I leaned over to the towels waiting on a bench beside me and unfurled one to drape over her.
When I looked back, John was watching Guinevere with an expression of such intense sadness and love, it made me momentarily pause.
“I missed you,” he said to her softly.
Guinevere reached a hand out to him from under the towel and waited until he grabbed hold before she said, “I missed you too, Dad.”
The moment he stared at me with tears in his eyes, I knew I had his blessing. But it was not until Guinevere was dragged back to the pool by Zacheo, Mattia, Maximo, and Vitale that he reached over to grab me hard by the shoulder.
“You hurt her,” he had said gruffly, “and I’ll polish off my old brass knuckles and beat your stupidly handsome face in.”
“You know,” I told Guinevere as I slid into the driver’s seat. “I think I will drive it back to the villa when we return and let him take it on a joyride.”
She laughed. “Are you trying to suck up to my dad, Raffaele?”
I shrugged one shoulder. “I feel no shame about it. If I want to keep you in my life for a very, very long time, Vera, it is necessary for your father and me to be on good enough terms that he does not appear seconds away from shooting me at any given moment.”
After a long beat of quiet, I glanced over to see her watching me with palpable tenderness. Her hand reached over to rest on my thigh, squeezing gently.
“I know you think you’re mad, bad, and dangerous to know, Raffa,” she said quietly. “But you are the best man I’ve ever known. And I know you think you corrupt me, but I honestly believe you make me a better me.”
“Sei la parte migliore di mei,” I told her. “You are the best part of me.”
“Agree to disagree on that.” She leaned over to kiss my suited shoulder. “But I appreciate the sentiment. So will you tell me where we are going?”
“No.”
“Raffa!”
“Vera.”
“Don’t be a tease,” she insisted.
“I know for a fact that you enjoy it when I tease you,” I countered, sliding her a dark look. “If last night in bed was any indication ...”
