“If you tell Luca,” Romero began but Aria interrupted him. “I won’t tell him,” she said angrily. “I know what he’ll have to do if I do.”
Romero helped me to my feet. “He’s your husband. You owe him the truth.”
What was he doing? He’d be in big trouble if Luca found out, and what if Luca told my father? I gave Romero a confused look but he didn’t react. Then another thought struck me. Maybe he wanted people to find out. Maybe he hoped Luca would approve and would figure out a way for my father to agree on a union between Romero and me. Hope flared up in me.
“Lily, can I talk to you in private, please?” Aria asked, looking truly shaken. Her worry ignited my own.
I nodded, even though my stomach turned from anxiety. Aria was my sister. I loved her and trusted her, but Romero was right. She was also the wife of the Capo, and I wasn’t sure where her loyalties lay. I followed her toward the dining room and then into the kitchen. She didn’t say anything until we’d both settled on bar stools.
“How long has this been going on?” she asked. God, she even sounded like the wife of a Capo, so grown up and responsible.
“A while. Almost since I came to New York,” I admitted. There was really no use in lying anymore and I actually wanted to talk to her about it. Romero and I had been keeping this a secret for close to three months.
Aria nodded slowly, her eyes full of worry. “I should have known. Sometimes I thought I saw you exchanging those secretive looks only lovers do, but I didn’t want to believe it.”
I wasn’t sure what to say, if she even expected me to say anything. “We tried to hide it.”
“Of course, you did!” Aria whispered harshly. “Oh, Lily. This is bad, you know that, right? If Father finds out all hell will break lose. You’ll be in major trouble, and not only that. Father might very well start war over this. After all, Luca promised to keep you safe while you were in New York and having one of his men have an affair with you is definitely a breach of that promise.”
“Affair?” I said offended. What Romero and I had was so much more than that. “You make it sound like it’s just about sex.”
Aria’s eyes widened. “I didn’t mean it like that, but…wait a second. Please tell me you haven’t slept with him yet.” Her expression was so pleading and anxious, I almost considered lying to her.
I bit my lip. “I really love him, Aria.”
“So you did sleep with him,” she said quietly. She made it sound like it was the end of the world.
I nodded. “And I don’t regret it.” I was so glad that I got to share that moment with Romero. I wanted to share so much more with him. Every time I’d slept with him in the last few weeks, I’d grown closer to him, though I didn’t think that was possible.
Aria leaned back and released a long breath. “Father will kill you if he finds out. After the thing with Gianna, he’ll completely lose it.”
“Mother told me to be happy shortly before she died. And Romero makes me happy. I want to be with him.”
“Lily, Father won’t allow it. No matter what any of us says, he won’t let you marry a mere soldier from New York. He can’t gain anything from such a union, not when I’m already married to the Capo and Gianna to the Consigliere.”
“I know,” I said in a whisper. “But…I…” I trailed off. I knew Aria was right. I’d known it pretty much from the beginning. I hated that I had to apologize for loving someone, for wanting to be with that someone. It shouldn’t be like that.
Aria took my hand and linked our fingers. “Some women manage to fake their virginity on their wedding night. Maybe you can do that too. And it’s not like Father has already set up a wedding for you, so we can figure something out until then.”
“Aria, I don’t want to marry anyone else. I only want Romero. I mean it, I love him.”
Aria looked into my eyes for a very long time. I wasn’t sure what she was hoping to find there but I gave her time. “You do, don’t you?” she said, resigned. “What about him? Does he love you?”
“He said it after we made love for the first time.” I’d hoped he would say it again after our first night together but so far he hadn’t. Maybe he wasn’t the type to say it out loud very often.
“Are you sure he’s serious about you?”
“Of course, didn’t you hear what I told you?” I said, but even I could hear the flicker of uncertainty in my voice and I wasn’t sure where it was coming from.
“Some men say things they don’t mean after sex because they feel guilty.”
My eyes widened. How would she even know? She had warmed the heart of one of the most feared men in the country. “He wouldn’t do that. And if you’re saying he only tried to get in my pants, that’s ridiculous. You know Romero, he wouldn’t use me like that.”
Her blue eyes softened with guilt. “No, you’re right. Romero isn’t the type and he wouldn’t risk so much for sex. He must care about you if he goes against Luca’s orders.”
“You won’t tell him, right?”
“I told you, I won’t. Luca’s got enough on his plate already, I don’t want him to worry about this as well. We’ll figure something out. But until then, please be more careful. I’m not going to tell you to stay away from Romero because I suspect you’d just go behind my back, but if someone else finds out, things could really get out of hand.”
“I know,” I said. “Romero and I will be careful.”
Aria pressed her lips together. “And there’s really no way that you’d consider breaking things off with Romero?”
“No,” I said without hesitation.
She smiled sadly and hopped off the bar stool. “I want to talk to Romero now.”
I pushed to my feet and grabbed her arm. “Why? Will you try to talk him into leaving me?”
“Do you really think I’d do that to you?” Aria asked in a hurt tone.
I felt bad instantly but Aria had changed over the years. Maybe it was because she’d taken more responsibilities as Luca’s wife, but sometimes I thought she acted too much like a meddling mother when it came to me. I didn’t doubt she always wanted what she thought was the best for me, only problem was I wasn’t sure if we both agreed on what that was. “No. But why do you want to talk to Romero?”
“I just do,” she said stubbornly. “Please stay here while I talk to him. Do me that favor.”
“Aria, please don’t make a bigger deal out of this than it is.”
“Oh, Lily, this is a much bigger deal than you think,” she said before she walked off.
Romero
I wanted to tear my hair out in frustration. We should have been more careful. I usually never let my guard down. I always anticipated possible risks. Today I’d failed on so many levels, it was pitiful, and not just that, I’d risked both our lives.
Aria advanced on me. She looked royally pissed. And I couldn’t blame her. She stopped right in front of me, her blue eyes blazing with anger. “How could you do that? What were you thinking?” she hissed, jabbing her pointer finger against my chest. “But you probably weren’t thinking, at least not with your head.” She made a gesture in the general direction of my crotch, then jabbed my chest again with more force.