Headed to the kitchen, Sal didn’t help me in the slightest, so I asked Scarlett, “Like what?”
“The movie.”
“Because you do not know what you are asking of me.”
The disturbing chuckle that erupted from Scarlett was a pure warning of what was to come. “I am very aware of what being fucked by a man feels like.”
The notion that she dared compare my lovemaking to their rapes added to my already growing fury. I marched back to her and sneered in her face, “See? You don’t know. I wouldn’t fuck you.” My ravenous hands gestured to her whole body as I growled, “I would worship you.”
My eyes raked over her thighs and how slipping between them would be a fucking dream come true, when she said, “Then worship me.”
Her set shoulders had my hands aching for a touch, but I reined in my hunger and headed back to the kitchen again. “No.”
“Why not?”
“I have already explained. You will be someone else’s.”
From behind me, she fought for herself. Most of all, I think she was fighting for us. “I already explained to you that I will not have been rescued from one captivity only to be placed in another!”
I fought to give her what I thought was right. “You will go where I tell you to go.”
“Angelo,” warned Sal.
Done with the fucker who wasn’t supporting me as I tried to do right by Scarlett, I spun on my heel and yelled in Italian, “I need your fucking help right now!”
“What do you think I am offering, you one-balled moron?”
“I am not being a coward!”
He yelled, “Then what the fuck do you call running away from one of the only women who will ever love all your insanely brutish ways?”
“I can’t be just some guy she has sex with—”
I wanted to say, “before she married,” but Scarlett suddenly roared, “Speak English!”
Sal slightly bowed to Scarlett as he told me, “Angelo, she does not see you as merely someone to have sex with.”
My whole body seized. Why did he have to repeat that in English? That wasn’t what I meant.
“Here!” Suddenly, the piano screamed wicked notes of Scarlett’s fury as she slammed down her hands. “You kissed me here!”
“Yes!” Sal held his wine glass so high I suspected he was in cahoots with God. “Yes, Italian woman! Show us your fight!”
“I am not broken!” Sour notes echoed as if shouting to me the torture of Scarlett’s life.
With his wine high in the air again, Sal celebrated, “This woman is fresh, invigorating air to cleanse your decrepit soul.”
Decrepit? I had no time for Sal. Scarlett needed me. She wanted my opinion, even though I only wanted her own to matter to her. So, I went to her, as I knew I always would, even if having to hide my true feelings from the Giordanos. “I believe you. I do. But you have been through so much. Your past—”
Her voice trembled, “Then give me something worth holding on to in my future.”
“And there it is!” cheered my friend, who was actually starting to make sense. “Hope. Faith. What beautiful words, no?”
Yes, they were, but… “I—” My eyes closed. Hard. I needed to block out the sight that I wanted to see for the rest of my days. “I can’t.”
But not even closed eyes could block out what Scarlett demanded. “You can!” Soft hands suddenly had hold of my face and yanked me to her. Luscious lips slammed to mine. My stomach instantly tightened with an ache and desperate need for this creature.
“Claim your man!” practically applauded Sal from the kitchen.
I wanted her. I wanted her to know how much she already owned me, but her wellbeing was so much more important than mine. Scarlett would be crushed if this affair got me killed. So, I pulled from her kiss, yet lacked the strength to go far. I rested our foreheads together. “Your grandfather—”
“Is nothing to me.” She sounded so mature and determined.
“Is your family.” One that would never approve of this.
Since there was a pause, I thought I was finally winning. I had no idea our little Dove was about to use my own words against me. “Okay. Then let us compromise.”
Brilliant. This woman was simply brilliant.
Sal burst into laughter. “Damn, she learns quick!”
How could I stare at Scarlett and not appreciate her determination? Her excellence. I couldn’t, so, full of admiration for the woman she was becoming, I smiled. “Okay, Star, what is the trade?”
More willpower oozed from her body. “I’ll go back to Italy… if you help me fly.”
Fly. I was stunned, wondering how she knew of me wanting to touch the sky, but apparently, Sal The Pal knew. Still in the kitchen, he did a very poorly executed fake cough, then mumbled, “She means sex.”
“Oh.” Of course, I knew this, but now feared how rejecting her would affect her self-esteem. Almost able to feel the pain that I had to cause, I released her hands and took a step back.
Scarlett was not cooperating. Soft, gentle hands reached and gripped mine with fortitude. “Please, Angelo, let me feel those happy tears.”
“Star, there is no guarantee you will like it. Plus, how could I ask you to want another male body after what they did to you? How could you even trust me in bed?”
As if so smart to know me holding her face entranced me, she pulled my hands to her cheeks. “How can you not trust me to know what I need or want?”
Fuck. She was right.
She nodded. “Yes, you keep telling me to think for myself, but when I do, you tell me I am wrong.”
I recoiled, trying to find space for a clear thought. Her words and the sound of her voice were telling me I was wrong for holding back, but I wasn’t. I needed to stand strong.
Then she whispered, “I trust you.”
It was so sincere my shoulders caved. After all the torture she had experienced, she trusted me. Just another reason I needed to do right by her. “What an honor to hear such words from you. Thank you. But if I did anything wrong, in a bedroom, to you… Not that I would ever hurt you, but what if, mentally, something I did triggers you? What if I cause more harm than good?” She no longer had to force me to hold her beautiful face. I loved touching her. “That would cause me more pain than you can understand.”
Sal groaned from the kitchen, “Ah, shit.”
Not letting Scarlett go, I looked over my shoulder. “You understand me now?”
I could tell he was using the counter to hold himself up. If either of us ever caused Scarlett anguish, it would wreck our world. “Yeah, I understand now. I hadn’t thought of that.”
Scarlett, that unbelievably forgiving soul, kindly told me, “I would never want you in pain.” Her bottom lip actually trembled as tears filled her eyes.
Oh, my brave girl. I’m so sorry. If I could find a way—
“Wait.” Sal sounded like he was up to no good. “Sal may have a solution.”
Oh, shit. Now what?
A wet noodle smacked me in the face.
Sal smirked. “You be the man without hands.”
Blink. Blink. “Are you suggesting I’m to be tied up while having sex?”