****
“You’re not going to scold me?” Damon asked.
“Why on earth would I do that? You forget, boy, I’m a grown woman. I know lust when I see it. I have also been with Isabella Drago since she was a little girl. For the longest time, her only responsibility was to be said girl. Then her brother died after they took her mother, and she was thrust into a world that few can survive. I’ve seen the cruelties of men, and to know she is still one of the sweetest people around, that takes a lot.”
“Sweet?”
“You only see what Isabella wants you to see. Her training says for her to keep a great deal locked up inside, and I can’t say I blame her. This is a horrible world. She deserves to have happiness and to have a man who’ll help to guide her now that her father is gone.”
“Do you agree with what Philip Drago did?” he asked.
Her lips were pursed. “I know it made Isabella grow up. I will see if what he did was for the good of his daughter, or if it will kill her faster.” Henrietta started to clean away the dishes.
His cell phone rang, giving him the perfect opportunity to leave.
“Tell me what you found out,” he said.
He listened to his man detail everything little thing about Randy and Isabella’s secrecy. After hearing what she kept secret, he was a little surprised, but Henrietta’s words came back to him. His betrothed was sweet. With how sore his body was from last night, he’d beg to differ, but then again, she was putting on a show for him.
Disconnecting the call, he made his way into the garden, remembering Randy’s hiding spots and indeed, found her near the rose bushes.
She stood, stroking the petal of a red rose.
“Be careful with the thorns.”
She smiled. “I am. Do you like roses?”
“I don’t give flowers much of a thought,” he said.
“No. Killing. Maiming. That kind of thing?”
“All the time.”
“Is that what you had to grow up with? I know my brother did but Dad always tried to give it a mix so he wasn’t completely overwhelmed with the job and responsibility of taking over as capo.”
“Considering your father was a capo and had a fierce reputation, he raised you both differently.”
“He only did what he did because he loved my mom. She was his very reason for breathing some days. Not long after she died, he became … someone else. It was a short time, but it was like he suddenly realized the monster still lived within him, and her children wouldn’t want to see that side of him.”
Damon vaguely recalled a massacre at the hands of Philip Drago Sr. It showed that even as he was grieving, and how he didn’t always follow in the Family’s footsteps, he still was a force to be reckoned with.
“Do you miss him?”
“I do. I miss them all. I sometimes forget that it’s only me around now. It’s lonely.”
With his recent conversation with Henrietta, he now saw the more vulnerable side to this woman. She wasn’t just a capo’s daughter. A fighter. A force of nature.
As he looked at her, he saw the only daughter left, a sister, someone who had no one other than a soldier who swore his loyalty to her father. There was no one to really take care of her, to love.
Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close.
She was tense. “What are you doing?”
“I’m your family now.”
“Damon, we’re not even married yet.”
“We will be soon.” He ran his fingers down her back and even as she probably wanted to fight him on it, she didn’t. She wrapped her arms around him, holding on. “I was going to ask you about your family.”
“Go ahead, I’ve got nothing to hide.”
“I’m aware of your father’s viewpoints on women. You’ve told me yourself that I’m nothing more than a baby-making vessel.”
“Yes?”
“How can someone who is raised by a man who sees women as property like me be at your side? Respect me and even grant me all the freedoms I have now?” she asked.
“Watching men and women. The guards and soldiers.”
“That’s it?” she asked.
“My training started when I was very young. Being in pain became second nature to me. It’s all I’ve known for a really long time. My father took me everywhere with him, but because I was a kid, I wasn’t exactly considered that important. I’d wander off. I hated my father and following in his footsteps was never what I wanted to do. Most boys want to impress their dad, me, I wanted him to regret ever having me.”
“That’s … er … intense.”
“It’s who I am. Each day I got stronger but I also saw the way other men treated their women. My father beats my mother, or he used to. I’ve seen the state of the women, and I have no desire to hurt a woman. There’s no power in that. I have killed women, Isabella. Traitors. Women who will try and get us arrested, or rat us out. I’m not perfect.”
“All of this is to spite your father?”
“Yes, and I believe women should be cherished.” He stroked her cheek. “I will cherish you, Isabella. Every single day.”
“I don’t know why you’re telling me this, but I appreciate it, Damon. I do.”
“We have to go and start making the necessary arrangements for our wedding.”
She groaned. “Shopping?”
“Either that or we organize a planner for us.”
“I think a planner would be better. I don’t want to have to deal with all of the fine details.” She wrinkled her nose, looking cute.
In her own time, she’d tell him the truth about her setup, until then, he was going to trust her judgment as to why she kept it a secret from him.
Chapter Six
“You’re getting married in three weeks,” Daniella said.
Isabella looked up from the baby boy in her lap and smiled. “I know. I wanted to invite you but Randy didn’t think it would be a good idea.”
Danielle sighed. “It’s fine. I’ll be with you every step of the way, even if I can’t, you know, be there.”
Glancing around the apartment, Isabella felt so happy for the young woman. Daniella and August were her friends. She held the little boy on her lap as he played with her hair.
“We heard about your father,” Daniella said. “We’re both so sorry.”
“I hope August doesn’t even know what it means.”
“He’s growing up so fast.”
“Tell me about it. I can hardly believe this guy is two years old already. I remember when he was nothing more than a baby bump.” She blew on August’s cheek and the little boy giggled.
“So tell me about your husband-to-be?” Daniella said.
“You know who it is.”
“Damon Romano.”
“Yes. I don’t suppose you know too much about him?” Isabella asked.
“The usual information. He’s a monster. Scares his enemies. Doesn’t feel pain.” Daniella handed her a cup of coffee, taking a seat opposite her.
She didn’t have long before she needed to get back. The only reason she’d been able to escape Damon’s rather invading presence was under the guise of going to try on her wedding dress. She’d tried on the wedding dress, and for the first time since she was twelve, she felt like a woman. A rather strange feeling to her.