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“Don’t you feel safe with Taviano? You always told me you felt safest when he was around.”
“I’m just so confused right now, Lucia. I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know what’s right or wrong. I feel like I put everyone I love in jeopardy, maybe the entire neighborhood. This gang has no hesitation in killing people. Men. Women. Children. They don’t care. I don’t know what to do.”
“What you do is trust in those you’ve always trusted in, Nicoletta. Nothing has changed. Taviano is still the same man. I’m still your mother. Amo is still your father. The Ferraros have always claimed you as family, and they will be even more adamant than ever. This is your neighborhood. Even Eloisa, as mean as she can be, will stand with you because you belong here. Not one single thing has changed. You put your trust in that. You put your trust in the Ferraros. In Taviano. In me and in Amo. We won’t ever let you down.”
Nicoletta wanted to hold her and hug her so hard. She had come to Lucia only three years earlier a mess, a complete mess. Lucia had loved her through the worst of times. Nicoletta knew that no matter what, Lucia would stand with her. She did trust her advice—How could she not?—but Lucia couldn’t understand about Taviano’s reasons for marrying her, and that she couldn’t reveal to her. As much as she loved Lucia, that was a Ferraro family secret, and she couldn’t share—not even with the woman she called her mother.
“I’m fairly certain Benito Valdez, the president of the Demons, who is the one causing all the problems, hasn’t made his move to come here yet, Lucia, and I can get Taviano to bring me out there. I can stay with you until things really start heating up, and then I’ll come back and see what I can do to help.”
“Do you think that’s wise? Shouldn’t you stay with your husband?”
“Don’t call him that,” she objected immediately just as Taviano slipped through the door.
His eyebrow shot up. He walked across the floor, not even making a whisper of a sound, took the phone out of her hand and grinned at Lucia. “She should stay with her husband.” He winked at Lucia. “How’s my second-favorite woman in the world?”
“I’ve been downgraded, I see.”
“It is true, but only one small degree.” He laid a hand over his heart. “You will always have a piece of my heart.”
“I will concede,” Lucia said, and blew kisses to him. “I love you, Nicoletta. I will see you soon. Take care of each other.”
“Wait.” Nicoletta nearly leapt off the chair. She got tangled up in the blanket as Lucia hit the disconnect button. “Damn it. Don’t let her go. I have to talk to her.” She knew she sounded desperate, but it was because she didn’t want to be alone with Taviano. She couldn’t be alone with him. “Can you just drive me to wherever she is? That would just be better. I can stay there.”
“No, tesoro, you can’t stay there. You’re coming home with me. What kind of message does it send to the family if my new wife runs home to her mother the first night of our marriage?”
“Taviano.”
“Nicoletta.”
She sighed. “I’m really tired.”
“Then let’s go home.”
“I have to remind Stefano to talk to the family lawyer about a prenup. You didn’t have me sign one, Taviano. That could be a really big problem.”
He caught her hand and hauled her out of the chair when she’d withdrawn back into it, almost like a turtle. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he pulled her tight against his side. “First, there is no divorce. I went over the terms and I was very clear on that, so there’s no need for a prenup. Second, if you did leave me, you wouldn’t remember you were ever married to me no matter how many people pointed it out to you.”
“Great,” she muttered. “Sounds great to me. You’re going to be sorry. I’m good at spending money.”
“You’re lousy at spending money, Nicoletta. I know everything there is to know about you, and you don’t spend anything. Every penny you earned working you turned over to Lucia—which, by the way, she put in the bank for you. You didn’t even buy new clothes.”
“Because Lucia insists on giving me clothes all the time.”
They were at the elevator. Taviano waved to his brothers and Emmanuelle, and Nicoletta lifted her hand, acknowledging them. She wasn’t certain just what to say or what had been accomplished in their meeting.
“She loves to give you things.” They stepped inside and the doors closed, leaving them alone once again.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Taviano’s home was a modern estate built in the hills overlooking the city. Like his brothers, he owned several homes, but he didn’t bother to mention that to Nicoletta, knowing it would just freak her out more than she already was. He hadn’t told her the ring on her finger, the one she continually turned back and forth and clearly loved, was worth a small fortune and then some, because she would have taken it off and never put it on again. Some things were just better left unsaid as far as he was concerned.
She’d been acting strange ever since Vegas. Clearly, she was afraid of being alone with him. He hadn’t expected that. It had occurred to him, as it had to Stefano, that she might have problems when Stefano demanded a family meeting of the riders, with all the brothers in the close confines of one room. He thought he was completely tuned to her, ready after years of waiting for her to grow up, but now, he realized, even without the terrible trauma she’d endured, he didn’t know everything there was to know about her.
Nicoletta slid out of the car the moment it pulled up to the house, not waiting for him or the bodyguards to get there first. He was going to have to talk to her about that, but since he was certain it was safe, he let it go. She had her head tipped back and was looking up, as did most people when first encountering the architecture. He had as well.
He had found the estate while looking for land; he had wanted acreage, not necessarily for an actual house. He had houses. He wanted land he could surround himself with, to give himself a little bit of a buffer from the rest of the world when he needed it, especially there in their chosen hometown. The family loved Chicago. They loved their neighborhood and the people in it, but sometimes, especially after they had to pore over the reports of a particularly ugly investigation and learn every aspect of those involved and then serve justice, retreating to somewhere peaceful was imperative.
He watched her face, needing to see if she loved his home the way he did. It would be her home, theirs—where they would raise their children. He had studied the layout carefully before purchasing the property, making certain, as Stefano had drilled into all of them, that if they did have families, they could protect their wives and children from any harm from every direction. He had done just that.
There had been a long-standing feud hundreds of years earlier in Sicily between the Ferraro family and the Saldi family. In the territory where both families resided, the Saldis were the unspoken leaders and the ruling crime family. In spite of the fact that they always had an uneasy truce, the Saldi family had asked the Ferraro family to merge with them, and the Ferraro family had refused.
The Saldis often aided the people in the territory against the crimes committed on them by the local government, but then the price could be bloody or steep and the Ferraros would aid them. The Saldis didn’t like the interference. When the invitation to join forces was refused, the Saldis sent their soldiers to kill every man, woman and child in the Ferraro family. Only a few escaped, going “underground.” They fled the country, disappearing into other countries around the world. Those who managed to escape were mainly shadow riders. They vowed such a thing would never happen to any family member again, and rules were put into place and they began to grow in numbers. As they did, the Ferraros grew even more vigilant.
He watched as Nicoletta stood in the drive, hands on her hips, looking up at the high-pitched roof that was much more than a roof. The entire covering of the house was really an art piece and a fortress at the same time. The architect had built the rooftop to be a lookout, a
place he could go to see the city and the surrounding hillsides from every direction.
The owner could set his high-powered telescope up to study the stars, something one couldn’t do in Chicago. He could land his helicopter right on the center of the roof when he needed to, yet the landing place was invisible from nearly every conceivable direction. That was what had given Taviano the idea to have the rooftop be more than the art piece the architect had designed it to be.
There were gables and cathedral ceilings, dormers and rounded turrets that rose into the sky like towers on each corner of the house, giving it the appearance of a castle. Those turrets effectively gave him places of cover when he might need them if he had to defend his home with a rifle. He had lights to shine around the yard to cast shadows in every direction, to give his family ways to disappear should they need it.
Nicoletta turned and looked at him and then back at the house. He walked up to her, standing close, but didn’t make the mistake of touching her.
“You live here? You bought this place?”
“I thought it was beautiful. I was looking for somewhere peaceful and wanted land. I didn’t expect the house. The roof alone intrigued me. Up there, at night, you can see the stars and they go on forever. You can’t see them in the city because the lights are too bright. Out here, there aren’t any lights. I bought up as much land as possible around me, just as Vittorio did. He actually was the one who gave me the idea. He can see the stars. I wanted to be able to do it as well. I’ve got an amazing telescope.”
He loved the telescope he had and hoped Nicoletta would become as passionate about stargazing as he was. He often went onto the roof and just spent time studying the various constellations. He particularly liked to look for new galaxies. That was one of the things he thought would intrigue Nicoletta and maybe help bind her closer to him. For now, it was the house he was counting on—the house and the surrounding woods. He hoped they would have the same effect on her they had on him—bringing her peace.
He waited, not pushing her to go inside. Vines crept up trellises and reached toward the closest bushes so that it was impossible to tell where the actual start of the plants surrounding most of the house was. The plants crept back toward the woods and then into the trees so that flowers adorned the trunks as if they were in a jungle setting. The original owner had managed to create a space close to the house that simulated a rain forest. Taviano knew that that alone was worth the price the man had asked. Looking at Nicoletta’s face, he knew he would have paid ten times the amount.
“This is so beautiful. Does that path continue all the way through?”
“Yes.” He’d walked it dozens of times. At first he’d wanted to make certain he could escape if an enemy came for him, and then he’d discovered that the woods were alive with wildlife and birds. The sounds they made calling back and forth to one another soothed him almost as much as or maybe even more than the classical music he listened to when his mind was in complete chaos from rereading those vile reports on Nicoletta.
She turned her face up to his and for the first time since Vegas, there was a hint of real joy there. “It’s so incredible, Taviano. I can’t believe this place really exists. I would love to show it to Lucia and Amo someday.”
“I imagine they’ll be here often, tesoro. In fact, there is a guesthouse. It is possible they might want to move closer when they get a little older. That way we can look after them. We won’t put it to them that way, of course. We will find a way that shows them we really need them close to us. I’ve given it quite a lot of thought, and I think they’d like living here.”
Her dark eyes drifted slowly over his face. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking, when before she’d always been such an open book to him. He let her look her fill. He wasn’t going to apologize for worrying about Amo and Lucia. His entire family was concerned for them. Stefano and their oldest son, Cencio, had been friends and served together in the military. Stefano was close to Cencio’s parents, and when their son had been murdered, he had taken them personally under the protection of the family. That hadn’t been a hardship, since every single member loved them.
“I appreciate that you think about their welfare, Taviano,” Nicoletta said. “I love them very much, and I can tell that time is wearing a bit on them. I’ve been a little worried myself. I’ve been trying to learn the business so I can take it over for them and run it. I don’t know what they have in the way of retirement …”
“They have always been considered famiglia, but now, they are even more so, if that is possible. I think if we have them close to us, neither of us will worry.”
He could see the relief on her face right before she turned away from him to look once more toward the woods and the narrow path leading into the darkened interior.
“They’ll love it here, Taviano.”
She took a deep breath and walked toward the front door. There was reluctance in every step, so that by the time she made it up onto the wraparound porch, with the columns and turrets at the corners, she was no longer looking up at the house but down at the artwork on the flooring the previous owner had built into the entryway.
“I think they’ll love living here as well. We’re just far enough away from the city that when we’re on the roof we can see the stars. No one can do that. It’s a miracle. Lucia and especially Amo will love going up and viewing the stars that way even if they can only see them through the telescope.”
He reached past her and opened the heavy front door, crowding her just a little with his taller body so that she stepped into the cool foyer.
“Is it easy to access the roof? I noticed that Amo is having a difficult time lately climbing stairs. Even just the three back stairs from the alley entrance. He’s far slower, although he always plays it off like it’s no big deal. I try to carry the heavier boxes for him, but that just upsets him more, so I make sure the car is pulled up very close to the stairs and try to shove them up onto the platform so he doesn’t have to actually carry them up the stairs themselves.”
He wished he’d gotten her talking about her foster parents earlier. She never seemed to notice what was happening around her when she did that. The foyer had opened into the much more spacious front room. If he hadn’t been sold on the acreage and rooftop, he would have immediately been sold on that room alone. The high ceiling was pure art form, with the carved galaxy chiseled so elegantly into the white-blue marble that one had to look several times to notice the entire universe mapped out overhead in all its splendor. The universe spread across the huge milky-blue ceiling, culminating at the top into what appeared to be a round circular “knot” but was really a door that opened onto the roof. His house was that great.
He kept his gaze on Nicoletta’s face and his fingers threaded through hers, wanting to keep her moving. It was late and they were both tired. She could get the big tour the next day, but tonight he wanted to establish that they’d both be sleeping in the master bedroom. It wasn’t going to be the easiest thing to do, not when she was so skittish, and he knew what she was the most worried about—with good reason.
“There’s an elevator to the roof that Amo and Lucia can take,” he assured her. “I’m glad you mentioned that he was beginning to have problems. I’ll keep a closer eye on it and tell the others to watch out for him as well. He has a lot of pride.”
For the first time, he saw a genuine smile reach her eyes. “All of you men do. I think there’s something in the drinking water.”
He flashed an answering grin. “I guess I can’t argue with that.”
“We’re walking too fast, and you’re not letting me look at anything.”
“You can look tomorrow. It’s late, and we both need sleep. If you don’t, I do. My arm is hurting like a son of a bitch.” It wouldn’t hurt to remind her he’d been shot and was in no shape to jump her—although that wouldn’t stop him for a second if she gave him the go-ahead, which wasn’t likely.
The hallway was wide. He liked open sp
ace, and the house gave him that. The master bedroom was its own suite. He could just live there and be happy. The hallway ended at the wide double doors. Nicoletta stood staring at them without saying a single word. There were dim night-lights spilling shadows from sconces above their heads and decorating the halls with familiar tubes that called to him, but he kept his eyes on his reluctant little bride.
“Nicoletta.” He said her name softly and just waited. Breathing in and out. Willing her to turn and face him. Willing her to breathe with him when he could feel the tension in her rising all over again.
She stood staring at the double doors and then looking down at the beautiful stonework in the floor before she finally turned around, her long lashes fluttering before she lifted them to look at him with her astonishing dark eyes.
“I’m still the same man I was when I first got on the plane with you. Nothing has changed since then. What are you afraid of?” He asked the question as gently as he knew how. She wasn’t just afraid, she was terrified, and Nicoletta terrified could be anything—a runaway, or just plain lethal.
Those long lashes fluttered again, and along with them, his stomach muscles did the same. She didn’t look away. She might be terrified, but she had courage and she stood her ground, just the way Emmanuelle would have done. His heart nearly broke for her. She was magnificent. Beautiful. Tragically so. It was all he could do not to sweep her into his arms and hold her to him. Her chin lifted a little defiantly.
“That’s not true, Taviano. You tied yourself to me. You married me.”
He wasn’t certain what the big deal was. “We’ve always been tied together. You knew that. You’ve always known it. I sat on your bed every night for three years, piccola. I held you when you cried. I listened to the horror of what those bastards did to you, and I let you use me as a punching bag when you needed to. I rocked you when you couldn’t sleep. We’ve been tied together for years, Nicoletta.”