Page 96 of The Mastermind
Pain and bewilderment writhed through his eyes. Then with a searing look at Maddelena, Rafa stormed out.
Silence throbbed.
Giacomo stumbled over to where Rafa had just vacated and braced himself on the counter.
Orazio’s gaze darted back and forth between me and Maddelena. ‘Explain this madness, Cesare. Because I’m lost here.’
‘It’s very simple. She’s mine. I’m keeping her. And she agreed to have me in return. If El Topo has a problem with it, he can suck it.’
My grandfather’s eyes widened. And a bout of sheer delight blazed his eyes before he dimmed it. I knew I’d scored a valuable point.
He turned his weighty focus on Maddelena. ‘Is this true? You want my grandson? This isn’t some misguided attempt to tear my family apart?’ He bared his hundred-thousand-dollar Park Avenue dentist teeth. ‘Because if it is, you’re in for a substantial amount of?—’
‘It’s true.’ She dove closer to me, and I caught her to my side. ‘I want to marry Cesare. For me. No one else.’
I loved the blush that crept up her cheeks. Nonno saw it too, and a layer of savagery left his eyes.
‘Are you pregnant?’ he barked, a thin layer of hope in his voice.
Maddelena’s gaze darted to mine. It’d been one of the outside options we’d discussed, whether to float the idea of a possible pregnancy in the hopes that it might soften El Topo. But we’d discarded it.
Secretly, I didn’t care if she never spoke to her asshole grandparent again. Things were all sorts of fucked now but I held out hope that she would gain a new family once she was a Salvatore.
‘N-no. Not yet.’
My heart jumped, absurdly pleased with that ‘not yet’. Then suddenly, it was all I could think about. Breeding Maddelena.
Fuck yes.
I glanced at my father. He was watching us with a peculiar look in his eyes. ‘We would like your blessing,’ I said.
Pain twisted his face, but he breathed out. And looked at his own father.
‘We will announce your engagement at my party. And you will wed the day after you win the championship,’ Orazio said abruptly.
With measured strides, he approached where we stood.
Maddelena’s hand trembled in mine, but heaven bless her, she held her head up admirably. ‘And if you’re not pregnant right now, you better work harder on it. I want the damn trifecta of wedding, championship and great-grandbaby to rub in thatstronzu’sface before the year is out.Capisci?’
I transferred my hold to her shoulders, pulling her into my body. ‘We’ll work on it, Nonno.’
He stared us down for another full minute. ‘Then you have my blessing. Mine, and your father’s,’ he said, then walked out the door.
My father’s gaze met mine, still full of pain. But lurking beneath it was a measure of understanding. Nodding after a minute, he too left.
I exhaled long and deep. Then dragged Maddelena closer, dropping my chin on her head. ‘Fuck.’
Her arms wrapped tight around me. ‘Rafaelle is furious.’
‘I know.’
‘Is he going to be all right?’ Worry husked her voice.
I kissed her crown. ‘I’ll make sure he is.’
We held each other, basking in the aftermath of an avoided catastrophe.
‘So… we’ll work on it?’ She echoed my words, eyebrows raised.
