Page 94 of Promised to the Don of Naples
"Luca, your tattoo, when did you get it?"
"Nineteen. At my mother's funeral."
"I know." I pressed my hand against his chest. "But I wanted to hear it tonight."
He was quiet for a second.
"I swore to her I'd never be the kind of man she hated in my father," he said, low. "That I'd kill before I dishonored anyone who was mine."
I felt a knot in my throat.
"I'm yours."
"Lo so, bella mia."
His fingers kept moving up and down my back, making me close my eyes.
Four weeks until I marry this man.
Four weeks until I become his wife in the eyes of the world.
Four weeks, and I already can't remember what it was like to belong only to myself.
CHAPTER 29
"There are women who walk into a house and the house lowers its voice. I saw mine lower it."
Valentina ROSSI
Donna Beatrice cleaned the same doorknob three times.
I know, because I counted. I was standing in the second-floor hallway with a cup of coffee in my hand, watching her run the white cloth over the brass of my old room.
When she saw me, she let out a breath as if she'd been caught.
"Buongiorno, signora."
"Buongiorno, Beatrice."
"The nonna arrives at noon."
"I know."
She tightened her grip on the cloth.
Madonna, I thought. The woman who carries a Beretta under her apron is afraid of an old lady from Capri.
"Beatrice. Why are you nervous?"
She looked at me over her glasses.
"Because the nonna is the only one, signora."
"The only one."
"The only one who puts the padrone in his place." She went back to the brass. "The only one."
I swallowed hard and went down the stairs.
