Page 53 of The Capo's Nymph
Across the room, I notice Paola and her mother worriedly looking around. Her father seems to have snuck off without them.
"They make a cute couple." Dante nods toward my sister and Primo. "Are you jealous?”
I cough, trying to swallow my last bite of wedding cake, knowing my sister still fancies a snake instead. “Why would I be jealous?” I ask, reaching for some water to wash the rest down.
“Poor Primo wanted to be your boyfriend according to our mother. Switching from one girl to her twin, it’s very flighty behavior.”
I snort back laughter, and Nico drawls, “Maybe you should find a girl to dance with, Dante, and leave my wife alone.”
“Ihada girl,” Dante growls, going from friendly to scary in the blink of an eye and causing me to choke on my sip. “You should learn how to swallow.”
“Oh, she’ll learn.”
Nico’s odd interjection has his brother laughing heartily, back to friendly again, while I stare at them both, confused.
My face warms once I comprehend Nico's innuendo. “Your mother would fetch soap for your mouth if I told her,” I warn him, and Nico shoots a sexy smirk my way.
“I would pay you to tell her, Matilde. Thanks for finally giving me a fun sister-in-law,” Dante adds, still chuckling.
He stands, leaving us alone, but Nico is frowning now. I wish the specter of Margareta hadn’t been raised. I’m nervous enough, and his smiles, or smirks, are so rare.
Nico’s frown deepens when his father stands at the far end of the table, clinking loudly on his glass with a fork. The room falls silent, preparing for the sick old man to make a toast.
“I will keep this short. My first-born has married today, a good thing for a Capo to have a lovely bride by his side.”
He grasps Zeta’s hand, and I feel myself growing emotional, seeing her beatific smile. It’s hard to picture being older, married for as many years as them. But when I glance at Nico seated beside me, I do not hate the notion.
My groom, however, looks tense. Maybe he’s worried his father will start coughing and be unable to finish his speech.
I soon realize that’s not the case.
“But a ring on her finger is not all that makes her yours.” Zeta’s smile dies, and she looks down at her lap when several of the men laugh in a derisive manner. “You are the best with a knife in all the Trio. Sink your blade in deep tonight, son, and seal this marriage with blood.”
Raucous male laughter follows, and I feel faint. The old Capo starts coughing, incapable of saying more, but the cry is taken up by others – “A wedding requires a bedding!Bed her! Bed her!”
Nico touches my lower back, startling me so I nearly fall off my chair until he picks me up and carries me away from the table. Frankie and Zeta give me sympathetic looks as we pass them while Maddalena has turned pale as a sheet on the dance floor. The men’s shouts grow louder and bawdier. I couldn’t walk out of here on my own right now if my life depended on it.
“Ignore them. We’re leaving.” Nico’s expression is inscrutable, but I can feel his thumb softly caressing my exposed back. Between that and his familiar scent, I find some comfort despite this mortifying situation. I circle his neck with my arms as he walks, burying my face in his chest and grateful when the distance between us and the leering crowd grows.
“Fucking Father.” I gasp at the annoyed voice behind us before realizing it’s just Dante that followed us. “Your car is waiting.”
Nico thanks his brother, asking him to ensure his children and Maddalena are well-guarded tonight, but he never stops walking.
Soon the December evening cools my burning cheeks, and we reach his Mercedes. I manage not to collapse as he helps me in, but I’m still reeling from his father’s words, so I keep my face turned toward the window as the city streets whirl past.
He doesn’t live far away, but the silence is deafening inside the SUV even with my heart hammering inside my chest. Once we stop, he’s still quiet beside me and doesn’t get out right away. Curiosity prompts me to glance at him. He’s still clutching the steering wheel,staring straight ahead. “I want you to understand we’re not doing anything tonight.”
My mouth falls open in surprise. “Your father-”
“Fuck my father.”
“You said we would sleep together when-”
“I’m not saying never. I’m saying… we’ll wait.”
“You do not want to?” He buried his first wife six months ago. Is that why?
“Oh, I want to, but I know you don’t. You’re very young. Probably too young for married life and definitely too young for me. However long you need, I’ll wait.”
