Page 86 of The Viper's Wife

“But what?”

She hums thoughtfully. “Don’t bite my head off, okay? Just hear me out. What if… you stayed? I mean, he clearly likes you a lot. And you like him.”

“I want it on the record that I’ve never said that.”

“You don’t need to, I can hear it. Let’s weigh your options here. On the one hand, you could stay with a hot, sexy guy who’s obsessed with you. Have your every need met.”

“But I couldn’t have kids.”

“Not so fast. You’re worried they wouldn’t be safe, right? Do you think Nico would protect them?”

My heart hammers against my chest.

Nico threatening Stefano for giving me a bruise. Punishing Stefano at the strip club. Pulling me to his side on the sidewalk.

He keeps me safe. I can’t deny that.

But a child?

I have no way of knowing. Children reveal a person’s inner self. Once Stefano became old enough to show potential in the Family business, Mom and Dad shifted all of their love and attention to him and left none for me. Lacey’s dad was the sort of man to serve on town council and volunteer in his free time, but once he had daughters, he proved to be a monster behind closed doors.

Nico hates his dad. Everyone knows Don Salvatore does too.

How can Nico be different than all the fathers in our lives?

“I don’t know,” I admit. Every time I think I’m beginning to understand him, he surprises me.

“He’s good to you, right?”

I chew on my bottom lip. He’s monstrously possessive. That’s bad, right? No matter what my heart tries to tell me, a man so hell-bent on baby-trapping me cannot be good, even if he showers me in money, compliments, and affection.

“I think my radar forgoodis broken.”

“No, it’s not. You just have to trust your heart.”

“Thank you, fairy godmother.”

She snorts. “How about this? My grandma always used to say, if the man was bad and the lifestyle was good, chuck the man. If he’s good and it’s the environment that’s bad, keep him. If Nico’s good to you…”

“It’s not that simple.” I’m sure Lacey’s grandma wasn’t talking about an environment where people shoved cocainein your purse and threatened to kill you if you didn’t get pregnant as soon as possible.

“Sometimes it is. Look, you’ve got a year with him, right? As long as he’s good to you, give him a real chance.”

“But what if I don’t want to leave him at the end?” I ask in a thin voice.

“Then you’ve fallen in love with a rich, sexy guy who loves you back. And you’ll work together to keep your kids safe and happy. People have kids in terrible circumstances all the time. That’s human nature.”

The shower’s soft drumming fills the silence. I take a deep breath of humid, citrus-scented air. Can I do this? Open my heart for a year, knowing I’ll either need to give up my dreams of a peaceful life or shatter myself when I walk away?

“I’m scared,” I finally admit.

“That’s how you know there’s something worth fighting for.”

It’s hard notto stare as Nico drives us to the restaurant.

I catch him in glimpses—the black suit straining over his thighs, the gleam of his watch against the streetlights, the serpent tattoo on his neck shifting with his movements.

Tonight, as we step out of his car and a valet takes it away, we look every bit a married couple in the restaurant’s mirrored windows, Nico in his black suit and me in my black slip dress. If I saw a couple like us on the street, I’d think they were made for each other.