Page 27 of Vicious Secrets
“Will you continue to expect sex?”
He winces, and his gaze falls to the desk. “I’ll never force you.” Siro’s voice is quiet and soft. Much like one I heard last night while he cradled me. “The bride test was an exception, not a norm.”
I pause at the corner. “You could get rid of it when you become the Boss.”
“It’s more popular with Fedeltà women than men.”
“Yiikees.”
“Right?” Siro’s nose scrunches.
“I don’t know who that says more about.”
A laugh bubbles out of me. His body relaxes, finally matching his posture as his own laughter joins mine.
Siro
Robyn’sbraverycontinuestobe as intoxicating and infectious as her touch. It draws me in with equal parts curiosity and concern. She walked into the Devil’s office, looked him dead in the eye, and got everything off her chest. She didn’t flinch until I told her she’d inspired my confession.
I find myself missing some of my old routines. Like eating dinner at home so I can guarantee myself one uninterrupted meal per day. It’s a small luxury I can afford as an Underboss.
Robyn doesn’t look up as I sit down at the diner table across from her. The messy bun on top of her head wobbles as her chin dips and her eyelids droop.
“You don’t have to keep your job if you hate it.”
Robyn’s eyes snap open like she didn’t know I was in the room. She sits up straighter and blinks the sleep from her eyes.
“And do what? Bore Fabi to death? No, he’s a good guy who deserves to die of old age.”
Fabiano DeLuca a good guy? If my laugh wouldn’t come out as a cackle, I’d let myself laugh until I was blue in the face.
Fabi’s spent more time with her than I have, and clearly, he’s grown on her. Somewhere, hiding in a lump of scarred over brain matter, is the rational part of me. The part that knows Fabi didn’t make moves on my wife and is just a charming man who makes hiding his brutality look easy.
Or Robyn’s lonely, and Stockholm’d herself a friend because you’re never around, dipshit.
“Being the bodyguard to the Boss’ wife or children is the highest honor a soldier can achieve.” I take a bite of my food to stop my envy from lashing out.
“Doesn’t seem fair for me to lounge around your penthouse all day while you’re working.”
My head falls to one side as my hand holding my fork lowers to the plate. “Do you hear yourself?”
“Yes.” Robyn purses her lips and swallows hard. “Maybe I don’t understand the role of a mob wife. And I’m not trying to be dismissive, but all I see is sex on demand, child-rearing, and hosting parties.”
“There’s a saying amongst the Fedeltà that a wife is the only sense of stability a made man gets in his life. Our mothers raise us until we’re old enough to become made. Our sisters and daughters marry into other families. Our fathers, brothers, and sons are all born with one foot in the grave. Our wives are the only people we won’t lose.”
Robyn gets out of her chair. My eyes follow her as she walks around the table and takes a seat next to me. She sits sideways with her knees pointed at my thighs and leans in like she’s about to share a secret.
“Why did you choose me over someone else? Like Porzia or Catia?”
I cough and grimace. “They’re teenagers.”
“No, Catia’s the same age as Mel, and I think her sister’s twenty.”
“Alright, so I was a teen when they were born, and comparing me to Vittore is an insult to my cousin,” I grumble.
Robyn shifts. She looks across the room at the blank wall like she’s studying a painting. “How did I pass the bride test?”
“You’re kidding, right? We’d made a deal. And you were wet for me before I started.”
