Page 51 of Urgent Vows
"As long as it is not confirmed, it will remain speculation. If my men suspect it is because she ran, they will not talk about it." Severu sounds so sure.
"Your men might not, but their wives and daughters will."
He shrugs, like that doesn't matter. Maybe it doesn't to him. It will to Carlotta though, when she finally comes back. She thinks it's only a matter of our father getting over his anger. She hasn't considered what her actions will do to her standing amongla famiglia.
Heck, if she'd been thinking at all, she never would have left. She's such a babe in the woods. She has no idea how dangerous the world outside our family cocoon is. Does she even have money for a hotel?
"Stop worrying about your sister."
"How did you know that's what I was thinking about?"
"You are too tenderhearted for the family you come from, Catalina. Your sister abandoned you to your father's wrath."
"Not on purpose." Though part of me knows it really was. Then something else occurs to me. "I never needed to marry you to protect Carlotta. You had no intention of allowing my father to live once he'd betrayed you."
Severu gets me back in bed before he answers. His movements are careful, but his expression is that of an executioner. "You are wrong, Catalina. Your father is dead, but I am still alive, and your sister betrayed me as much as she did your father."
Fear rolls through me like a wave. I never asked him to promise not to punish her. I just assumed he wouldn't. What kind of naïve fool am I?
"Stop looking like that, wife." He tucks some of my hair, messy from sleep, behind my ear. "You did marry me and that will naturally influence the severity of the punishment I have planned for your sister."
"What are you going to do?" I ask, not sure I want to know.
"You may be there when I tell Carlotta after she is found. But make no mistake, I expect you to stand with me, not your sister."
"Just tell me this, will it make me hate you?"
His dark gaze probes mine for several silent seconds. Then he shakes his head. "No, but it won't be easy on her."
"How can you be sure I'll approve?" I ask, his nearness making me want to forget talking about my sister, which makes me feel guilty.
"I do not need your approval."
Lord save me from bossy, arrogant men. "Fine. But you said I won't hate you for it."
"You want what is best for her." He sounds so sure.
And he's right, but that doesn't mean I think any punishment he devises will be that. "How can a punishment be best for her?"
"You will have to trust me." His face is granite now, his tone not in the least conciliatory. More like demanding.
I consider his rule about men in positions like my father not abusing their wives or children and how he has treated me since this morning. I remember how he reacted to my phone call demanding he do some wooing of my sister. And I nod.
He might hurt me with unthinking comments, or just plain disinterest, but he reserves his physical cruelty for mafia business. Neither do I think he would hurt me emotionallyon purpose.
"Good. Now close your eyes and get some sleep." He starts undressing.
I'm not about to forego the pleasure of watching my husband take his clothes off. My eyes stay open.
His lips quirk. "You're not very obedient."
"I can be obedient when I want." Like when we're making love and he tells me to stay still.
That was so hot. Just the memory has moisture collecting between my legs. Okay, maybe the memory and the sight of my husband's body.
He turns off the light and walks around the bed in the dark to climb onto his side. I wish he would hold me, but he doesn't move closer.
I lay there wishing and thinking and definitely not sleeping, so I ask, "Why did you ask me about birth control when you know you need to have children?"
