Vengeance.
It's something I've been taught as the son of a cruel mafia don; something I've comforted myself with for years.
When the one thing that kept me grounded is yanked away so ruthlessly, it's only in my nature to strike out in the only way...
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I didn't lay eyes on Nicholas for two days. When I asked the guards after the first twenty-four hours passed, they said he was busy with work.
I knew that was a lie. Nicholas was avoiding me because of what happened in the bedroom the night of the dinner party.
I had nothing to do, so I practiced the recipes the women gave me at the dinner. When I wasn't practicing, I was working out, watching movies in the theater room, doing laundry, anything that kept me busy enough.
On the third day, Matteo dropped by while I was in the kitchen.
"There's my favorite sister-in-law."
"Oh, hey, Matteo. How are you doing?" I asked with a smile.
"Great. What are you up to?"
"I've been trying to perfect the tiramisu recipe I got. This was day three of me trying, but I think I have a hang of it."
"Nicholas will be home today. He had some impromptu business to take care of."
Okay, so maybe the guards weren't lying.
"When will he be here?"
"He should be home by seven. Things were rough."
I knew from living with my parents while I was younger that no questions were meant to be asked. It was a crime-related business, and the wives didn't get involved in that.
"Any injuries."
"If you're asking if Nicholas got roughed up, he didn't. He's fine. He's probably just gonna be tired and hungry."
"Okay. Thank you for telling me that since my husband didn't have the time to."
The number he even used to call me before the wedding suddenly didn't exist.
Matteo grinned at me. "Any time."
Today was Sara's off day, so there wasn't any food around for him to eat. This seemed like the perfect time to get an opinion on my food from someone other than myself.
That, and it'd be a good way to extend an act of kindness to him after sticking up for me the other day, so I set to work, praying to whatever culinary god out there that the food was palatable.
***
I didn't realize I'd passed out in the kitchen waiting for Nicholas to come home until I heard glass shatter into a million pieces somewhere in the house.
I shot up from my seat. Did someone break into the house? No, that wasn't possible. Nicholas had his men guarding the house 24/7.
Maybe Nicholas was home. I followed the sound, ending up in a room Nicholas used as a makeshift bar.
My eyes traveled around the room, landing on Nicholas and the woman from the pool. He had her pressed up against the floor-to-ceiling window with her legs wrapped around his waist.
