“You’re right. I was warned to behave myself around the wife of the Boss so as not to cause a rift between New York and Chicago,” he said lightly.
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell on you.”
Matteo winked. “I fear it’s too late for that.”
“I think it’s my turn again,” Dante said, appearing beside us, his hard glare fixed on Matteo, who seemed thoroughly unperturbed.
Matteo took a step back. “Of course. Who could stay away from such dark beauty for long?” He bent over my hand and kissed it. I stiffened, not because of the kiss, but because of the look in Dante’s eyes. I slipped my hand into his quickly and squeezed, and suddenly Aria was at our side. “Matteo, you should dance with me now.” He did and Aria cleverly moved them away from Dante and me.
“I thought you wanted to dance with me?” I said in a forced casual tone, peering up at Dante’s hard face.
His blue eyes settled on me. He wrapped his arm around me and started to move us to the rhythm of the music. I wasn’t sure what had been the source of his anger: jealousy, or Matteo’s disrespect. “What did he say?” Dante asked eventually.
“Hm?”
“What made you laugh?”
Maybe jealousy was the major driving force after all. That made me unreasonably happy. “He made a joke about bushes.”
Realization filled Dante’s face. “He should be more careful.” The threat was obvious. Good thing Matteo and Luca hadn’t heard it.
“I think he’s a bit tense because of the problems between Gianna and him.”
“From what I hear, he’s always been volatile, even before his engagement to the Scuderi girl.”
“Not everyone is as controlled as you are,” I said pointedly.
He raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything in return.
* * *
Shortly after midnight, Dante and I excused ourselves. The hotel had offered us their biggest suite for the night, but Dante preferred to return home and I was actually glad. I was eager to finally move into Dante’s house. Although, I was also worried since he’d shared it with deceased wife. It was probably filled with many memories. Bibiana crossed her fingers as I walked past her, and I couldn’t help but smile.
CHAPTER FOUR
I was glad it was time for our wedding night. My first real wedding night. I’d waited too long.
On the drive to Dante’s mansion at Chicago’s Gold Coast, neither of us spoke. Silence seemed to have become a loathsome tradition for us. I busied myself watching traffic through the passenger window while I desperately tried to hide my rising nervousness. Was it possible to feel excitement and dread at the same time?
Dante slowed as we approached a huge light-brown three-story mansion. Wrought-iron gates swung open when he pressed a button in the dashboard and we drove through, then headed for the double garage. My family’s mansion wasn’t too far away. It was smaller than Dante’s home, as was to be expected. The Underboss couldn’t have a bigger house than his Capo.
After Dante had parked next to a Mercedes SUV, he got out. He walked around the car and opened my door for me, then held out his hand and helped me out of the car, which was difficult with my dress. His hand was warm and steady. I was always surprised not to find his skin as ice-cold as his persona. He released me the moment I stood, and I almost reached for his hand but stopped myself. I didn’t want to push him. Maybe he could only ever let loose behind closed doors.
He led me through a side door into the lobby of the mansion. The floor and the staircase were dark hardwood, and a chandelier cast a soft glow down on us. It was strangely quiet. I knew Dante had a maid and a cook, who handled the household for him.
“I gave Zita and Gaby the day off,” he said offhandedly. Could he read me that easily?
“That’s good,” I said, then cringed at how that might have sounded. It wasn’t as if I thought we’d entertain the entire house with our bedroom noises, but I preferred to have total privacy for our first night together.
Dante headed straight for the staircase, then stopped with a hand on the banister to look back at me. I’d halted in the middle of the lobby but quickly rushed toward him and followed him upstairs. My stomach fluttered with nerves.
This was my second wedding night, but I was almost as inexperienced as I’d been all those years ago, something I really hoped would change tonight. Antonio and I had kissed occasionally at the beginning of our marriage, and he’d even touched my breasts through my nightgown a few times, but when it became clear to me that he wasn’t into it, we abandoned those futile attempts at intimacy.
I wanted to become a real wife, a real woman, and unlike Antonio, I knew Dante was perfectly capable of consummating our marriage. But that was also my problem. What if Dante noticed I was a virgin? Could I hide it from him? Maybe if I asked him to extinguish the lights, I could hide my discomfort or blame it on nerves over being with someone other than Antonio. But what if he felt my hymen? What would I tell him then? I should have used a vibrator to get rid of it, but the romantic part of me didn’t want to lose my virginity to a device. It was ridiculous.
My thoughts were interrupted when Dante opened the door to the master bedroom and made an inviting gesture for me to go in. I walked past him, my wedding dress swooshing gently with the movement. I flashed him a quick glance in passing to gauge his mood, but as usual his expression was unreadable. The king-sized bed was black wood with black satin covers. For a moment I wondered if he’d kept it black since his wife’s death. And then a worse thought took its place: was it the same
