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Antonio cuts his glare to me. “I wish you’d run the contract with Yaroslav by me before signing it.”

I hold his gaze. “Time was of the essence.”

“Yes, but making hurried, last-minute deals are never well thought out.” He scowls at me. “I have a meeting.” While keeping that scowl on me, he stands and pulls his suit jacket from the back of his chair. “Let’s make sure this doesn’t turn into a war.”

He storms past me and slams the door shut.

Damien stares at me in caution, which pisses me off.

I lean in closer toward him, my face burning. “Look, I’ve sacrificed my life for his family. Every fucking Bellini has. If Antonio wants to give me trouble for this, I won’t help the Lombardis with another goddamn thing.”

He blows out a breath, concern lining his face. “You know Antonio always has your back. He just has a lot on his plate right now.”

I push my chair out with more force than necessary. “If any of you fail to protect my soon-to-be wife, there’ll be problems. If he doesn’t want to protect my family, then I’ll stop protecting his.”

It’s suicide for a man to speak about stepping away from the Mafia.

It’s seen as betrayal.

Very few men have come out of that decision alive.

Damien shakes his head. “Genesis isn’t your wife.”

“It appears I need to solve that problem.”

18

I groan,turning off my alarm.

I’ve been awake for an hour, lying here in disappointment.

Julian didn’t come home last night.

It’s a further reminder that a conventional relationship with him is out of the question.

He chose me because he saw convenience.

Like I’m a freaking Slurpee at a gas station.

A cold breeze brushes my skin when I slide out of his bed and plod to the bathroom to pee and brush my teeth. When I leave his bedroom, I’m still only wearing his hoodie and my panties.

The house is quiet, and the only noise is the click of a keyboard. As I walk downstairs, I find Emilio working on his MacBook at the island.

He turns in his stool when I reach the bottom of the step, then immediately motions up the stairs. “Go put some clothes on before Julian comes back. I’d prefer not to deal with his jealousy shit this morning.”

I walk straight toward him, not listening. “Speaking of Julian, where is he?”

“Working.”

I perk up. If Julian isn’t here, he can’t give me shit about working at the shelter.

“I’ll go get dressed,” I tell Emilio. “And then you can drive me to work.”

“Work?” He draws back and shuts his laptop. “You work?”

“Okay,rude. Yes, I work.”

“Since when?”