Page 45 of A Touch of Fate

I shrugged. But some deals were more tasteless than others. I still wondered why Samuel had agreed to marry me. That argument of strengthening the bond between our families was nonsense, that was for sure. “Samuel mentioned that Renato isn’t the faithful type.”

Giorgia chuckled. “He’s a Casanova and way too sure of himself. He’s cocky and annoying. He’ll drive me up the wall.”

“That doesn’t make him sound like marriage material.”

“He’s not, but I picked him. Mom will be annoyed that she won’t get her way, and I’ll figure out a way to deal with Renato once we’re married.”

I sighed. “I’m just happy you’ll live close to me.”

She grinned. “See, that makes marrying him worth it.”

When Giorgia and I returned to the living room, the men sat around the table and were already discussing wedding dates from the look of it.

“It looks like you’ll become my wife, Giorgia. Your brother showed me your doctor’s statement that you’re fertile. So let’s hope you’ll be pregnant with my heir by the time I turn thirty.”

My lips curled in disgust. That was also part of the deal? Giorgia had to provide an heir for him to inherit everything? I sent Giorgia a disbelieving look. She gave me an embarrassed smile.

“That’s a tasteless deal.” It burst out of me. “You’re behaving like a pig.”

Renato scowled. “I can’t see how my deal with Giorgia is any less tasteless than the deal between your brother and your husband that forced Samuel to marry you.”

My heart did a thud as I blinked at Renato.

Sofia sent Danilo a look that made it clear she knew about the deal, and Samuel looked ready to murder his friend.

Apparently, everyone knew except for me.

It reminded me of how my mother had lied to me after my accident under the pretense of trying to protect me when it had been just as much about protecting herself from the truth.

This too felt like everyone had kept the details of the arrangement from me to avoid an unpleasant confrontation.

Fuck it . I scowled at Renato, who grimaced and gave me an apologetic look. Too late.

Emma paled, looking like she was about to cry.

“Emma—” Danilo and I said at the same time, but I stepped forward. Emma was my wife. It was more important that I cleared things up between us.

“Let’s have a word,” I told Emma and put a hand on her shoulder. She shied back from my touch, and I dropped my arm to my side.

“You can talk in my office,” Danilo said quietly. “And I’ll have a chat with Renato.”

For all I cared, he could rip Renato a new one, even if Renato wasn’t his soldier.

Emma and I headed toward the office in utter silence. It was the first time I was allowed to be without Danilo in his office.

I closed the door, then immediately turned to Emma, who looked like she was teetering on the edge of a breakdown.

“Renato is an idiot. He shouldn’t have said anything.”

Emma fixed me with a hard look. “Did he lie?”

“You know that arranged marriages are always deals.”

She shook her head. “You owe me the truth. What did Danilo do to make you marry me?”

I gritted my teeth. “It was a long time ago. I’m glad I married you.”

“What did he do?”

I had feared the truth would come out eventually. “My sister Serafina refused to marry him after she was kidnapped. But he had a right to her hand. We wanted him to accept Sofia instead so Serafina could heal from her ordeal. He said he would only agree to marry Sofia if I married you.”

I worried about what Emma would make out of this deal.

She turned her wheelchair so I had to look at her brown hair. Her voice was thick with tears when she spoke. “You must have hated to be blackmailed into marrying me.”

I walked around so I could look at her. She was clutching her hands, and tears were running down her cheeks. “Your brother didn’t blackmail me, Emma. We had an agreement, one like almost all marriages in our world are based on. I understand your anger. Sofia was angry too when she found out.”

Emma swallowed thickly. I hated not seeing her face, so I squatted in front of her and took her hand despite her tension at my closeness.

I hated seeing her so broken up. “You were too young for me, and Sofia was too young for Danilo. That’s why neither of us wanted to marry you girls.”

Emma looked me straight in the eye. “Danilo is attracted to Sofia.”

I frowned. “He definitely wasn’t back then, or I would have put his dick into a vise.” I moved closer. “And you know I’m attracted to you. Or do I need to show you more often?” I allowed my expression to become hungry, but Emma didn’t crack a smile.

I realized I needed to give Emma more than just a sexual innuendo. And in the few weeks since our marriage, I had already seen that she was a good match for me beyond the bedroom as well, even if her worry meant I had to be more careful about my drinking habits.

I cleared my throat. “I’ve never regretted marrying you, and I know I won’t. I’m fucking glad your brother asked me to marry you. You are the woman I needed in my life. Your resilience and your ability to let the past rest and just enjoy the present is something I aspire to succeed at as well.”

Surprise crossed Emma’s face at my words. I straightened, feeling as if I’d bared my soul with that simple admittance. Emotional declarations always made me want to wash my mouth out with soap, but I could tell it had the desired effect.

She let out a small sigh. “I’m not perfect. I too get caught up in events from the past sometimes or want to give up on certain things if I’m frustrated. But I agree, I think we’re a good match.”

I nodded. “We are, and we’ll be even better together once we know more of the other. It takes time.”

She tilted her head. “Sometimes I’m not sure you really want me to know more about you. You have very high walls. It’s hard to break through them.”

She had a point. I wanted a wife whom I could trust, but at the same time, I knew I’d have to bare my soul to her on many levels to reach the kind of trust my parents had. It was an uncomfortable thought for me. “I know. I’m working on it.”

“And please promise me you won’t hide anything from me to protect me. I can handle things, and I want to handle them.”

“I know you can.”

That night, I showed Emma just how happy I was about our bond—with my fingers, tongue and cock—despite her worry about Danilo being under the same roof. For all I cared, he could hear me giving his sister several orgasms. Thankfully, I didn’t hear anything of the sort from Sofia’s and his bedroom.

When Emma had fallen asleep, I went downstairs.

Light spilled out from Danilo’s office. I needed a drink.

The flask I’d taken with me was already empty.

I knocked briefly, then entered the office.

Danilo sat on the sofa with a tumbler in his hand and across from him was Renato. “I need a drink too.”

Danilo scanned me. My hair was slightly disheveled, and I was only in pajama pants and a shirt since it was past midnight.

His expression darkened further when Renato wiggled his eyebrows.

I accepted the glass of whiskey that Danilo held out to me, then sat down in the armchair beside Renato. I was still pissed at him.

We chatted about casinos and brothels, staying away from the topic of our wives.

I was more than glad not to discuss my marriage with Danilo.

Eventually, Danilo stopped drinking while Renato and I began a new bottle of whiskey that he offered us.

It was past two in the morning, and I could tell that Danilo would have gone to bed if he trusted us alone in his office.

“I thought you wanted to leave early in the morning?” he asked.

“We do.”

“Then you’ll need a driver.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “I can drive.”

“I doubt you’ll be sober enough by morning.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “That’s none of your business.”

“But my sister’s safety is my business. A drunk driver ruined her life.”

I gritted my teeth. “Stay out of my fucking business, Danilo.”

“Come now, let’s not get into a fight over this. I can assure you Samuel can hold his liquor better than anyone else I know.”

I sent Renato a dark look. Did he really think that was a compliment?

I didn’t finish the drink in my glass.

Danilo hovered when Emma, Renato, and I got into the rental car.

But he obviously realized I wasn’t still drunk—I hadn’t even been drunk last night—and let us leave without another argument.

I had a feeling he had said something to Emma about my drinking, though, because she was a little tense during the ride to the airport.

I didn’t ask. It wasn’t a topic I wanted to discuss with her or anyone.