Page 25 of Bellini Bound

The thrum of alcohol in my veins gave me a pleasant buzz and lowered my inhibitions enough to ask Summer, “How do you justify it?”

With her body relaxed against the couch cushions, her head lolled in my direction. “Justify what?”

“Being married to a criminal.”

Her chest lifted with a deep inhale. “For a long time, he did his best to shield me from the darker side of what he does.”

I scoffed. “Nosuch luck here.”

Summer hummed. “I can’t imagine it’s been easy with the way your marriage came about. You’re probably feeling trapped. And while our circumstances may be different, I get it. There wasn’t much of a choice when I first moved in with Matteo, either. But as we spent more time together, I learned that there’s so much more to him than what he does for a living. And I fell helplessly in love.”

“I’m glad it worked out for you, but I don’t see some kind of fairytale ending happening over here.”

She shrugged. “Never say never. Enzo might look tough, but he’s a total sweetheart.”

My resulting snort was so loud I clapped a hand over my nose. “Sorry,” I apologized. “Are you sure we’re talking about the same Enzo? Because being barked at in the middle of our wedding ceremony to lose weight when my ring didn’t fit, then being forced to murder a man in cold blood before being stripped of any means of communication with the outside world doesn’t scream ‘sweetheart’ to me.”

The woman seated opposite me sucked in a deep breath before screaming, “He didwhat?!”

With hope blossoming that I might have found an ally, I kept rolling, “Oh, and I forgot to mention the part where he quit my job for me.”

She shot off the couch, pacing the confines of my living space, huffing out nonsensical words as she grappled with the fact that her cousin-in-law wasn’t quite the man she believed him to be.

When Summer returned to her seat, she took my hands in hers. “Allison, I amsosorry. I had no idea.”

“Allie.”

Blinking at me, she shook her head. “What?”

“I prefer to be called Allie. Enzo is the only one who calls me Allison, and I’m pretty sure he does it on purpose to piss me off.”

Shaking her head, she blew out a heavy breath. “All he told me was that you weren’t eating. Idiot that I am, I didn’t press for more details because it made sense as an act of defiance after you were forced into a marriage against your will.”

Tears burned behind my eyes, making my voice watery. “Ihatehim.”

A wry smile twisted on Summer’s lips. “You and Gabi can start a club. Hell, you might even be able to give her a run for her money running for the president of it at this rate.”

“Who’s Gabi?”

“My best friend,” she explained. “Who just so happens to be a distant cousin of our husbands. And when I tell you she and Enzo are at each other’s throats any time they’re in the same room together, I’m not exaggerating. If they weren’t related, you’d think they were about to hate fuck with the amount of tension in the air.”

My nose wrinkled at that visual.

Summer backtracked quickly. “Please don’t tell her I said any of that.”

I lifted both hands. “Couldn’t even if I wanted to. He took my phone.”

“Fuck.” She rummaged around in her oversized purse before producing a cellphone. “Take mine.”

“I don’t know . . .” I began to protest, wondering if this was a trick because being offered this lifeline seemed almost too good to be true.

The mobile device was dropped onto my lap as Summer pulled more items from her bag. She held up what appeared to be a small tablet. “Do you read?”

“When I can find the time.”

“Great. You can have my e-reader too.” She tossed it onto the cushion beside me. “Hope you like hockey romance because that’s pretty much all that’s on there.”

“Uh, can’t say I’ve read one before,” I confessed.