Page 115 of Born into Mayhem

“You’d be pissed at first, but you might grow to like it,” he says, and then he lets out a heavy sigh, and I know he must be exhausted. His voice is softer when he says, “The problem is, you’d also grow to hate me. I’d be doing the one thing you always asked me not to do, which is put a muzzle on you, cage you, and take away your freedom.”

He runs a hand through the scruff on his face that’s quickly growing into a light beard and mutters a quick, “Fuck.”

“You knew this from the beginning,” I remind him. “It’s not my fault you chose to not believe me.”

He drags his fingers along my stomach, feeling the skin above the bandages. “I always believed you,piccola vipera.I’ve always known that loving you would involve a sacrifice.” He leans down and kisses my skin. “It’s going to kill me to watch you put yourself in danger, but I’ll make that sacrifice for you.”

My fingers stroke his cheek. “Thank you.” I smile down at him and say, “Solntse moyo.”

“Are you ever going to tell me what that means?”

“It meansmy sun.” I run my finger over the sweet smile he’s giving me.

He kisses my hand and says, “I knew I’d turn you into a romantic,amore mio.”

I press my finger to his lips. “Keep it to yourself. That sweet stuff is just for you.”

He nips gently at my finger before kissing it again. “I would never share this part of you with anyone else.”

Sitting on the edge of my bed, he grabs my container of food and starts to twirl the fork into the spaghetti. When he holds it to my mouth, I don’t fight him on it. I’m still sore, and I can’t manage to stay awake for more than a few hours at a time.

“How long do I have to stay here?” I ask while he feeds me.

“A few more days and then I’m taking you back to the house. We’re staying in Italy while you recover and so are your parents and Sasha. Dom and Nat are staying for a while, but he can’t be gone from the city for too long.”

“What about the Fontana family?” I ask.

“You mean the one that your brother single-handedly destroyed?”

I swallow the pasta and ask, “He did?”

“I’m not sure if you remember, but he saw you’d been stabbed, and he didn’t take it so well.” Dario fills the fork again and holds it to my lips. “Our men are afraid of him now, and I heard he made one guy throw up.”

“That sounds like Sasha,” I say.

“He went a little crazy, but I can’t say I blame him. I’d wanted to do the same thing, but there was no way I was going to leave your side. I’m glad he killed them all. Leonardo has a younger brother. He’s the last remaining family member.”

“Will he want revenge?” I ask.

Dario shrugs. “We’ll find out soon enough, but I’m guessing no. Franco never wanted any part of the mafia. He left home as soon as he could, and he rarely comes back.”

“No matter how he felt about it, he’s not going to be thrilled to learn that I killed his brother,” I say.

“Franco’s not stupid, and he values his life. He’ll know he has a choice to make—let this go or die an incredibly painful death. I’m confident he’ll choose to live.”

I finish off the last bite and rest my head against the pillow. He sets the empty dish aside and then straightens my blanket.

“Why are you sore?” I ask.

“Probably from sleeping in the chair,” he says, but I can tell he’s lying.

I grab the hand that’s still fussing with my blanket and force him to meet my eyes. “We don’t lie to one another,” I remind him. “Tell me what happened.”

He cups my face and brushes his lips against mine in a gentle kiss before he says, “I got a vasectomy.”

“What?” I try to sit up, but he keeps me in place and kisses the tip of my nose. “Why did you do that? I don’t understand. The doctor said I won’t be able to get pregnant.”

“No,amore, he said the chances were slim but that it would be life-threatening if you did. I will never take that risk with you, so I did what needed to be done to guarantee it never happens.”