Page 124 of Cara

“That this shit isn’t worth losing her over?”

I nod, grabbing his hand so he hears me. “Don’t sacrifice her for it, Bo.”

“I'm not sacrificing for this life, Sophie. I'm doing it for him.” His eyes bore into the back of Xavier’s head before shifting to his brother and friend at the bar. “For them.” Then he looks at me. “And for you. The people I care about. I love her, but I’ll be six feet under before I abandon my family, and she knows that.”

He gives me a once-over. “Look at you. Primped up like you used to be, forced to rejoin a family that nearly killed you. It’s a sacrifice. Xavier’s partnership with corrupt bastards he can’t stand? His blood-stained hands? That’s sacrifice. We’re all sacrificing something.”

“Yeah, well, love is different.”

“You’re right. Maybe the fact that I can walk away is reason enough. It had potential in the beginning, but our worlds aresofucking different. I have no intention of dragging someone into danger like Dante has.” He chuckles. “Granted, Mimi isn’t scared of anything.”

Seeing her forcing Dante onto the crowded dance floor, tugging at his massive arm, I nod. “No, she isn’t.” I watch him take a swig of beer. “I'm sorry, Bo.”

His mouth tilts, not wholly a smile. “Don’t be.”

“Thank you, by the way.”

He leans into his seat, his tuxedo jacket draped over the back of the chair. “For what?”

“Telling Xavier where I went. You kept your promise.”

“If I could’ve gotten him on that plane after you, I would have.” He shakes his head, observing the room with a blatantly distrustful gaze. “It took him months to recover physically, but his mind is what really suffered.”

“He won’t tell me what Arturo did to him.”

“Dante said on the day they broke him out of Vito’s warehouse,” my eyes widen as I process my father’s role in this, “hewas strung up to a pipe by his wrists.” My hand slips off the table. “Dante has a hard time talking about it. Xavier won’t speak of it, but Dario was there.”

“Dario?”

“He was the one who Arturo ordered to hurt him.”

Dario was there when my father…

Xavier’s half-formed sentence in our dimly lit bedroom makes sense now. I should’ve known. Dario knows what they did to me because Arturo was forcing Xavier to relive it.

That was part of the punishment.

I’m suddenly nauseous.

“And he keeps himclose? His consigliere, for fucks sake?”

“Dario may have beaten him, but he also spread discontentment through the families. He’s the only reason Arturo’s men turned on him in the first place. Xavier offered him rank, and he took it. Men like him always jump at opportunities. He made Xavier a Don, allowed him to get his revenge and in return, Dario got what he wanted. Power.”

My hands fist in my lap. “Jesus.”

“In a way, I think you guys ruined my relationship.” I hit him, and he rolls his eyes, popping the last piece of steak into his mouth. “What I had with Denise isn’t like this.” He points between me and Xavier. “What he would do for you, Sophie… I don’t even think you realize.”

My gaze lands on my husband’s tousled waves and subtle smile as he leans in to speak to the senator. The table erupts with laughter, captivated by his presence. “I’ve never deserved him.”

“Wrong.”

“Bo.”

“You’rewrong,” he says.

Zeke drops into a chair next to him, breaking the tension built during our intense conversation. He wraps an arm around Bo’s shoulder and shakes him until they laugh.

A loud collective groan echoes from the table beside us as Xavier rises from his chair, oblivious to the hungry gazes of women crossing his path. His eyes find mine with ease. My veins surge with desire as he takes my hand, drawing me to the dance floor without a word. He already knew this is where I’d want to be. The romantic pull of violin strings mirrors the way my chest melds into his, a gravitational force too powerful to resist.