Page 92 of Cassio

“Hmmm.”

“Hannah will try to get your jewelry out of you,” I warned her. “Better keep your engagement ring glued to your finger. And Arianna will cover for her while her sister is robbing you.”

Áine’s warm laughter rang through the little restaurant and the sound of it warmed my chest.

“Little thieves, huh?”

I smiled at her accurate description. “They like shiny stuff and unfortunately have very expensive taste. Luca is not helping the matter since he keeps indulging them.”

“Well, I look forward to meeting them too.”

Our lunch turned out very pleasant. Áine had an easy, calm personality and underneath it all, she was warm with a great sense of humor. She kept her guard up, but I didn’t blame her. It was probably her instinct warning her, assigning my father’s attributes on me.

Except, I was nothing like my father. She couldn’t remember that Luca and I came to save her from that hellhole my father and brother kept her caged in. But despite her brain warning her, she trusted me. And there was no denying the attraction that sizzled between us.

I watched her with other men or people in general. She didn’t like physical closeness and something recoiled her from men’s touches. But not from mine. No matter how much she’d deny it, she trusted me.

And I’d never break that trust.

Which led me to the topic we had to discuss. “I want to be honest with you,” I started, her eyes studying me curiously. “I never had any intention of marrying your cousin.”

Her soft gasp told me she believed I schemed her into my bed while knowing all along I’d marry her cousin. Not the best kind of confidence.

“Then why the pretense?” she inquired. She was careful to trust my word.

“First, Callahan would have never agreed to marriage with you,” I told her honestly. “Not unless his hand was forced. Trust me on that.”

She cocked her eyebrow. “Well, maybe neither one of you two should be arranging marriages without discussing it with the intended target first.”

Good, she wasn’t screaming. Not that I expected her to. Áine was a reasonable woman and had a good head on her shoulders.

“Point taken,” I admitted, though it wasn’t that simple in the underworld. “With Benito alive and all the havoc he was causing, I couldn’t afford to go against Jack and start a war with him while fighting Benito and Marco.”

“Two years ago?”

I took her hand into mine and despite our obvious disparities, we fit. Her eyes lowered and she watched the ink on my hand. She seemed fascinated with the rose tattoo, the crease between her brows deepening each time she glanced at it. The rose was my mother’s favorite flower. It reminded her of home and Nonno, but she was too ashamed to go back to him, to ask for protection, and it cost her everything.

“Yes, two years ago,” I said softly. “I wanted to keep you two years ago. The Wonder Woman that slammed into my life, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”

Her mouth parted and light blush colored her cheeks. “Well, that’s…”

She searched for a word and failed to come up with one. She was right; it was slightly overboard. I wanted Áine as my wife and no replacement would do. It was her or nobody else.

Did I scheme to get her? Yes. Was I sorry? Fuck, no.

“Did you plan Vegas?” Her question didn’t surprise me.

“No,” I told her. “I planned on running into you, to see if you still remembered me. That was it.”

Well, there was one other thing, but it wasn’t time to admit to that one. She probably wouldn’t take kindly to me setting her cousin up to get seduced by another man.

“That’s a bit intense, Hunter,” she murmured. I noted she reverted back to the name I gave her in Vegas. Somehow it felt right on her lips, to use the name that was rarely used by anyone else. “Your family deals with human trafficking.”

“Luca and I are not my father,” I told her firmly, reminding her of her own words. “Neither is our sister. We fight human trafficking, alongside friends and our own family, which doesn’t include Marco. Nor did it include Benito when he was still alive.”

She tilted her head as if deciding to believe me or not. It was time I admitted I knew about her extra-curricular activities. Very soon.

“And I should just believe your word?”