He was trying to put me in a corner, and make me worry about what Anna might have shared. Anna could keep a secret, if she deemed it safer to do so, but her mind worked quite different from mine. She might very well have decided that sharing everything would be the safer option for me.
I looked Dante in the eye. 揑 won抰 share intimate details with you.?
揂nd I抣l thank you for that,?Dante drawled, but I didn抰 miss the threatening undertone. I couldn抰 blame him. If Anna were my daughter and I had found out about her bodyguard doing the deed with her, I would probably have smashed his face in. I was lucky Dante was controlled, though this might only mean a later but harsher punishment for me.
揂nna and I share a special bond. She抯 a woman that doesn抰 take shit. She doesn抰 shy back from telling me a harsh truth or telling me that I抦 full of shit.?
揑抦 sure she抯 had plenty of opportunities to do so.?
I wasn抰 sure if Dante had meant it as a joke. His voice had been hard and dry but for some reason I thought he抎 actually been a tad ironic.
揚lenty,?I agreed with a grin, remembering all the times Anna had given me fire for something I抎 done. She抎 never backed down. 揝he made me realize what my life had been missing. I needed a woman with a spine of steel and confidence and goals of her own. A woman who wouldn抰 take shit from me. I know Anna won抰 ever let me treat her badly and I抎 never do it. She抯 a woman that makes me want to worship her and that抯 truly a new experience for me. I can抰 imagine being with anyone else, and I haven抰 been since we set foot in Paris. Anna is the only woman I want to be with. I want her to be mine, truly and openly. I want everyone in the Outfit to know she belongs to me.?
Dante walked over to the window, a contemplative look on his face. 揧ou realize that would equal marriage.?
I smiled. 揙h yes.?I couldn抰 wait to finally bang a married woman I was actually supposed to bang. I didn抰 voice my very inappropriate thoughts and decided to keep them for Anna on our wedding night. I couldn抰 wait for her surely fiery reaction and the amazing sex afterward. 揑 want to marry her.?
Dante抯 expression didn抰 look very forthcoming. This was probably a bit too soon, and definitely too much for him to stomach considering Anna抯 wedding to Clifford had failed only today.
揙ur family is based on trust. You realize you aren抰 off to a great start if you intend to become part of it. You抳e been lying to me and my wife for years.?
揑 know. And believe me, I wished the situation would have been different. I抎 hated every moment of secrecy, of pretending Anna was nothing but a job when she was my everything. I抎 never understood why my dad hadn抰 even dated a woman years after my mother抯 death, why he refuses to this day to marry again. I hadn抰 understood the love he抎 felt toward my mother and that he still feels for her. But now that I have Anna, I understand what it means to lose someone you love. When I抎 thought Anna would marry Clifford out of duty to the Outfit, I抎 been sure I could never fall for another woman again.?
I paused, realizing that Dante too had lost his first wife and had then married Valentina. Had I put my foot in my mouth again? Anna would say it was my biggest talent, and I was starting to believe she was right.
Dante was watching me intently, his cold blue eyes making me feel very on the spot. I rarely gave a shit what other people thought of me. But Dante held Anna抯 and my future in his hands. 揧ou and Anna could have run off together while you were in France. It would have taken a while for me to become suspicious and by then you could have found a hiding place.?
I couldn抰 help but laugh. Anna would never leave her family, not even for me, and I抎 never ask her to do it. And I wouldn抰 leave my dad and sister either. Our family had already suffered enough and I wouldn抰 add to that. Not to mention that I was absolutely loyal to the Outfit. 揟hat was never an option,?I said firmly. 揂nna and I have one big thing in common, our love for our family, and our pride for the Outfit.?
I could tell that Dante believed me and that my answer had mollified him the tiniest bit. Maybe he抎 been worried that I was ripping Anna away from him and the family.
揑 want to keep doing my duty to the Outfit. I抎 never run. And I want to become part of your family. No matter what you ask of me, I抣l do it. I抣l prove my loyalty to you, Anna, and the Outfit over and over again if I have to.?
揑 expect nothing less,?Dante said. 揊irst, you can help me contain the damage that was caused today. I think your past endeavors might be helpful in this regard.?
Anna must have told her father about my affair with Dolora. 揗aybe.?
揗aybe you can talk sense into him,?Enzo greeted me when I stepped into Santino抯 hospital room two days after my wedding blew up.