Hush: Family Secrets (13 page)

“Yes Papa.”

“No man would put his life on the line the way Uri has if he did not care for you or want you. Have your husband call me. We have to have a man to man that should have happened a month ago. I love you.”

With that my father hangs up the line before I can even tell him I love him back. Oddly I can’t remember the last time I said those words. Not just to my father but anyone.

CHAPTER Nineteen

For a month I have been married to the most infuriating woman. No matter what I do Valentina has this guard up that I have not seemed to make a single chip in. Each time I think that maybe just maybe things have turned for the best she blanches at talk of our future together.

I barely contained my fury to hear her words in the pool. ‘
Confused
,’ ‘
not a love match
,’ how could such an unbelievably smart woman not know that I have fallen in love with her. I love my wife. I have gone from a simple obsession to knowing without a doubt that I love Valentina. Only reason I haven’t told her is because she is so skittish.

I will do many things for Valentina but putting my heart on the table to have it smashed is not one of them. I have known the worst rejection so forgive me if I cannot go there. I never had to go live with my grandfather. It was a choice my mum made not once but twice.

I tried drinking a glass of water to calm my temper but I just end up smashing the glass on the kitchen floor.
Not a love match,
her words just keep ringing in my ears. What have I gotten myself into? Luca has been giving me updates on the situation in the States. Don Vincent has just been waiting on confirmation that I have truly married his daughter before he decides on the next action to take.

Luca has mentioned that the Giordanos are getting impatient. I could give a bloody fuck but it is something that I need to deal with. I think it is time I return to the real world and not this fairytale I have been trying to live with Valentina. I have been trying to give her a normal life and have wanted that life for me as well, but she is right I am getting lost to this dream.

Sure normal for some would not be a month on a vineyard hanging around a pool, helicopter rides to shopping sprees and lavish dinners, but that is what normal would be for my wife and family. Family…I learned last night that my wife is actually on the pill. Sure I had not inquired. I assumed that she was not on the pill because she was a virgin, but why hadn’t she told me.

I found out because I walked into the bathroom last night as she finished her nightly routine. But of course she wouldn’t have told me, because this is an arrangement to keep her from marrying a dead man.

Oh yes, Raphael is a dead man. If it were not for him I would have pursued Valentina and courted her properly. She would know that I have always had intentions to own her as mine. I want to wring her father’s neck as well.

She is insecure because of his constant rejection when all she ever needed was his love. From the start if he would have just given her love, attention and made her feel safe he wouldn’t have a daughter he doesn’t know what to do with. I have had a month to think about all of this and I know for a fact her father and my uncle were up to something when they introduced us.

And I am about positive that it is more than a killer for a killer. There is something I still haven’t put a finger on but I will. Right now I just need to get back to London back to my life. If I am busy with work I will not constantly be worried about whether my wife is finally falling for me.

I feel like a whiny sod and that is not me at all. I have spent thirty eight years not pining after any woman and now one little woman has disarmed me in every way. Granted if any woman could bring me to my knees I am not surprised it is Valentina.

Just look, it has been an hour since I left her in the pool and I am still slamming things around as I plate the fried ravioli and sauce. I feel the moment she walks in the kitchen but I keep my back to her.

I’m not in the mood to talk. I know I may say something I could later regret. Valentina has other ideas. She walks up behind me and wraps her arms around my waist. She places a kiss to my still bare back and buries her face between my shoulder blades.

I stay tense, but my heart beats faster from just her touch, like some little school boy. How can she not know I am in fucking love with her? I close my eyes to get my shit together. What I really need is a drink.

“Uri,” she murmurs against my back.

“Huh,” is my only answer.

She sighs and moves her fingers to knead the tight muscles in my back. My jaw is working as I talk my temper down. When she places another kiss to the center of my back I release a breath I had no idea I was holding.

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” she says softly.

“I’m fine, let’s eat,” I reply picking up the dishes.

“Can we talk about it,” she asks as she follows me to the dining room.

“There is nothing to talk about. Did you call your father?” I ask as I place the plates on the table and move to pull her chair.

“Yes, I did,” she says not moving to sit in the chair I have pulled. “Baby, are we really going to do this? Please talk to me,” she pleads.

I look into her eyes and I know I will bend even if only a little. I cup her face. “Love, I am fine. We have bigger things to talk about,” I kiss the tip of her nose. It is the most I am willing to bend because I won’t talk about how I feel.

Valentina searches my face with her beautiful eyes. She nods when she finds what she is looking for and leans up to press a kiss to my lips. I don’t move to deepen the kiss as I would normally but I return the kiss none the less.

I pull away patting her bum. “Sit, our dinner is getting cold,” I command and she does so obediently.

I sat beside her and we start to eat. I watch as she moans her enjoyment of her food. I love the way she eats. Valentina is not afraid to enjoy her food. She makes the cutest faces when it is something she is truly enjoying just like right now. I finger away a bit of sauce at the corner of her mouth and stick it in my mouth.

She visibly relaxes more. I am still pissed but I allow myself to relax a bit more as well. I chew on a few ravioli and sip some wine that I poured for us.

“What did your father say?” I ask when Valentina reaches for her wine.

She swallows a sip and looks over at me. A little smile touches her lips. “He said he wants to talk to his son in law and we own him a wedding so that he can walk me down the aisle,” she shrugs.

I snort. “Oh really, is that all,” I lift a brow.

“He seemed pissed at first but he said if I’m happy then he is happy. After that he just said to have you call him,” once the words were out of her mouth her face compressed.

What is she thinking?
I study her face and think over her words. I smile inwardly before asking my next question. “Are you happy Valentina?” My eyes never leave her face as I study her reaction to my question.

Valentina turns away from me, the view outside the dining room window suddenly of the most important interest. Her hands become busy pushing her food around her plate. So I am not alone in my affections after all. I just wonder how deep her feelings really are.

“It could be worse,” she says halfheartedly.

I am pissed all over again, but I hold my temper. I knew what I was getting into with Valentina. I read it in her eyes the first time I looked into them. So now I will just have to make sure she opens up to me. I won’t stand for this any longer. 

I resume eating as if nothing has happened and eventually she starts to eat as well. She has answered one question for me. Without a doubt her father and my uncle are up to something. For her father to just want her happy and me to give him a call reeks of a coo.

I’m pulled from my thoughts as I feel her gaze burning into me. I lock eyes with her and lift a brow. I sigh because she looks hesitant to say whatever is on her mind.

“What is it little one?” I ask gently.

“I get that you spent time in Italy for a while and you have been in London since you were nineteen, but your accent. It is so unusual,” she says.

I am surprised by her words and not entirely sure it was what she really wanted to say to me. I go with it anyway.

“My father insisted we all spoke Italian at home so I have spoken our native tongue since a young boy. When I lived with my uncle I spoke mostly Italian. Luca was the only one that forced me to speak English if we weren’t at school.

“When I moved to London I spent a lot of time on the streets with a young, rough crowd. I never really lost my Italian accent but I picked up the slang and then I started to get a bit of an accent as well.” I shrug after explaining. “Luca gives me the most shit about it.”

She laughs and her entire face softens. “I think it is sexy,” she shrugs as she fingers the top of her wine glass. “Tell me something, you never talk of your mother. What happened to her?”

I scowl, feeling the dark cloud roll in. “I have had a hard time reconciling the mama I loved with the woman that abandon me,” I move to explain a little better when Valentina’s smile falls. “I remember before my father died my mama doted on me. Our home was one filled with love. My father and I were actually shopping for a gift for her the day he was murdered and I was taken.

“I have never understood why she sent me away after. I just remember being with my grandparents. I was happy with them for the most part. My grandfather and nonna spoiled me to no end. It was when I was passed off to my other grandfather that I started to resent her.

“It has taken some time for us to rebuild our relationship. She has injected herself in my life a lot more now that I don’t need a mum, not the way I did as a boy. Our relationship is…odd,” I run a hand through my hair as I think of my mum.

I can’t say I don’t love her. It is just as I said. I don’t understand what she has done in the past.

“Does she still live in the States?” Valentina inquires.

“No she lives in London to better spy on my life,” I snort.

Valentina’s smile returns. “It sounds like she does love you. Maybe there was more to the story. Maybe she had to let someone else raise you.”

“I doubt it,” I say firmly and change the subject. It is not one I want to dwell on. “We shall be leaving first thing in the morning. We should finish here and go prepare,” I say and stand from the table. 

~B~

I’ve taken longer than I should preparing for bed as I ponder what Uri said at dinner about his mother. I wonder what she will think of him being married. Angela is always in my business but not in a motherly way. So I can imagine a mother that is ridden with guilt.

The whole thing seems to be a sore topic for Uri. He had been brooding more than usual as we packed our things, well the things that are essential. The rest will be packed and sent to us. I wasn’t so sure if his mood was because of our disagreement at the pool earlier or the conversation at dinner.

Although he wouldn’t say much to me he still wouldn’t let me lift anything heavy. When he did speak it was to murmur that I could leave somethings for his staff to do. I could see his concern was genuine even if he was becoming more and more distant as the hours passed.

With a sigh I close my face cream and turn the lights out as I move into the master bedroom. Uri is already in bed under the covers. I slip out of my robe and under the covers with him. I will never tire of seeing his amazing body naked. There is a long scar on his right pec that is half hidden by a tattoo of a dark angel.

When I look at Uri that is what I see, that dark angel with his dark blonde hair and brooding looks. Right now with his eyes closed that it exactly what I see. I have often wanted to ask about the scar but something has always stopped me like warning bells. He has many other faded scars here and there but I have restrained quenching my curiosity with those as well.

My eyes scan his face as I snuggle in closer to him. I lick my lips and reach for his semi hard shaft. Before I can wrap my hand around it his hand shoots out to grab my wrist.

His beautiful eyes open and pin me in place. “We have an early morning. Let’s sleep,” he says firmly tugging me into his chest.

I stiffen against is chest and he kisses the top of my head. I pull my wrist away and roll away. I don’t want him to feel me trembling. I feel his rejection deep in my soul. Uri hasn’t kept his hands off of me since we married. There hasn’t been one night that my husband has denied me.

I lie on my side steaming mad and hurt to my core. I hear the sheets rustle and the bed shifts under his weight as he moves behind me and wraps an arm around my waist. I feel a spark of hope that he has changed his mind as I feel him, rock hard poking me in the behind. I wiggle my ass into his erection.

He slaps my ass hard. “Sleep Valentina,” he growls and tightens his hold on my waist.

My lips tremble with unshed tears. Not from the slap, that has me so turned on. I’m horny and hurt. I think my husband has had enough of me. Eventually I drift into a fitful sleep. Starting tomorrow its time I guard my heart a lot better.