“Guess we’re right on schedule.” I turned the ring I’d made on my thumb over and over again. I hadn’t given it to him in the courthouse, not sure what to say in front of a judge who pretty much knew this was a marriage of convenience.
“It’s the perfect way to get the word out, Morina. You’re an Untouchable now. The media will tell the syndicates and families.”
“Right.” I shoved my hand into the pockets of my dress, not sure I wanted to give him the ring on my thumb at all anymore.
“It was an honorary title for a very long time. In my world, it still is.”
“Did your parents marry?” I asked, not really sure I wanted to know but he talked about his world like I might have something to learn about.
“My mother…” He sighed. “Yes. My mother loved my father and agreed to marrying him only after a few months. He wasn’t a good husband but she was a good wife. She even called my father mi amore on her last day alive.”
“So, they loved each other?”
“Yes. And that’s probably what killed her.” Pain laced his words like maybe a part of him had died with her too.
People left and we left them too in death. It wasn’t always a choice. I reminded myself of that every day.
“She loved you too though. I can tell.”
“She should have loved herself enough to leave. And she should have taken us with her,” he ground out. “Sometimes, it pays to be bold and go against the people you love most.”
Did he truly believe that? “Have you ever done that? It seems you do all you can for the people you love, including running the family business.”
“I killed my father, Morina.” He dropped each word as he stared at me, the darkness growing in his eyes. “I took his life to bleed out the filth in my family.”
My mouth opened but I didn’t respond. I tried to.
No words came.
Sitting across from a man who killed his father robs you of your voice as fear snakes through you. Sitting across from a murderer that you think you understand and most likely care about morphs your soul into something you’re not ready to face.
I changed as I sat in the car that day on the way to see oil terminals and farms. My body vibrated with fear but also arousal, adrenaline, and a need to comfort him even if I feared him.
This man had just married me and confessed one of his darkest sins without hesitation. Now he searched my face, looking for my reaction.
He shook his head at my silence. “You’re stunned. You should be. You like to play, ragazza. You think sex with me and marriage to me isn’t dangerous or serious.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from arguing with him.
“You shouldn’t goad a man like me. I say that only to you because you seem to know just what match to light to set me on fire. I don’t want to kill again for the good of my family.”
“Are you threatening my life, Sebastian?” The words came out so quietly, I wasn’t sure he heard.
My body instantly recoiled at her question. Didn’t she know me by now? “Piccola ragazza, you think so little of me that it actually pains me. I’m never going to hurt you. I’d kill for you. You’re my family now. Your life is precious, love. It’s safe with me. But the men around you? I’d put a bullet through their skulls faster than you could murmur daddy.”
“That’s over the top, Bastian.” I couldn’t stop myself from saying it.
“It’s the bottom line. We’re married now.”
“Speaking of…” I turned the ring on my thumb again before sliding it off and holding it out to him. “It’s just one of my bracelets. I made it smaller but it stretches and the beads are made of black tourmaline. It’s supposed to block bad energy and protect. It also gives you strength.”
He stared at it in my hand, his face contorted, like he was confused, disgusted.
I pulled it back and fisted my hand around it. “I didn’t have anything else. It was a quick thought–”
His hand snapped out like a viper and snatched my fist back toward him. He tapped my knuckle. “Open.”
God, when he said that word my body reacted in a way it shouldn’t. I lifted my fingertips and he took the ring.
He turned it over before he removed the gold ring from his left ring finger and replaced it on the right. Then, he rolled my flattened beads down his finger until they sat snuggly where they should, showing he was a married man.
We both stared at that marker, that symbol and then he murmured, “My mother would have done anything for my father. I didn’t understand that because he never would have returned the favor. She used to say if you care for somebody, you do it even if they don’t care for you. I think I’m starting to understand.”
My heart hurt for the boy who’d tried to understand and for the man who now lived with the boy’s pain. “To love and to be loved just the same is a hard thing to find.”
“Yes, ragazza.” He took a deep breath and gulped. “You know my father gave her an ultimatum and she beat him at his own game. He said you leave me, you die. She did exactly that but didn’t give him the glory of doing it himself. It was for the best though. Marriage to him was a death sentence in it and of itself.”
I took his hand and tapped the ring on it. “Marriage to you won’t be the same. I know that.”
He squeezed my hand. “No. It will be protection, Morina. Protection.”
I took a deep breath and went with what I was thinking. “I’m sorry she was never really given a choice to leave him. As a boy, that must have been painful.”
Bastian took to turning the new ring on his finger. I hoped it gave him strength.
We pulled up to the oil terminals. The metal beams and massive storage crates and tanks along the coastline were a good reminder of why we’d come here.
We showed our IDs, then walked the property. Bastian pointed out where they’d expand if I didn’t sell him the shares. “If you decide to sell to Ronald or keep them for yourself, know that they will be pushing government funding here. They want to expand into the city. It would be a great thing for the community in the short term. More jobs, more money, the potential of a few grants here and there. You’d solidify partnerships with oil refineries too.”
He began with what I could gain, accommodating as always. He wanted to give me a fair choice.
I was starting to see why this man accommodated everyone but himself first.
“Great. And why don’t we want to do this?” I prompted.
“Like the UK, we could morph all these terminals to clean energy. We can repurpose the farms, and the whole plant can be lucrative without expanding into the coastline. This would require more workers but it would create more energy and an increase in profit after the first nine months.”
“You go over this some in the file.” I nodded.
“Yes. It’s easier to see though.” He smirked at me like he knew my attention span and that file didn’t get along.
“You’re right.” I smiled as a man passed us.
He eyed us, then changed course, coming over. “You’re Bastian Armanelli right?”