Mia looked up and laughed. “In that case, you’d better do up my seat belt if you want me alive for a repeat performance of ‘Meet the Family’ at your nonna’s house tomorrow.”
Nico sighed and clipped her seat belt. Mia leaned against him, enjoying the quiet moment together as they sped through the city.
“Bella?”
“Yes?”
Nico pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “Thank you.”
*
Nico opened the car door for Mia and studied the vehicles on the street. He had requested a sit down with Tony at their grandmother’s house because it was neutral ground. Not even Tony would disrespect Nonna Maria by drawing a weapon.
“Looks like we’ve got Tony, Charlie Nails, a couple of high-ranking capos and some bodyguards,” Luca said. “Full house.”
“You think Nonna Maria will feed us?” Frankie put out a hand holding them back as he checked the road.
Nico snorted a laugh. “She’ll be in her element. A house full of hungry men? It’s a nonna’s dream come true.”
“Well, at least there is one thing our families have in common.” Mia stepped out onto the street and clasped his hand.
“She’ll love you.” Nico gave Mia an encouraging smile as they walked up the sidewalk. She had worn a simple black dress—no skulls or chains, tears, ribbons or lace—and black shoes with heels in a bid to appear respectable for the meeting with his family. He didn’t mind the dress, although it wasn’t her, but he planned to fuck her wearing just the heels when they got back to his hotel. There was just something about Mia in heels that got his blood pumping.
Not that he needed any help. They had spent last night recovering from the meeting with Dante by testing the strength of the various pieces of furniture in Nico’s suite, including, just once, the bed. He had fucked her hard, loved her soft, and held her all night long wondering if it was possible to have it all—a woman he respected and admired, but wanted with an intensity that took his breath away—a Mafia wife and mistress all rolled into one.
“Uh no. I had two nonnas. I know what they’re like. She’ll probably ignore me because no woman is going to be good enough for her boy.” Mia reached up and gave Nico’s cheek a gentle nonna-style pinch.
Nico caught her hand and brought it to his lips. “Then she’ll be wrong.”
Nonna Maria came to the front door to greet them. She wore her usual red apron, her silver hair swept neatly back in a bun. Nico gave her the customary kisses, and introduced Mia.
“This is my new wife, Mia Cordano.”
Nonna Maria looked Mia up and down, then turned her back and walked away.
“She’s lovely,” Mia whispered. “I feel welcome already.”
Nico felt a surge of protective anger and put his arm around Mia’s shoulders. Whether this marriage lasted one day or one year, Mia was his wife, and any disrespect of her was a disrespect of him, whether it came from the cousin he hated or the nonna he loved.
Conversation halted when Nico led Mia into the dining room where Tony and Charlie Nails sat with the four capos in the family. “Permette che mi presenti mia moglie—May I introduce my wife, Mia Cordano.”
“Jesus Christ,” Tony finally spluttered, after a moment of stunned silence. “When I first heard about this, I thought it was a fucking joke. You really have some balls.”
“The size of my balls has never been in question.” Nico tossed a copy of the marriage certificate on the dining-room table.
“That piece of paper means nothing,” Tony snapped without giving it a glance. “We had an agreement with the Cordanos. Would you dishonor our family by making us go back on our word?”
“The agreement was for a marriage between the Cordanos and Toscanis. That agreement has been fulfilled.” He glanced over at Nonna Maria standing in the doorway to the kitchen. No words. No facial expression. No gestures. He hadn’t expected support from the rest of the family, but his nonna was like a second mother to him, and he had hoped she would accept Mia as part of his life.
“Not in a way the New York bosses approve.” Tony picked up his highball glass and drained the contents.
Nico’s skin prickled in warning, and he motioned for Luca to stand closer to Mia. He had expected an outburst from Tony, expressions of surprise from his men, but the cold, calm that had settled in the room had him itching to draw his weapon.
“She’s mine in every sense of the word.” Crude, he knew, but it needed to be said, although he suspected no one would believe he’d consummated the marriage over a sink in the filthy restroom of a dive bar.