Becoming Mrs DeLuca novel Chapter 40

hapter 40

VALENTINA

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With Sofa strapped to my front and Stefan in his buggy, we strolled through the park toward a fenced–in dog area. Domenico kept his distance, pretending he was a casual walker, but Elia stayed at my side. For an outsider, it looked as if we were a couple. Elia definitely played that card, considering how close he walked beside me. Milo dashed off the moment i unleashed her and soon chased around with other dogs.

“Must be strange.” Elia began, sitting down beside me on the bench. “To live in a foreign city with a man you hardly know.”

Stefan followed the playing dogs with his eyes. That fascinated look usually only managed to appear on his face when he stared at the screen. Sofia, too, watched with big eyes.

I’ve been prepared for that kind of life since I was a little girl. The rules in our world have been the same for a long time.”

“They are, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy to stick to them.”

I turned to Elia. The way he looked at me, like he wanted to see what it would take to get a rise out of me, raised my protective walls.

“Do you make a habit of breaking the rules?”

He smiled as if he was going to tell me a secret. “It can be freeing.”

He was flirting with me.

Milo yelped then squeaked. My head jerked around. A bigger dog was trying to mount her. “Can you help her?”

Elia didn’t hesitate. He jumped up and jogged toward the two dogs. The owner of the other dog, a young man with glasses and a hipster beard did the same. They managed to separate the dogs. To my surprise, they began to chat.

Elia smiled the same smile he’d given me all day, but this was less expectant, less challenging. It was naturally flirtatious, one he didn’t have to force. The hipster guy laughed, still holding his small bulldog by the collar. Elia grinned, but then he noticed my gaze and his demeanor shifted. He said something else then hurried back to me with Milo on his arm.

I searched his face. For a moment, back there, he’d looked like I’d caught him. Maybe Elia was breaking the rules, but not in a way he’d insinuated to me. Now it made sense why Adrian had chosen such an attractive man to guard me. Elia wasn’t a danger in his eyes. I could probably parade around naked all day and Elia wouldn’t care in the slightest.

We returned home much earlier than planned because Sofia had a never–ending crying fit. She wouldn’t let me calm her no matter what I did. Stefan, too, got cranky because of it, but Milo’s presence prevented his meltdown at least. When I finally managed to have Sofia settle down for a nap after what felt like hours, I felt drained. I’d considered calling Adrian to ask for his help because unlike Stefan, Sofia quieted as soon as her dad was close. Now I was glad that I managed without calling

him.

I didn’t want him to think I couldn’t handle the situation. My clothes were drenched with sweat when I sank down on the sofa minutes after Sofia had fallen asleep. Stefan sat on the floor with his tablet on his lap. I’d given in and returned it to him. If he also had started wailing like Sofia, I would have started crying too.

Elia came toward me, carrying two cups. “You look like you need a coffee.”

“I need a drink and a shower.” Despite my lack of experience with alcohol, I suddenly got why peop days like this.

He laughed then handed me the cup. “Coffee is a start, don’t you think?”

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ved a drink after

He sat down beside me, again closer than was appropriate. This time it didn’t bother me because now I knew the truth. I took a sip of the black coffee. Usually I drank mine with milk and sugar, but this felt good now. I regarded Elia openly, not even bothering to hide my attention. He wore a tight white shirt that accentuated his muscles and a black gun holster over it. I wondered if he was good with weapons, if that was at least part of the reason why Adrian had chosen him- or maybe his presence was only as a trap.

Adrian had set Elia up to do this. I had no doubt about it. Adrian was jealous. He had admitted it himself, and Damien and Ernesto had confirmed it too. I hadn’t expected him to be jealous enough to trick me like that, though. It infuriated me, but beyond that, it made me really sad. If Adrian trusted me this little, we had a long way to go for this marriage to work.

I set the cup down on the table then faced Elia. I leaned closer, gauging his reaction. “I’ve been asking myself a question….”

His eyes shifted to caution, but the smile remained plastered on his face

“Does Adrian know?” I murmured.

His smile became less honest. “Know what?”

“That you like men.”

For an instant, Elia’s expression slipped before he could control it again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh yeah?” I said. “I saw how you checked out that guy in the dog park. You were flirting with him like you’ve been pretending to flirt with me. I’m not blind. Maybe the men in our world don’t notice because they prefer to see what they want to see, but I don’t care if you like men or women. Love is love.”

Elia shook his head. “I didn’t check anyone out. You can’t go around saying something like that. You know what would happen to me if those rumors spread.”

“I have absolutely no intention of telling anyone. It’s your personal business,” I said. Officially, there weren’t any gay Made Men. It was ridiculous. Boys learned to hide it if they liked other boys or they got killed. That was the only reason why there weren’t any gay men in our circles. “But Adrian knows.”

I could practically see Elia’s thoughts racing as he tried to get me off track. “If he thought I was gay, he’d kill me. The mafia doesn’t tolerate fags.”

I smiled. The insult was a nice touch. It didn’t work. “No, unless you don’t make it public. And sometimes it comes in handy to have gay soldiers, especially if someone’s as jealous as Adrian seems to be.”

Elia didn’t say anything. I could see that he was completely thrown off. “This is—”

“Ridiculous? Yes, it is. Did Adrian ask you to come on to me to see if I would bite?”

Elia ran his hand through his hair. I’d backed him into a corner. It was obvious that neither he nor Adrian had expected me to catch onto them. This made me even more furious than the fact that they’d tried this trick at all.

“I’m your bodyguard. I’m meant to protect you. You should talk to Adrian if you think I’m doing a bad job.”

I rolled my eyes. “Maybe you should go to the staff room now. I really don’t feel like being lied to at the moment.”

Elia inclined his head and left. He’d call Adrian the second he was in the back room. I leaned back nst the headrest, closing my eyes briefly, feeling drained. My shirt stuck to my sweaty back. A hot snout nudged my arm opened my eyes to find Milo on the couch beside me. Was she trying to console me? I’d read that dogs could pick up on human emotions, but I hadn’t expected Milo to act on it.

She probably wasn’t allowed on the sofa, but I didn’t care if Adrian would approve or not. I patted my lap and she curled up

there.

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Chapter 10

Stefan put down his tablet and approached me. He climbed on the sofa and sat beside me. His little legs didn’t even reach the edge. I smiled at him. His eyes conveyed questions that he didn’t voice.

“I’m fine, just tired. Milo is trying to console me because she can feel that I’m tired.”

Stefan nodded slowly. I stroked his head carefully, seeing if he’d pull back, but he didn’t. I felt the knots at his back. I’d seen how he struggled when Sybil or Adrian tried to comb his hair. From the way it felt, I doubted combing would work. “Milo looks cute with her short hair, right?”

Stefan gave a nod.

“Will you let me cut your hair a bit? Not much, just a bit, so Milo doesn’t feel alone with her short hair?”

An even smaller nod was his response. I gently put Milo down on the sofa and went to get the scissors. When I returned, Milo was curled up on the sofa and Stefan was sitting very close, but he wasn’t touching her even though I could see that he wanted to.

“Can you sit on my lap while I cut your hair?”

He nodded.

I lifted Stefan and positioned him on my knee as I sat down. I stroked his head gently before I began to cut the hair at the back of his head. He didn’t move, only looked at Milo. I shortened the hair on the sides too, only left the hair on top as it was. “You look really cool now.”

Stefan remained seated on my leg, and I kept stroking his little head.

“I hope you’ll talk to me one day. I’d love to hear your voice. You can talk to me about everything. I can keep secrets if you need me to. Okay?”

He looked over his shoulder, really looked me in the eye, and in that moment, he seemed so much older than almost five.

“Your dad loves you.”

Stefan looked away and slid off my leg. He sank down on the floor with his tablet once more.

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