Becoming Mrs DeLuca novel Chapter 62

THE PRESENT

I slowly turned away from the fireplace, facing my young wife. She was pale, her lips parted in horror after my story.

“When I married Serena, she was in love with her half–brother. I didn’t know it back then. Her parents did but chose not to divulge the information. Maybe now you understand why I reacted that way when I found Marco here with you.”

Valentina covered her mouth with her palm, staring down at the floor as if she couldn’t bear looking at me. I couldn’t blame her. It was a story that had shaken up even my father and Damien. “Oh my God.”

I grimaced. I hated remembering, and worse speaking about what happened, but even worse than all that was the look on Valentina’s face now that she knew the truth.

“After I married Serena, she asked me if her half–brother could become one of her bodyguards. I agreed because she was miserable away from home and I thought it would help. I wanted her to find happiness in our marriage.”

Valentina nodded, not looking up. “Her parents? You killed them.”

“I did. They betrayed me. Their lies cost Serena and Lorenzo their life.”

She sucked in a sharp breath, horrified. Valentina was a good girl. Kind and positive, willing to see the light even in the dark. I’d dragged one woman into an abyss. I desperately hoped Valentina would be spared the same fate. “Serena practically asked you to kill them in her last letter.”

“She knew me well.” Occasionally I would share details of my work with her when I’d been particularly shaken or when she asked, which didn’t happen often.

“And Rico… how do you even bear to look at him and work for him? It must be so hard.”

I looked down at the carpeted floor. “I think a small part of me made peace with the situation. He never brought it up and I didn’t either. Rico knows I can’t kill him. Doing that would be like signing a death sentence… My kids have already lost one parent. I won’t do anything that’ll make them suffer another loss.”

Valentina shook her head. She’d said our marriage would be doomed if I didn’t tell her the truth, but I had a feeling the truth just ended whatever had been blossoming between us. Losing Serena hadn’t hurt. For one, because she’d betrayed me, and because I’d never loved her. Losing Valentina- I wouldn’t get over it. We hadn’t been together long, but in the few months of our marriage, she’d brightened my days more than I thought possible.

“I never raised my hand against Serena, not then either. I would have never killed her. Whatever you decide, you don’t have to worry about your safety, Valentina. I won’t hurt you.”

VALENTINA

I couldn’t breathe. Hearing Adrian tell the story of what happened in a raw, bitter voice had unsettled me deeply. This was so much worse than I expected. The idea of finding Adrian with another woman tore at me. How much worse must it have been for him? Finding his pregnant wife with her half–brother and his boss, both men he had trusted, and finding out his children might not even be his. It was too horrific to contemplate. Even I wasn’t sure what I would have done in a situation like that. I probably would not have killed someone, but I hadn’t been raised to survive as a man in the mafia.

Adrian smiled grimly seeing my expression. “That’s the man you married, Valentina. I understand if you’re scared of me

1/4

now. I won’t stop you from moving into another bedroom, but you’ll certainly understand that we’ll have to stay married for Sofia and Stefan. They can’t lose you

I pushed to my feet, crawled on Adrian’s lap, and wrapped my arms around him even as he stiffened. I kissed him hard. God, this was horrible. Everything. It wasn’t okay that Adrian had killed a man in a jealous rage, but he was a killer, and he, like all the men in our world, had killed for less. Part of me understood.

Confusion mingled with hesitant hope in his eyes. “What… what are you doing?”

I pressed my face against his throat. He wrapped an arm around me lightly. “Valentina? Say something.”

“I’m not scared of you.”

I wasn’t. Maybe I should have been, but I’d always known Adrian was capable of brutality for something as trivial as power and money. That he killed because someone hurt him, it only showed he wasn’t an emotionless killer.

Adrian slipped a finger under my chin and nudged my face up. “You heard what I said.”

“I did. You protected Stefan and Sofia. You kept Serena alive despite what she did. I know it isn’t something many men would have done. It’s more than I expected, knowing the stories about you.”

Adrian’s mouth twisted cynically. “I suppose it’s good that your impression of me was already bad to begin with.”

I rolled my eyes, hoping to lighten the mood.

Adrian cupped my cheek. “Only you can make me feel better by insulting me with a simple look.”

I gripped his shoulders, bringing our faces closer. “You wanted to let the past rest, and I want to help you. Stop thinking I’m going to do what Serena did. I’m not her, and I definitely won’t end up in bed with my brother. Even thinking about it makes me sick. And I won’t cheat on you with anyone else either. I desire you, and I’m loyal. Can you get it through your thick skull?”

Adrian pointed at his chest. “In here, I know you aren’t Serena.” He pointed at his head. “Up here’s the problem. I’m not a very trusting man, never have been. Now less than ever. But I’m trying.” He cupped my head and molded our mouths together before murmuring, “I can’t lose you.”

“You won’t. Not if you keep working on your trust issues, if you keep fighting for us, because I sure as hell am ready to go into war for this marriage and our children.”

Adrian moved back slowly. “What did you say?”

I pursed my lips. “That I’m ready to fight for us.”

“No,” he said gruffly. “You said our children.”

I flushed. Not only had I almost declared my feelings for Adrian, I’d also let it slip that I wanted Sofia and Stefan to be ours, not just his. I’d known them for only two months, but I’d be at their side for many years. Hopefully one day they’d be mine in theirs and everyone else’s opinion. “I know they are yours… not mine, not really, but it kind of hurts if you say they are your children as if I don’t care for them—”

Adrian jerked me toward him, kissing me fiercely. I clung to him, almost breathless when he finally pulled away.

“I don’t deserve you, Valentina, but my kids… our kids do.”

“I really, really care about them. Even if you never want to have another child, I’ll be okay because I’m going to raise them as if they were my own.”

2/4

I know.” he said quietly “h’s what I’d do too.”

I sears hed his eyes “Have your ever had a paternity test done?” I was fairly sure I knew the answer

“No.” Adhian said

That one word encompassed so much emotion His love for Sofia and Sretan, the determination to take care of them, but also the fear “So you don’t know if Stefan and Solia are yours?”

“No Softa and Stefan look like their mother and Sofia looks just like..”

Like Serena’s half–brother “But their hair color is similar to your sister’s”

“his,” he agreed, but doubi rang in his voice and I understood why.

Now that I really thought about it. I had to admit that neither Sofia nor Stefan shared any resemblance with their father. My heart hurt thinking of the possibility. I swallowed. “Why haven’t you checked?”

“Because I love them and I’m fucking scared the test results might change that. Especially Stefan… I can’t bear the thought that I might resent him for looking like someone else.” His voice shook.

“You really think you’d love Stefan less if he wasn’t yours?”

“I don’t know,” Adrian admitted in a raw voice. “I don’t fucking know, which is why I won’t risk it. I’d rather not know the truth, rather live a lie than hurt Stefan or Sofia in any way.”

I cupped his cheeks. “They are your children, Adrian.”

“You can’t know—”

“They are. They are yours because you love them, because you’re raising them, and because they love you as their father. That’s what matters.”

“Yeah,” he said after a moment. “How can you be this goddamn wise and kind, Valentina? I should be the one giving you advice. I’m almost twice your age for God’s sake.”

I shrugged. “I had to grow up quickly.”

Adrian stroked my bangs away from my forehead, wistfulness clouding his face. “Because of me. I thought you were another child to take care of after our first encounter, too young to deal with the responsibilities being my wife would entail, but you proved me wrong. You take care of my children, of that damn dog, even of me.”

“Milo. That’s her name.”

“Lorenzo gave her to Serena a few weeks before I found out.”

“Oh.” That explained why he could hardly look at Milo. She reminded him of too many hurtful things. “It’s not her fault.”

“She licked up Serena’s blood!”

I cringed, not wanting to ponder that disturbing image. “She’s a dog. She doesn’t mean any harm.”

Adrian tilted his head to the side with a tired smile. “You can keep her, but don’t expect me to bond with that thing.”

I stifled a comeback. Some things took time. I rubbed my fingertips over Adrian’s stubbled cheek and chin. “Do you know why Stefan avoids you? Did he see anything?”

3/4

“He wasn’t present when I killed Lorenzo or during my fight with Serena.” He reached for his glass, took a long gulp.

“Right after Lorenzo’s death and after he and Sofia were discharged from the hospital, he was still okay. But in the weeks that followed, he pulled back, and then after Serena’s suicide. I couldn’t get through to him. Stefan resents me. I can see it in his eyes. We used to be close, but everything changed… He won’t talk so I don’t know if it’s something Serena said to him or something he saw.”

I pressed my forehead to his. “We’ll find out together. For us. For our kids.”