Chapter 81 RóISE

I adjust the throw pillows on the couch for the third time in ten minutes.

Miceli's family is coming for dinner tonight. Aria, Severu, Catalina and even Giulia and her family are in town.

I should fluff the pillows on our bed. Pusheen likes to sleep there sometimes.

A strong arm wraps around my waist as I head in that direction. "Stop, mi dolce fiore . Everything looks great."

Sighing, I sag against him. "I just want it to be perfect."

"There's no such thing, unless we're talking about a certain sexy woman who left the Irish mob to become my wife."

Turning so I can see his gorgeous face, I smile. "There you go being perfect again, and we're not married yet."

"We will be soon."

That gives me so much more satisfaction than I ever believed it could.

"Yes, we will." Looking around the huge great room for anything out of place, I chew on my bottom lip. "But tonight, your family is going to see our newly decorated home for the first time."

"And my paintings."

Right. I shouldn't be nervous. I know it's going to be okay, but tonight, he's telling his family about his art and the studio he shared with his dad.

"You know what my studio here represents to me?" Miceli asks.

"A place where you can be yourself?"

"I am always myself," he declares arrogantly. "It represents your love for me. Your acceptance of all of who I am, not just the parts you are comfortable with. "

"I do love all of you, even when I want to kick you in the shin." Miceli is a bossy, alpha male that has to be reined in sometimes, but he's my bossy, alpha male.

His lips tilt at one corner. "I never doubted it and that makes me a very lucky man."

"Remember that the next time we argue."

"Us argue? Never." This time his mouth curves in a fullblown grin.

"By never you mean the three days of war we waged before we settled on a compromise about the guards?" I don't want guards hanging out in the apartment all day, every day.

Miceli insists the full detail on duty be accessible to the penthouse.

"You must be referring to the three days of intense sexual passion we shared while discussing domestic matters."

I give him a look. "That air of innocence does not sit convincingly on your shoulders, Miceli, no matter what your doting mother told you."

But he's right about the passion. Every disagreement between us ends up with us naked in the bedroom, or on the sofa, or on one memorable occasion with me getting feasted on pressed up against the floor-to-ceiling window in Miceli's studio.

It was after that particular encounter, I agreed to the compromise of building a guard house on the west side of the terrace.

It means giving up some of our outdoor living space, but we have a lot of that. And the building will create a private balcony off the primary suite for me and Miceli, which we both like.

He wants to have sex in the hot tub. And I'm not against it.

Besides, we still have the south terrace that runs the entire width of our home for entertaining. The east terrace might be narrower than the one we're using for the guardhouse, but it's wide enough to install a play area for our niece and nephews.

Guilia and Raff have a little boy, Neri, who is a year younger than Fitz. They also have the most adorable baby girl named Sophia, but they're calling her Sophie.

"You’re still okay with showing everyone your dad's paintings?" Some of the tension I'm feeling about this bleeds into my voice when I don't mean it to.

Enzo De Luca's portraits are on display in Miceli's studio and his family will see them tonight, too.

"You said you think my family will be fine with this."

Locking my hands behind his neck, I nod vigorously because I do believe it. Mostly. "And I meant it. But someone might say something that hurts your feelings and then I'll have to put castor oil in their after-dinner coffee. "

He picks me up so we're eye-to-eye. "That's not going to happen."

"Because you're a big, tough underboss who doesn't get his feelings hurt?" I ask, locking my legs around his torso.

"No, because my family loves me."

I'm still getting used to this emotional honesty from him. It hits me in the feels every time.

"Even Severu," I remind him.

He rolls his eyes. "Even my brother."

"I'm glad you realize that."

"I've always known my brother loves me."

Which I'm sure is true, but there's knowing and there's knowing .

"Severu loves you as his brother, not just the God of War who always has his back." It still feels weird calling the Genovese don by his first name, but he insisted on it while we were staying with them.

Miceli doesn't answer, but he kisses me and that's answer enough.

We're interrupted by one of his men informing us that the De Luca family is on the way up in the elevator.

"I still don't like having bodyguards inside the apartment," I grumble as Miceli lowers me to the floor.

"They won't be once their guardroom is built." His gaze shifts toward the west terrace and then the east.

That look he gets sometimes comes over him.

"Stop it." I straighten the bodice of my dress and smooth the skirt.

Miceli runs his fingers through his hair to smooth. "Stop what?"

"Thinking about kids." I take one last look around the living area but it's too late to change anything now. "We've got at least three years."

"How do you know that's what I was thinking about?" he asks with a superior air that's a lot more believable than the innocence he tried a little bit ago.

"You get this look on your face."

"I'm pretty sure that look was for my plans to fuck you insensate on our private balcony."

"And not a single one of those thoughts ended with me pregnant?" I teasingly demand.

He shrugs.

Because of course they did.

The man wants me to have his baby, and not just to give him an heir. But I'm not getting pregnant before I finish school and he knows it .

The contract gives me another year on birth control after that, but I'm not worried about the terms of the contract anymore. If I want to wait five years, Miceli will wait.

Because he loves me.

But that won't stop him from fantasizing about planting a baby inside me.

~ ~ ~

Aria is the first person to come in, followed quickly by Giulia, Raff and their children.

Neri makes a beeline for Pusheen and our cat graciously tolerates the four-year-old's affection.

My mother-in-law insists on a hug from me before oohing and ahhing over the new decor. "It's gorgeous in here," she pronounces.

"Absolutely. Who would have thought this place could look so much like a home," Giulia asks with a smile, handing the baby off to Aria at the older woman's insistence.

My sister-in-law is beautiful and her husband can't keep his hands off her curvy figure. They're so in love, it would be sickening if it wasn't so amazing.

This whole mafia family is filled with couples that are deeply in love. Severu and Catalina. Salvatore and Bianca. Big Sal and Ilaria. The portrait on the easel in Miceli's studio shows how much his father loved his mother.

Catalina is the first to comment on my portrait hanging on the wall. "Oh, this is beautiful. You didn't tell me you were sitting for a portrait, Róise."

Before I have a chance to answer, Severu steps up close to the painting, and examines it. "M. A. D."

My heart starts beating faster.

He turns to Miceli. "You?"

The shock on my fiancé's face is comical. "How did you know?"

"I was our father's underboss and your don. Do you think there is anything about either of you that I didn't know?"

"You never said anything."

"It wasn't my secret to expose."

"It shouldn't have been a secret at all," I mutter.

"What are you talking about?" Giulia demands.

Aria looks confused. "What secret?"

"I painted the portrait of Róise," Miceli tells them all. "The paintings on that wall are mine too."

The next few minutes are filled with explanations, affirmations and even congratulations. But not one criticism .

Tears turn Aria's eyes glossy. "When I asked your father why you stopped drawing, he told me he'd taken care of it. It hurt that you'd lost that part of yourself."

"Then why didn't you say something about it?" Giulia asks her mother.

"It would have only hurt your brother more for me to acknowledge the loss, or so I thought." Aria smiles gently at Miceli. "I'm so glad you kept your art."

"I didn't mean that," Giulia says wryly. "I mean, why did you accept it when you thought papà had disciplined the art out of Miceli?"

Aria purses her lips. "He knew best how to raise his sons for the roles they would one day hold."

Giulia opens her mouth, like she's going to argue, but Severu interrupts her. "He knew enough not to take Miceli's art away from him. That's what matters."

"I guess." Giulia walks over to Miceli and hugs him hard. "You're an amazing artist, brother."

"Thank you, but so was dad."

They all go silent at that, shocked expressions on everyone's faces. Except Severu's.

"Show them your dad's paintings," I prod, knowing now is the time and not after dinner, like we planned.

His brother and sister are delighted with their portraits, but they want to see more of Miceli's work and he shares that with them too.

Aria stands in front of her portrait, looking like a woman holding onto her composure by a thread.

Stepping up beside her, I ask, "Do you want some privacy?"

"Not in here. I don't want to interrupt the children."

Hearing her refer to her son, the don, and the others as children makes me smile, but I nod. "Come on. You haven't seen the primary bedroom yet."

She turns and takes a stumbling step. I wrap an arm around her waist before anyone else notices. I just know Aria doesn't want them to see her like this.

She's a lot like moma that way. Strong for everyone else, but keeping her own struggles private.

I lead her out of the room.

"Miceli tells me Pusheen has her own room."

"She does." I stop in front of the door next to our bedroom. "Do you want to see it?"

The door is shut, but Pusheen has an access panel designed to look like part of the door. It's connected to a transmitter on the cat's collar and slides open when she bops it with her nose .

But Aria shakes her head. "Neri is probably in there already, playing with the cat."

She's right. We continue on to the bedroom.

"It's beautiful," Aria says approvingly, looking around, but then her gaze snags on the photo of us on the wall and stays there. "You look very much in love there."

"I didn't know it, but we were."

"I thought my husband had a mistress. I believed he loved me, but I thought he had someone else."

"Oh, Aria…" I don't know what to say. So, I hug her.

And after only a second of stiffness, she turns and hugs me back, a sob erupting from her.

"Oh, mamma." Giulia rushes across the room and throws her arms around us both. "Papa would never have betrayed you like that."

Aria tries to push us both away, rubbing at her cheek, but Giulia doesn't let her. "Stop, mamma. It's okay to be human. We love you."

"I love you, too." Aria turns into her daughter's embrace and I step back.

But Catalina's soft voice from near the door says, "Don't leave. You're part of this family too."

Guilia guides her mom to sit down in one of the armchairs.

Aria reaches her hands out toward us. "My daughters…all of my daughters. I am so blessed to have you."

I'm not her daughter yet, but she's not making the distinction, so I don't either. Catalina and I join Giulia on the floor near Aria's chair.

It's so reminiscent of times in my moma rooms with my cousins, it makes my heart hurt. In a good way.

I am part of this family, and not just because Miceli insists it is true.

"Papa loved you, but he thought his art was a weakness. That's what Miceli said," Giulia comforts her mom. "He didn't share it with anyone until he saw the same so-called weakness in his son."

"That kind of talent is not a weakness," Aria says fiercely. "I would have told him that if he'd ever shared that part of himself with me."

"Of course you would." I squeeze her hand.

"Are there other paintings?" Aria asks. "Where were those portraits stored?"

I tell her about the studio and all three women pepper me with questions. Catalina is just really curious. You only have to know her for a minute to figure that out.

But this is a part of Enzo I'm able to give to his wife and daughter that they didn't have before. "There are more paintings. They're all portraits."

"And Enzo painted them all? "

"Yes. The only portraits Miceli has ever painted are of me."

"Portraits as in plural?" Giulia asks, a mischievous glint in her dark eyes so like her brothers.

"One is very…" I look at Aria and blush.

She blushes too and hushes her daughter.

Catalina grins.

We've been chatting a while when the men join us, Severu holding the baby.

"Dinner is on the table," Miceli says.

"You served it?" Giulia presses her hand against her chest. "Watch out. I may faint."

"Don't pretend you cook any more often than I do," Miceli snarks. "You've got a housekeeper, maid and a cook, not to mention two nannies."

"Will you be hiring staff?" Aria asks, sounding more like her usual dignified self.

I nod. "But they won't live in. If we lived on Long Island," I tease Miceli. "And we had an estate like my uncles, maybe."

"This isn't exactly a studio apartment," Raff jokes.

And that's how the rest of the night goes. We have dinner, talk, laugh and enjoy each other's company.

When they leave, everyone hugs me and then Miceli.

Severu makes sure he and Catalina are the last to go. "You're going to be don soon."

Miceli nods, his expression turning wary.

"Don't think like our father. Your gift isn't a weakness. Don’t hide it from your family."

His jaw taut, Miceli nods again.

Then they hug.

Catalina swipes under her eyes. "These darn pregnancy hormones."

"What's my excuse?" I ask, blinking away moisture.

After they're gone, Miceli wants to make love. In his studio.

I want to suck him off.

Win-win.