I hadn't made a scene, though. And I truly had no intention of going through with the union before the Family anymore.
I figured I might as well lay it all out plainly. I was about to answer when a syrupy voice, laced with a pouty little complaint, cut across the room.
"Salvatore! It's all your fault!"
"That thing you had brought to me this morning was the totally wrong size!"
"There's no way it's enough for daily use! You're such a hopeless man when it comes to this!"
A short distance away, Vittoria stood with her hands on her hips, stamping her feet, her cheeks puffed out in irritation.
The moment Salvatore saw her, he shoved past me and crossed the floor, sweeping Vittoria up into his arms. Two soldiers near the door dropped their eyes and pretended to study the windows.
His tone was urgent, stern.
"It's a delicate time of the month and you're running around barefoot on the floor? Do you have a death wish?"
Fragments surfaced in my mind.
Earlier this month, when my cramps were so bad I was curled up in bed, I'd asked Salvatore to send one of his men to pick up some pads and painkillers for me.
He'd frowned. "You want one of my men running an errand like that? My name's on him."
"It's something every woman goes through. Just grit your teeth and deal with it. What a hassle."
By the time I came back to myself, Salvatore had already carried Vittoria off down the corridor.
I pulled my gaze away, pressed down the dull ache in my chest, and picked up my phone to reach the old Don of the Greco Syndicate, who had been trying for months to bring me into his organization across the water.
Once the crossing was arranged, a post surfaced. Vittoria had tagged me in it on purpose.
In the looping clip, a large hand slowly moved over her lower belly.
In the background came her sigh.
"Salvatore, your hand is so warm~"
The caption read: 【My hopeless sweetheart felt so bad about my cramps he swore he'd chase all the pain away! Being held in a man's palm like this feels just too good~】
The girl's intentions couldn't have been more obvious.
I gave it a like, then went back to my own feed and took down the photograph of Salvatore and me from the night we were supposed to be bound before the Family.
……
A visiting Don and his people were sitting down at the estate today, a joint affair between the two houses on neutral ground.
Most of the arrangements being handed off still needed me to oversee them for now.
I was the one receiving the guests, leading them to the lounge to get settled first.
The whole party trailed after me, and the first thing they spotted was Salvatore inside, feeding Vittoria at the dining table.
"We'd heard ages ago that the Falcone prodigy took his own consigliera, Adriana Costa, into his bed and his confidence, but I never imagined the two of them were this devoted."
"And those hands of his are the most precious thing he owns. The legend was built on them. Yet here he is, using them to pick out food for his woman."
That was true. For a man like him, those hands were everything. They were the legend itself.
Which was why, for ten years, I'd handled every last thing for him, terrified something might so much as graze them.
And him? Now he was using those same hands to wait on another woman, hand and foot.
The stream of admiration beside me finally carried over to the two of them.
The moment Vittoria saw me at the head of the party, she put on a wounded face and started in.
"Adriana, look at Salvatore. He keeps forcing me to eat liver. He's fed me until I've gotten chubby."
Salvatore didn't even glance at me as he gently wiped the corner of Vittoria's mouth.
"Be good. Finish this, and then drink the ginger tea too."
The chatter around me died abruptly. I met their awkward stares and kept smiling as I showed them to their seats.
Once everyone was settled, I took out my phone and went on arranging my papers for the crossing into Greco territory.
I didn't know when Salvatore had appeared behind me.
He saw my screen, his expression hardening, his voice low and puzzled.
"Papers for crossing? Whose territory are you crossing into?"
Before I could decide how to answer, he suddenly grabbed my hand, the shock in his voice spilling over.
