“Aria and Luca are out for lunch, and Gianna and Matteo will spend the day on the boat. That leaves the house to us.”

Romero looked conflicted but when I pressed my core against his crotch, I knew I had him. He was already hard. With a growl, he lowered himself on top of me. Our lips eagerly found each other. After a few minutes of heated kissing and roaming hands, Romero drew back. “It’s too risky to have sex out here.”

“I know, but there are other things we can do,” I said, before I pulled Romero’s head back down for another kiss. He didn’t protest again, which might have also had something to do with the fact that I was rubbing his erection through his pants.

For some reason making out with Romero in the middle of the living room made things seem more real between us, like we could maybe be an official couple, and not just something that needed to happen in the secrecy of darkness.

My lips were raw from Romero’s kiss, but I loved it. Romero slipped his hand under my shirt and sneaked his fingers under my bra cup, finding my nipple. I gasped and arched off the sofa. Romero kissed me even harder. I swung my leg over his lower back, pulling him even tighter against me. I couldn’t wait to feel him without the clothes between us. Maybe I could convince him to risk a quickie in the living room.

A door banged and steps rang out, but there was no time to react before Aria appeared in the living area. “Lily, I--” She snapped her lips shut and froze, so did Romero and I. Romero pulled his hand out from under my shirt and sat back quickly. He held his arms in a way that was supposed to hide his erection, but I doubted he was fooling Aria. My eyes searched the area behind her back but Luca wasn’t there. That was the only good things about our situation.

Nobody said anything for a long time. I tried to reposition my bra and straighten my hair but I wasn’t doing a good job because my hands were shaking. “This isn’t how it looks,” I said, but stopped when I realized how stupid that sounded.

Aria raised her eyebrows as if she thought exactly the same thing. “That’s why I didn’t want you alone with her, Romero. I knew this would happen!”

“You make it sound like I had nothing to do with it. It wasn’t only Romero’s doing,” I said, but Aria hardly paid me attention. She was glaring at Romero. “Why are you back anyway? Shouldn’t you be having lunch with your husband?”

“Are you blaming me for this?” Aria asked incredulously. “Luca got a call that there was trouble in one of the clubs. Something with one of the Russian underbosses, so he dropped me off in the driveway and headed straight to New York. You’re lucky he didn’t come in.”

“If you tell Luca,” Romero began but Aria interrupted him. “I won’t tell him,” she said.

Romero helped me to my feet. “He’s your husband. You owe him the truth.”

What was he doing? He’d be in big trouble if Luca found out, and what if Luca told my father? I gave Romero a confused look but he didn’t react. Then another thought struck me. Maybe he wanted people to find out. Maybe he hoped Luca would approve and would figure out a way for my father to agree on a union between Romero and me. Hope flared up in me.

“Lily, can I talk to you in private, please?” Aria asked.

I nodded, even though my stomach turned from anxiety. Aria was my sister. I loved her and trusted her, but Romero was right. She was also the wife of the Capo, and I wasn’t sure where her loyalties lay. I followed her toward the dining room and then into the kitchen. She didn’t say anything until we’d both settled on bar stools.

“How long has this been going on?” she asked. God, she even sounded like the wife of a Capo, so grown up and responsible.

“A while. Almost since I came to New York,” I admitted. There was really no use in lying any more. And I actually wanted to talk to her about it. Romero and I had been keeping this a secret for close to three months.

Aria nodded slowly, her eyes full of worry. “I should have known. Sometimes I thought I saw you exchanging those secretive looks only lovers do, but I didn’t want to believe it.”

I wasn’t sure what to say, if she even expected me to say anything. “We tried to hide it.”

“Of course, you did!” Aria whispered harshly. “Oh Lily. This is bad, you know that, right? If Dad finds out all hell will break lose. You’ll be in major trouble, and not only that. Father might very well start war over this. After all, Luca promised to keep you safe while you were in New York and having one of his men have an affair with you is definitely a breach of that promise.”

“Affair?” I said offended. What Romero and I had was so much more than that. “You make it sound like it’s just about sex.”

Aria’s eyes widened. “I didn’t mean it like that, but…wait a second. Please tell me you haven’t slept with him yet.” Her expression was so pleading and anxious, I almost considered lying to her.

I bit my lip. “I really love him, Aria.”

“So you did sleep with him,” she said quietly. She made it sound like it was the end of the world.

I nodded. “And I don’t regret it.” I was so glad that I got to share that moment with Romero. I wanted to share so much more with him. Every time I’d slept with him in the last few weeks, I’d grown closer to him, though I didn’t think that was possible.

Aria leaned back and released a long breath. “Father will kill you if he finds out. After the thing with Gianna, he’ll completely lose it.”

“Mother told me to be happy shortly before she died. And Romero makes me happy. I want to be with him.”

“Lily, Father won’t allow it. No matter what any of us says, he won’t let you marry a mere soldier from New York. He can’t gain anything from such a union, not when I’m already married to the Capo and Gianna to the Consigliere.”

“I know,” I said in a whisper. “But…I…” I trailed off. I knew Aria was right. I’d known it pretty much from the beginning. I hated that I had to apologize for loving someone, for wanting to be with that someone. It shouldn’t be like that.

Aria took my hand and linked our fingers. “Some women manage to fake their virginity on their wedding night. Maybe you can do that too. And it’s not like Father has already set up a wedding for you, so we can figure something out until then.”

“Aria, I don’t want to marry anyone else. I only want Romero. I mean it, I love him.”

Aria looked into my eyes for a very long time. I wasn’t sure what she was hoping to find there but I gave her time. “You do, don’t you?” she said, resigned. “What about him? Does he love you?”

“He said it after we made love for the first time.” I’d hoped he would say it again after our first night together but so far he hadn’t. Maybe he wasn’t the type to say it out loud very often.

“Are you sure he’s serious about you?”

“Of course, didn’t you hear what I told you?” I said, but even I could hear the flicker of uncertainty in my voice and I wasn’t sure where it was coming from.

“Some men say things they don’t mean after sex because they feel guilty.”

My eyes widened. “He wouldn’t do that. And if you’re saying he only tried to get in my pants, that’s ridiculous. You know Romero, he wouldn’t use me like that.”