Sweet Temptation by Cora Reilly

betrayed me, and because I’d never loved her. Losing Giulia—I wouldn’t get
over it. We hadn’t been together long, but in the weeks of our marriage, she’d
brightened my days more than I thought possible.
“I never raised my hand against Gaia, not then either. I would have never
killed her. Whatever you decide, you don’t have to worry about your safety,
Giulia. I won’t hurt you.”
I couldn’t breathe. Hearing Cassio 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 Cassio with another woman tore at me. How much worse must it
have been for him? Finding his pregnant wife with her half-brother, a man he
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.
Probably not killed someone, but I wasn’t a man raised to survive in the mafia.
Cassio smiled grimly seeing my expression. “That’s the man you married,
Giulia. I understand if you’re scared of me now. I won’t stop you from moving
into another bedroom, but you’ll certainly understand that we’ll have to stay
married for Simona and Daniele. They can’t lose you too.”
I pushed to my feet, crawled on Cassio’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 Cassio 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 Cassio’s eyes. “What… what are
you doing?”
I pressed my face against his throat. He wrapped an arm around me lightly.
“Giulia? Say something.”
“I’m not scared of you.” I wasn’t. Maybe I should have been, but I’d always
known Cassio 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.
Cassio slipped a finger under my chin and nudged my face up. “You heard