Page 27 of Mafia and Protector

His words and the feeling of his grasp reassured me to an extent, but my legs still felt shaky as we walked into the room and all eyes turned to us.

I felt a crimson tide surge up my cheeks. Even though it was just our closest relations here, rather than the whole of the Società, I still felt like I was drowning.

My mother rushed straight over to me. “Jessica! How was last night?”

She had no tact—I thought she would have realized that I wouldn’t want to talk about last night.

No doubt she would even ask me how big Rafael’s penis was. I prayed she’d at least wait for him to move away before asking anything like that.

She tried to drag me away from Rafael so that she could interrogate me in private. “Rafael, I know you will have business to discuss with the men. You can leave Jessica with me.”

“No, Casmundina. I have no business this morning.

When my mother saw that Rafael wasn’t going to let go of my hand, she pursed her lips. She wasn’t put off that easily. “I hope Jessica satisfied you in the bedroom?”

Jesus, she had the subtlety of an elephant.

Rafael, to his credit, did not respond and instead stared at her with a penetrating look until she felt uncomfortable enough to look away, swiftly excusing herself and scuttling off to find my father.

Gabriel carried over two cups of coffee and handed one to each of us. As he handed over my cup, he looked carefully at me; however, I averted my gaze. He was a Santino man and one day he would be Capo of the Società.

Everyone knew that Gabriel was already heavily involved in managing Società affairs, and he was already seen as a brutal and ruthless leader. I knew I would be avoiding him as much as possible. I shivered as thoughts about the Santino family ran through my mind.

“Are you cold?” questioned Rafael, looking down at me.

I shrugged. “A bit,” I fibbed, as he pulled me closer into his side.

Rafael, true to his word, did not leave my side, and when asked, he confirmed that I had been a virgin and then shielded me from any further prying from our families. Thankfully, Emanuel did not come near me, probably because Rafael was glued to my side.

Finally, it was time to leave and everyone gathered around Rafael’s black convertible to wave us off.

As I sank against the luxurious leather seat, I thanked God that the wedding was over.

Now I just had to survive this marriage.

CHAPTER 9

JESSICA

When we reached the mansion Rafael shared with Gabriel, I looked curiously at the house that I was seeing for the first time. I had been to his parents’ home a few times for Società functions, but Rafael and Gabriel had moved out from their family home and instead bought this mansion a few years ago.

Rafael showed me around downstairs, and as we walked around in silence, I was struck by how untidy and dusty it was. They obviously were leading a bachelor lifestyle here.

The mansion was quite different from how I had expected. I had imagined a hotel-style interior with clean, modern lines and a masculine edge. Instead, the house had a rustic feel, similar to a lodge, with lots of wood, comfy couches, and soft rugs. We could have been by a lake or in the countryside, especially with the green views surrounding the house.

There was wood paneling in the den, with more wood running from floor-to-ceiling in the stairwell.

As Rafael led me upstairs toward the bedrooms, I felt my heartbeat quicken. He walked past an open door and gestured into the bedroom. “That’s Gabriel’s room.”

Then he showed me into another bedroom. I looked around myself, noticing that it was as untidy and dusty as downstairs. “This is my room. It will be your room too, from now on.”

I don’t know what I had expected—perhaps separate rooms, or at least separate beds.

My breathing became shallow as he carried on. “My soldiers monitor the CCTV in the common areas like the hallways, stairs, and garages. I don’t want them gossiping that we have separate rooms, so we will be in the same bedroom as anyone would expect of a normal husband and wife.”

I knew how the Società liked nothing more than a piece of juicy gossip, and a newlywed couple already leading separate lives would give the gossips a field day.

At that moment, Rafael’s cell phone rang and he took the call while I awkwardly stood next to him. I looked around the room to give myself something to do, but my eyes kept returning to one place: the huge bed.