“Test my loyalty? You told another man to come on to me to see if I was willing to cheat.”

Bitterness twisted my thoughts. “I don’t trust anyone, not just you.”

“I’m your wife, Cassio. We have to trust each other. I don’t want us to be strangers living under one roof. I want this marriage to work, not just for us but for Simona and Daniele too. They need a happy family.”

“Happy family,” I repeated. My children had never experienced a happy family. For a while, Gaia and I had managed to hide our resentment for each other, but in the last couple of years, things had turned for the worst.

“I want that,” she whispered fiercely, lowering herself until her face hovered over mine.

“So do I,” I said. But I was a realist, and in a few years, Giulia would be too.

“But you don’t believe in it.”

Looking up into Giulia’s hopeful, kind face, I really wanted a happy family. “It’s not a matter of belief.”

“It is. If you don’t believe in it, if you don’t work for it, then it won’t become reality.”

I smiled wistfully, wondering if I’d ever been this optimistic.

“Don’t blame this on me being young,” she warned, eyes flashing with annoyance. “Being positive is not a trait of the young. You are being a grumpy old man by choice.”

A laugh burst out of me. Giulia smiled. Then she became unguardedly hopeful. “Cassio, I want to be happy. I want us all to be happy.”

“What do you want me to do?” I asked without thinking. Giulia was young. I wouldn’t be responsible for her unhappiness, at least not on purpose. I wasn’t really sure if I had a choice in the matter. With Gaia, I’d thought I’d done everything I could to make her happy. In hindsight, it hadn’t been enough, but I was up against an impossible challenge.

“Allow yourself to trust me.”

I ran my palm up her back along the gentle bumps of her spine before cupping her head, pulling her down for a kiss. “I’ll try.”

“You could start by telling me what happened with Gaia, and why Daniele acts the way he does.”

I shook my head. “That is the past, and it’s got nothing to do with us.”

Giulia smiled sadly. She knew as well as I did that it had everything to do with us, but the past with Gaia wasn’t something I’d share with her. It wouldn’t serve any purpose but to destroy whatever tentative bond that was forming between Giulia and me. She was young. Maybe that was why I was willing to try at all. I didn’t want to be the one to destroy her loveliness.

“Okay.” It wasn’t. Giulia’s body language made that clear.

“What else?”

“Spend time with the kids and me. Family time. Be home for dinner, be home on Sunday. I want to get to know you, what you like to do in your free time, what you enjoy doing.”

I tried to remember the last time I’d done something I enjoyed doing that didn’t involve my line of work. I couldn’t.

“Don’t tell me there’s nothing you like to do except work. There must be something else you enjoy besides torture and killing.”

So uninhibited with her words. It was a breath of fresh air. I hummed, cupping her head harder. “I’m good at both.”

“I don’t doubt it,” she whispered, shivering. “I love to paint and do Pilates.”

My fingers on her neck loosened. “Paint?”

“Yes, canvases. Still lifes, landscapes, animals. I’m not so good with the human body, but I’m trying to improve. That’s what was in the huge package. My canvases.”

I hadn’t paid much attention to Giulia’s belongings. Maybe I should have shown basic interest in my wife’s life before I dragged her into the mess that was my own.

“And Pilates helps me stay fit, and it’s good for my mental health too.” She fell silent. “You look at me as if I’m talking nonsense.”

“You’re not,” I said. “You just keep surprising me.”

“In a good or bad way?”

“Good.”

She shrugged. “That’s good.”

It was. But good things always came with a price. “Have you painted since you’ve arrived here?”

“No, I was busy settling in, and the kids and Loulou keep me on my toes.” She tilted her head thoughtfully. “And I’d need a room to paint. The fumes need to be contained.”

“There’s a vacant room beside my office. It’s got a nice view of the garden and direct access to the terrace.”

Giulia’s face lit up. She lowered herself and propped her chin up on her crossed arms on my chest. “Thank you.”

“How are things between you and my children?”

Her mouth thinned, but I wasn’t sure why. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said, even though there obviously was. “The kids and I are getting to know each other. I think I can gain Daniele’s trust through Loulou, and today Simona let me carry her without crying.”

“About the dog—”

Giulia jerked into a sitting position again. “I don’t want to give Loulou away, and I won’t lock her inside a room. It’s not fair to her. What’s your problem with her anyway?”

“Apart from the fact that she’s not trained very well?”

“That’s hardly her fault. Did Gaia never work with her?”

I tensed. “The dog came at a difficult time.”

“I think Loulou is good for this family, and I really like her.”

“Then keep her, but train her.”

“Will Elia stay my bodyguard?”

“Of course, he’s a good choice.”

“Because he’s not interested in women.”

I narrowed my eyes, wondering how exactly she found out. She misunderstood my expression. Worry tightened her face. “You knew, right?”

“Of course, that’s why he’s allowed to be your bodyguard.”

Giulia huffed. “Trust?”

I smiled darkly then wet my thumb and pressed it to that little pink button, which teased me from its prime spot between those pouty lips.

“We’ll work toward that. But even if I trust you, that doesn’t mean I’ll trust any man around you.” I dipped my thumb between her folds, gathering her wetness before I swiped it over her clit again.

Giulia leaned back, bracing herself with her hands against my thighs, giving me better access and a beautiful view. Her smile turned teasing when my cock brushed her lower back. “Not such an old man after all, hmm?”

I circled my thumb faster, enjoying how Giulia’s hips moved, chasing my finger. I was in my early thirties, definitely not old, even if I’d felt it in the last few months and especially in comparison to Giulia. “I’ve got a lot to make up for.”

Curiosity flickered in her gaze, making me regret my words. “Blow me,” I ordered before she could ask. She cocked an eyebrow, her mouth pursing in mock indignation. Fuck, she was too goddamn lovely.

“Tell me something you like to do first. A hobby.”

“Apart from eating your pussy?”

She shook her head, opening her mouth for an undoubtedly insolent comeback, but I grabbed her by her thighs and flipped her around. She cried out in surprise, her breath hot on my cock and her ass propped up in front of me. I slapped her ass cheek in warning then bit down. Giulia jerked with a choked gasp.