Indebted to the Mafia King
Trouble in Paradise

Tony

As much as I hate to admit, the married man's life isn't as hard as I imagined it would be. Not for the reasons I expected anyway. Sure, it fucking kills me to have Chloe living under the same roof as me and not being able to touch her, or get close to her whatsoever, but her presence-and Ellie's for that matter-is like a balm to the soul. One I didn't realize I needed.

Not to mention the delicious food Chloe leaves prepared for me every night. She doesn't have to, and I made sure to tell her that, but she makes it anyway. I can't say I don't like it though. She might not be doing it because she wants to make me feel good or anything, but my ego is not that big to refuse a nice meal after a hard day of work.

Today is one of those days, and my mouth is watering just by thinking of what I might find when I get home.

I'm currently in my office at the deli, surrounded by Armando and some of my men who seem to have nothing better to do than smoke cigars and play poker on my coffee table. It's my fault they are here since I told them to take some time off after what we had to do last night. They worked hard getting rid of a stupid son of a bitch who thought he could outsmart me in my own business.

He should know better than to try and mess with me. If there is one thing I don't take lightly, it is a motherfucker trying to steal from me. Handling him was tough, but my guys did a great job sending him for a bath at the bottom of the Hudson, so things are okay now. I wanted to do something nice for my men though, so I bought them some bottles of bourbon and some Cuban cigars and told them to take the afternoon off.

I was hoping they'd go home, run whatever errands they had to at home, but they chose to stay here instead in case I needed them. The bastards are fucking loyal, that much I can say about them.

However, it's annoying as hell to have them chattering and laughing in my ear for hours. I wanted some peace to get shit done today, but they are distracting me.

And it doesn't get better when Rocco shows up at my door. I asked him to come here so he can check on a few things for me. Since he was dealing with these business deals before I assigned him to work for Chloe, he is the only one up to date with its progress.

Also, I am eager to ask him about Chloe and what she's been up to. Since I barely see her at home, I can only count on him to keep me updated in her life.

"Boss," he greets as he steps inside, glancing suspiciously at the men spread around the office.

I gesture for him to come to my desk, the others barely acknowledging his arrival. Good, I don't need them prying on my personal business. As soon as he gets closer, I hand him some papers with new information on the deals he needs to check for me.

"How is Chloe?" I ask bluntly, not bothering to walk him through what I need from him. He already knows.

"I just left her at home, sir," he informs me, his tone professional. "She spent the day at Ms. Lucy's apartment in the city."

I nod. Lucy is Andy's girlfriend, so I'm not concerned. She's also been friends with Chloe since they were young, so I have nothing to worry about.

"Anything you need to report to me?" I ask him before I dismiss him.

Rocco remains quiet, visibly uncomfortable while shifting from one foot to the other. I raise my brows at him and lean back on my chair, studying him.

"What is it?" I press, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Um...it's not a big deal, sir, but I thought you might want to know," he starts, avoiding my eyes. "Mrs. Chloe didn't seem very happy to know you were at the Aphrodite's last night," he tells me.

I feel my heartbeat plummet to my stomach.

"How does she know I was there in the first place?" I counter, my voice firm and grim.

"I told her, Boss. She asked me what you've been up to lately to get home so late every night, and I didn't want to be rude to her," he explains, clearly regretting his choices. "Now I realize what she must have thought, but it wasn't my intention to cause you trouble."

The guy looks distraught enough, no need for me to scold him for this. Also, it's not his fault. I didn't ask for secrecy or anything of the sort. I wasn't doing anything wrong anyway, not what Chloe might have thought I was doing.

I was dealing with a situation, the same one that ended with the guy rotting in the Hudson. She doesn't need to know these details, so why bother her with it?

I do like to know she didn't look happy about it though. Was she jealous? Or am I reading too much into it?

"It's fine, Rocco," I assure him. "Did she say anything else?"

He shakes his head at me. "No, she was quiet the rest of the ride to her friend's apartment."

"Alright, you can go now. Keep me updated on that." I point at the files in his hands and he nods eagerly at me, excusing himself with a subtle bow.

As soon as he is out of the room, Armando approaches me, the other guys still entertained with whatever game they are playing now.

"Trouble in paradise, Boss?" he asks, a note of sarcasm in his voice.

Apart from Nicky and Chloe, he is the only one who knows about my sham marriage. Most of my Capos know the version Nicky spat around-that Chloe and I were in love for a long time and couldn't wait any longer to get married. And now that they returned to New York, nothing was stopping us.

This obviously isn't the truth, but it's not absolute nonsense either, taking into consideration I've been crushing on her for years now.

Armando's question reaches the curious bastards' ears though, so now I have some of them throwing glances at me, probably wondering what the hell is wrong between me and Chloe after just a couple weeks of being married. "Everything is fine," I reply loud enough for everyone to hear, although my jaw is clenched with suppressed annoyance. "Can you guys excuse us for a moment?" I ask, looking at them.

Then I throw a death look at Armando, hoping it will keep his mouth shut until everyone is out of the room. The men start moving around, getting up from the floor, fumbling with their half empty glasses, in a hurry to get out of my sight before I yell at them. At another time, I'd have rushed them, but I don't want to raise suspicions about my marriage, so I simply wait while I watch them embarrass themselves while leaving my office.

Once the place is clear, I turn my attention back to Armando. "If you do that again in front of them, I'll fucking punch you in the face and leave you with a broken nose," I growl in a low voice.

But my threat is nothing but amusing to him. He snorts at me, plopping himself on the chair across from me.

"You'll excuse my bluntness, Boss, but if you don't want them to find out, you should put more work into it. I'm not the one making them question the validity of your marriage with Ms. Bertolucci," he tells me. I bite my tongue to prevent myself from cursing him. I hate when he is right.

"Whatever. And it is Mrs. Bellini now," I correct him, pointing my finger at his face.

Armando grins at me, and nods. "Sure. If I can give you a little piece of advice, and I know you didn't ask for it, you should take Mrs. Bellini on a date tonight. From what I heard, she seems to be a little upset with you." "I have a meeting in New York with Cal tonight," I retort bitterly, looking at my computer screen instead of his annoying face.

"I'm sure that can be rescheduled," Armando notes amusedly.

"Since when are you so nosy when it comes to my personal life, huh?" I counter, getting to my feet and narrowing my eyes at him.

He throws his hands up in the air, feigning surrender, and smiles at me. "Sorry, Boss. Just thought you'd like advice from someone more experienced in the world of married people."

I grumble, grabbing my wallet, phone, and car keys from the table and shoving them into my pockets.

"Don't you have work to do?" I ask, still angry at him for prying... and being right. "I'm going home."

I head for the door, and before I am out of the office, I hear Armando musing, "Make sure to take her to a nice restaurant."

I consider turning back and giving him the punch he seems so desperate to receive, but decide against it. Instead, I head for my car, wondering if I should really follow his advice. Would Chloe even accept it?

We've barely seen each other ever since the wedding and I'm not sure if she would misinterpret things. I could always tell her it's all for show, but would she believe it?

Do I want her to believe it?

I scold myself for being such an indecisive man. I was never like this before. I shouldn't be overthinking everything related to Chloe. If anything, I could just order her to come with me. I wouldn't like to force her to do it, but if it meant I get to maintain this facade, and keep both her and Ellie safe, I'd do it.

It takes me a while to get to the house, but when I do, I'm instantly met with the feeling of blood boiling in my veins, and my grip on the steering wheel tightens when I spot a familiar car in my driveway.