Sweet Temptation by Cora Reilly

Faro handed me a martini before he sank down in the armchair across from mine
in my office. “You look like shit, Cassio.”
I gave him a tight smile. “Another sleepless night.”
Taking a sip from his drink, he gave me a disapproving look. “Say yes to
Rizzo. You need a wife. You could have one in less than four months. He
desperately wants you in his family, saving his sorry ass, or else he wouldn’t
have waited all these weeks for you to make up your mind. I’m sure he could
have found another husband for his daughter by now.”
I drank half of my martini in one sip. “Almost fourteen years between us.
You realize I’ll be waiting for that girl to turn eighteen.”
“Then you’ll have to marry a widow. Do you really want a woman who’s
hung up on another man after the thing with Gaia?” he asked quietly.
I grimaced. Most of these days I tried to forget Gaia, and even Daniele had
stopped asking for his mother, realizing she wouldn’t be coming back. He’d
become awfully quiet ever since, never saying a single word.
“No,” I said harshly. “No widow.” Not only did I not want to risk a repeat
performance, but all the widows on the market had kids and I didn’t want my
children to have to share her attention. They needed all the care and love they
could get. They were suffering, and no matter how much I tried, I wasn’t the
person who could give them what they needed.
“For Heaven’s sake, call Rizzo. What’s the problem? The girl will be of age
soon.”
I gave him a look.
“Other men would kill for a chance to have a sexy young girl in their bed
once more, yet you play woe-is-me when one is offered to you on a silver
platter.”
“If we weren’t childhood friends, I would have relieved you of one of your
fingers for that tone,” I said.
“Good thing we’re friends, then,” Faro said, raising his glass.
After yet another night full of screaming, I called Felix in the morning.
“Hello, Felix. It’s Cassio.”
“Cassio, what a pleasure. I assume you’ve come to a decision regarding a
bond with my daughter?”
“I’d like to marry her.” That wasn’t exactly the truth. She was the only
option to save my sanity. “I can’t wait long. You know I have two small children
who need a mother.”
“Of course. Giulia is very caring. We could set up the wedding for early
November, a day after Giulia’s eighteenth birthday?”