“I know what you’re thinking,” Mia said. “I’m thinking the same thing.”
“Can I have extra?”
Scarlett appeared out of nowhere, it seemed. “You never have to ask,bebe. If the food is there, it’s for anyone who wants it. Always feel comfortable helping yourself.”
“Yeah, because if you don’t, one of these brutes will just finish it in two bites.” Mia plucked a dessert that was a shell filled with sweet cream. I was pretty sure Matteo had called it a cannolo.
Mia finished hers in two bites. “Gotta run inside! Nature calls!”
I looked over the dessert table after she left, taking the last of a few things. Then I took my plate to a table that was free and sat down. I almost felt like rubbing my hands together, making hungry noises before I dived in. I was still full from earlier, but I felt led to eat. It was a power trip I was trying to tame. I heard a familiar voice while I was stuffing my mouth and looked up to see Evelina looking over the table, trying to decide on what she wanted.
“Beautiful, isn’t she?” an Italian-accented voice said from the side of me.
I jumped a little. I hadn’t even noticed her sitting there. The woman seemed to have detached from the shadows and taken the seat next to me. Rosaria. Rocco’s wife. Earlier, when Matteo had introduced us, all she did was stare at me. Ava had warned me about her, that she could be cold, and she wasn’t understating it. Ava also told me she had more drive to lead the Fausti family than some of the men. I didn’t doubt that either.
I’d decided earlier to avoid her. There was nothing I could do in that moment, though, so I concentrated on eating instead.
She sighed. It was dramatic. “All the men were after her not long ago. Including Matteo. He wanted to marry her, but she found another man in Russia. She did not want to start a war among family.” She made a sound that sounded like it meantwhat nonsense. “Even my son was after her. I believe she loves Matteo as much as he loves her. Again, neither of them wanted a war, so him finding you was perfect timing. What better way to prove to the family his love will not cause a war by finding a proxy? I am sure he will take her as a lover after your marriage.”
She had my attention.
She knew it.
She stood with a grin, used her finger to wipe up some of the cream left on my plate, and then headed inside. Scarlett met herin the doorway, and the two women stared at each other before Rosaria blew past her.
Scarlett’s eyes locked on mine. “Are you okay, Stella?”
“Fine,” I choked out and reached for a bottle of the red wine that had been passed around earlier.
Scarlett nodded, and then was being tugged backward. Brando had her around the waist and was pulling her back inside the house.
A hand seemed to come out of thin air and grab the bottle of wine from me.
“Give that back,” I said to Matteo.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Most people don’t usually drink it straight from the bottle.”
“Why?” I snapped, not really meaning to. “Does it taste different if I pour it in a glass?”
He studied my face before he took my hand and the bottle and started hauling me in the opposite direction of the villa. Marciano stopped us not far past it and handed Matteo a blanket. Matteo slung it over his shoulder, and we walked deeper onto the property. When we got to a bunch of towering trees that created a path, he cleared his throat.
“You’re quiet.”
“Am I usually chatty?”
“When it’s just the two of us, usually, yeah.” He had a guarded look on his face, like he wasn’t sure what I was going to say, or maybe do.
“Just full,” I sort of lied.
It was true. I was. But not the entire reason for my silence. He’d never told me about his feelings for Evelina and that he was in love with her. That was something I should have known from the beginning, especially if the only reason he wasn’t with her was because it would cause a war between him, his brothers, and his cousin. I could see how that might cause trouble with Saveriotoo. I knew they were all close, and maybe he wouldn’t like it if his wife’s family were all fighting over his beautiful sister.
Evelina was—so beautiful. And she seemed really smart.
And in that moment, I felt the opposite of smart. I felt…tricked.
Matteo stopped walking, and right after I passed him, he set the things he was carrying down, and grabbed me by the wrist, turning me toward him, like we were about to dance. The silver light of the moon hit his eyes and made them seem supernatural.
“Tell me,” he said.
