The man on the couch stands up and spins around to look at us, a thunderous expression on his face.
I slump against the door frame, relieved but confused. That’s no intruder, but what is he doing here, on my weekend away?
“Wow.” Damiano’s look of shock is exaggerated, and he follows it with a brilliant, victorious smile. “What a surprise. Seth, I didn’t know you’d be here.”
16
SETH
I could hit him. He knew I came to Mirarosa to get away from him and his insistence on pursuing Madison. It doesn’t matter that all I’ve done here so far is think about her. There’s no escaping my fantasies, and that’s where she lives—in my fantasies.
I shake my head at Damiano. “You’re a controlling bastard.”
“What?” He holds up his hands like he’s innocent.
“And you ignore boundaries,” I snarl.
“Should I…go?” Madison shifts from foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable.
“Perhaps, for a minute.” Damiano reaches over to hold her hand. “Bella, I didn’t want to assume sleeping arrangements. If you’d like to check out your bedroom, it’s upstairs, second on the right.”
“That’s where I’m sleeping,” I say.
Sighing, Damiano says, “It is the first room on the right, then.”
Madison gives me an apologetic look before hurrying up the stairs. I stare impassively after her. I realize this isn’t her fault, but her presence makes everything worse.
I face my friend. Or perhaps, my enemy.
“You look so angry.” He adopts a wounded expression. “What, I did not know you were here in Mirarosa. You never told me where you were going.”
I didn’t need to tell him. I took the cash and mentioned gas money. That was all he needed.
“I’m going for a walk,” I say. “And if you fucking follow me, I’m leaving the fucking country.”
He grins. “Okay, okay. Easy there, friend.”
Nothing about this is easy.
MADISON
The sound of a door slamming makes me jump. I frown toward the hallway before returning to my appreciation of the bedroom. It’s decorated simply, with a wood floor and white curtains, white bedspread. The walls are such a pale blue that they look white, too. It’s very beachy, very bright.
Swift footsteps sound in the hall, and then Damiano stands in the open doorway. An intense wrinkle divides his brow.
Before I can speak, he takes three large strides to me and grips me in his arms. “I need you,” he murmurs. “Please, bella.”
“Yes—”
Before the word is completely out, his mouth crashes down over mine. I gasp in surprise and he forces his tongue between my lips.
I drink him in, held tightly in his embrace, allowing him to control the kiss. It would be so easy to let him consume me, to forget everything and everyone else…
Everyone else.
I push at Damiano’s chest until he lets me go. His dark eyes are fixed on mine, searching.
“Where’s Seth?” I ask.
