"I'm taking the rest of the day off."
"Like hell you are," Lorenzo responds.
"Fucking asshole," Marina mutters under her breath, loud enough for them to hear.
I push her deeper into the house before she can start another fight. "Keep walking."
"Did you see what he did? He literally picked me up like I was nothing!"
"I saw." I guide her toward the stairs, nodding at Giulia who watches from the kitchen doorway with raised eyebrows. "Up here."
Marina's anger propels her up the steps two at a time. "I should press charges. Kidnapping is a federal crime."
"You won't."
"Why not?"
"Because you're here now and you're safe." I open my bedroom door, ushering her inside. "That's what matters."
Marina stops in the middle of my room, taking in the space. Her shoulders slowly drop from where they'd been bunched around her ears.
I close the door and lean against it. "Are you okay?"
She turns to face me, and suddenly all the fight drains out of her. "Soph, I'm so sorry."
"For what?"
"For showing up like this. For making a scene." She drops onto the edge of my bed, running her hands through her disheveled hair. "I just... when that guy showed up at my door demanding I come with him, I lost it."
"Anyone would have." I sit beside her, bumping her shoulder with mine. "Dante can be... intense."
"Intense?" Marina laughs, but it's shaky now. "He's just an asshole." She shakes her head, then takes a deep breath. "But I'm here now. And I'm going to calm down because that's not why I came. Whatever's going on, whatever you need, I'm here to stand by your side."
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Sophia
The knock at my bedroom door makes Marina jump, nearly dropping her toothbrush into the sink. We're both crammed into my bathroom, hair messy from sleep, when Vittoria's voice carries through the wood.
"Sophia? Marina? You two awake?"
I spit toothpaste into the sink and call back, "In the bathroom! Come in!"
The door opens and Vittoria appears in the bathroom doorway, looking perfectly put together despite the early hour. Her dark hair falls in neat waves, and she's wearing jeans and a cashmere sweater.
"Morning." She leans against the doorframe. "Giulia's making breakfast downstairs. Thought you might want to join us instead of hiding up here all day."
Marina rinses her mouth, then turns to face Vittoria. "You're the one who called me about that dinner at Rosso's."
"Guilty." Vittoria's smile is warm.
"Thank you for that." Marina's voice softens. "Really. I was going crazy not knowing where she was."
I dry my face on a towel, catching Marina's eye in the mirror. "You want to eat with us?"
"If you can handle the testosterone levels at our breakfast table." Vittoria rolls her eyes. "Pietro's in one of his moods, and Nico keeps picking fights with everyone."
Marina sets down her toothbrush harder than necessary. "Is that prick going to be there too?"
