But still—
“Hello, Sophia.”
Her shoulders tensed. Her lips thinned, but finally, she lifted her head and looked at me. “Hello Matteo, it’s good to see you.”
Liar.
There was no emotion in her voice. It was like we were strangers.
“You’ve grown into a beautiful woman.”
What? My lips clamped shut. Why the hell had I said that? Of course it was true, but that didn’t mean I should have said it.
Next to her, Gio’s lips thinned. My head snapped around in his direction. What the hell was his problem? All of this was his idea. Surely he would want me to find his sister attractive.
“Thank you.” Sophia’s soft voice broke my stare.
“Such a polite little thing still.“ Leaning forward, I pulled a stack of papers toward me, but I didn’t look at them. I already knew everything they said.
“Can we just get on with this?”
My eyebrows snapped up. Maybe she wasn’t so polite after all. Maybe she had changed more than putting on a little weight.
Leaning back, I let my eyes drift over her. The last time I had seen her, she had been a girl. Petite then, now she was a woman with mouth-watering curves that I couldn’t wait to trace with my hands.
Against my zipper, my cock throbbed.
What was it about this woman that always made me forget what a horrible human being she was? Her whole family were snakes, and she was the worst of the lot.
“Do you have somewhere better to be, Sophia?”
She met my eyes, unflinching. “Yes, I have plans this afternoon. Ones I can’t miss.”
The way she said it, like she was going to meet someone important, made a wave of jealousy zap through me.
“Gio, wait outside.”
Gio did a double-take. Leaning forward, he frowned. “I don’t think—"
Tearing my eyes away from her, I speared him to the spot. “I didn’t think I asked,” I said curtly.
Did he really think he was in control here? Foolish, but then again, he always had been.
“I am not comfortable—"
I rolled my eyes. Was he really pretending to protect his sister’s honor when he was the one who was offering her up on a silver platter?
Even if she had been some untouched virgin, it was ludicrous, and I knew she wasn’t a virgin.
“It’s fine.” Sophia’s eyes swept over my face, and her lips thinned so much they almost disappeared. She reached forward and touched the back of his hand until he turned to her. “It will be fine,” she said again more firmly.
Grinning, I watched as her brother, the man I had once thought was closer than a brother to me, walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.
“You can all leave as well,” I said to the men hovering around us. I didn’t want an audience.
“So,” I leaned back as the door closed behind them. “This is whereyou have been.”
Sophia said nothing.
