“No.” Gio’s voice was firm. “I just thought I would visit with my sister.”
“We were talking about that time in the lakehouse,” I said quickly. At least that was the truth. We had been talking about that when he walked in.
“Yeah. Anyway, I’ll leave now. Sophia, walk me out.”
Confused, I stared at him. What did he mean, walk him out. The elevator was right there.
“I’m going to grab a shower.” Matteo’s lips found me again. “Come and join me when you are finished here.” He walked away, and again I was left with my brother,
Only this time, the atmosphere had changed again.
I followed Gio toward the elevator doors.
Turning at the last minute, he wrapped me in a hug that trapped my arms between us.
“Make our family proud.”
Something small and glasslike was pushed into my palm, and I jolted back, only for him to grab me again.
“Don’t let me down, Sophia,” he hissed in my ear.
“I can’t. Don’t ask me to do this…”
He cut me off. “Don’t let Lily down, either.”
Lily. My stomach twisted, and a hollow feeling opened up in my chest.
Now there was no mistake. My brother had just threatened my daughter.
“See you soon, little sis.” A playful kiss on my cheek, and then he disappeared like nothing had happened.
Like he hadn’t just pushed what I knew was a vial of poison into my hand.
Keeping my hand tight around it, I walked back to the sofa and fell into it.
My brother wanted me to poison my lover, the one man I had ever loved, and if I didn’t do it?
He was going to hurt my child. It was all so clear in my mind. What wasn’t clear was what I was actually going to do.
Matteo was just a few rooms away. He was waiting for me to join him in the shower, but how could I do that now?
How could I go into him and pretend everything was all right?
Because, a small voice said in my brain, because if you don’t, then he will suspect something.
Slipping the tiny vial into my pocket, I headed to the bedroom just as he stepped out of the bathroom,
“Is everything okay?” He was standing there and looking like deliciousness personified with nothing but a towel slung low on his hips. Matteo leaned against the doorframe. “You look pale, Sophia.”
My lips tried to curve up into a smile and failed. “I think I have a migraine coming on.”
“Dealing with your brother will do that to you,” he joked, but I didn’t laugh. I didn’t even smile.
Matteo’s smile dropped. Crossing the room, he pressed the back of his hand to my forehead. “Do you think you are getting sick? You don’t have a fever.”
“Just a migraine. Hopefully, if I lie in a dark room, it will be gone soon. I’m sorry I can’t give you the welcome I want to.”
Instantly, his arms wrapped around me, pressing me into his chest. “Don’t worry about that. Why don’t you take a nice bath and lie down? I have some calls to make anyway, so you will have the bed to yourself tonight, and I’ll make soup and…”
