“So get dressed and let’s go and get some burgers. Maybe take a walk. You would like that, wouldn’t you?”
Her fingers brushed against the material, but goosebumps erupted all over my arms like it had been me she touched.
“I’m not wearing that to get burgers, Matteo.” She snatched her hand back.
“You will wear what I fucking tell you to wear and be thankful I’m even allowing you out of the house.”
Why was she so defiant?
Shaking her head, Sophia took a step back. “Then, unfortunately, I am going to have to decline your offer. I hope you enjoy your burger.”
She turned her back on me.
“There won’t be any food for you, now put on…” I froze. I wasn’t going to starve her, and we both knew it. I was just blowing hot air, and she knew it.
It was hard to battle a woman who knew me as well as Sophia did. Especially when we were so alike.
A sigh rattled my chest. “Just put your fucking jeans, Sophia.” I gave in.
This was a battle I was willing to lose because I would win the war against her and her family.
She flashed a smile over her shoulder and reached for them. “Are you going to just stand there and watch me dress?”
Crossing my arms about my chest. I nodded. “Yep. Now, hurry up. I’m hungry and I want food that I know isn’t going to kill me.”
She jerked on her clothes. There was nothing slow and sensual about it, so I knew she wasn’t trying to seduce me. It was like she was getting changed as quickly as possible. Like she didn’t want my eyes lingering on her body.
Too soon, she was completely covered, her long dark hair waspulled back from her face in a messy ponytail, and her feet were stuffed into sneakers.
Even casually dressed, she still looked beautiful.
I offered her my arm, and she slipped her hand through the crook of my arm like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“So where are we going?” she asked, the moment we set foot in the elevator, and I pressed the lobby button instead of the garage.
“There’s a burger place a few blocks over. Tiny hole-in-the-wall dive place. It’s completely low-end and…” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her frown. “It has the biggest, tastiest burgers I have ever tasted. There’s even one with pineapple…”
The doors whooshed open, and we stepped out.
“You are not right in the head, Matteo,” she said, completely deadpan. “I bet you like pineapple on pizza as well. And you call yourself—
Halfway across the marble floor, her body jerked backwards. She froze.
Confused, I had taken two steps before I realized she had stopped.
Turning to her, the first thing I noticed was that she had a weird look on her face. The second was the blood.
That just confused me even more. It took me the space of several heartbeats to understand what I was seeing.
Sophia dropped her hands to her stomach, where a bright red stain was spreading across her shirt. She pressed her hand into it, and blood bubbled up between her fingers.
“Matteo?” she implored me, her eyes begging me to help her.
I jumped into action, catching her around the shoulders as she slid to the floor.
“Sophia.” Her name left my lips in a whisper. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” Wildly, I looked around. The desk man was staring at me open-mouthed, a phone already pressed to his ear.
“I’ve called 911.”
