Alessio rounds the corner and enters the kitchen, not looking up from the tablet he’s reading as he sits down at the kitchen island.
“Good morning,” he says.
“Good morning,” Leo and I say in unison from our spot at the breakfast nook that faces the ocean. We can see Alessio’s left profile.
Universe, please summon Val into the kitchen.
Val walks in.
I gasp.
The Universe delivers!
Val’s wearing a beach hat, a two-piece bathing suit that shows off her beautiful big pregnant belly, and bare feet. She goes straight to her brother and kisses him on the cheek. “Did you get any sleep?”
“Three hours.”
“Alessio,” she groans. She rounds the bar, then smiles at me in lieu of saying good morning.
Leo’s finishing up his breakfast, but he’s a slow eater, and I feel crappy for wanting him to hurry the fuck up so I can avoid Alessio and extend my stay.
Maybe Alessio won’t notice me all day. He appears completely uninterested.
Universe, do you think we can keep it that way for the next few months until I deliver something useful for the criminals? If yes, give me a sign.
“Leo’s English has improved,” Alessio says but doesn’t look up from his tablet.
Is Alessio speaking my sign from the Universe? Is it aGet out while you cansign? Honestly, signs shouldn’t be this hard to read.
Val serves her brother an espresso and winks at me. “Our new governess is to thank for that.”
I hope he’ll keep reading from his tablet, but something he read must have displeased him, because he shakes his head and mumbles in Italian.
“I’m curious, Valerina, why I found Ms. Wilder here last night around midnight. It’s a little late for studies, don’t you think?”
Val swallows, then puts her palms flat on the kitchen island as if bracing herself.
Alessio looks up from the tablet. Their eyes meet and hold. Hoooold. Uh-oh. Is she challenging him?
Val looks at me.
Girlfriend, don’t even look at me!I won’t survive Alessio’s version of the Spanish Inquisition. I’m the witch heretic he’ll burn.
I shake my head and hope she can read on my face how terrified I am of her brother, even though the man has done nothing to me. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. He’s made me come multiple times. If anything, he’s done nice things to me.
I’m trying not to think about those things.
Really, I am. It’s just that my vagina is not as forgetful as I’d like her to be.
“The governess was here at midnight because she lives with us,” Val says. “I hired her as a live-in.”
Alessio puts down his tablet. “You never mentioned that tiny important detail.”
Val shrugs. “I didn’t think it wasthatimportant. It’s not like we’ve never had people living with us before.”
“She was different.”
Who? Who isshe? Jealousy burns a hole in my belly. Oh God, I’m a terrified green-eyed monster witch. Definitely burning.
