“Oh, excuse me,” Alessandro murmurs, looking around before training his attention on Papa.“I was going to go home for the night now that we’ve changed shifts, unless you need something else.”
“No, you go on,” Papa tells him.“Thank you for putting in the extra time tonight.”
“My pleasure.”He looks over the group again, pausing on me.I would swear time stops.That everybody else disappears.My heart skips way too many beats, and I forget to breathe until he finally looks away and breaks the spell.
I’m still standing at the bottom of the stairs, holding onto the railing for dear life, when I realize Sophia is watching me, staring intently.I am almost too afraid to look at her, but finally, I have to glance her way.
Fuck.She knows something.She has to.
Nobody else notices, with Cesco sauntering out behind Luca and Emilia.Mama and Papa start up the stairs.
“I’ll be right behind you,” Sophia tells Dante, who walks out with the others after promising to see Papa first thing in the morning.
And here I am, waiting for my death sentence to be passed down.
Sophia waits for Mama and Papa to climb the stairs, but stops me with a hand on my arm before I can follow them.
“What’s up?”I ask in a voice that’s way too tight and much too bright.
She lowers her brow.“I’m going to ask you something, and I want you to tell me the truth,” she murmurs.“It’s just the two of us.”
“What can I help you with?”Oh great.That sounded super calm and casual.
Her blue eyes dart toward the closed door, then back at me.“What was that about?That look you exchanged with my brother.”Her brows draw together in concern before she asks, “Is something happening between you two?”
14
ALESSANDRO
Something is wrong, and someone is going to pay for it.
The second Giulia appears on Monday morning, stepping through the front door with her head hanging low, I sense the change in her.She’s deflated, walking slowly, looking stricken, as if she’s got bad news.
Or like someone made the mistake of hurting her.
“What’s wrong?”I ask as soon as she’s close enough that I don’t have to raise my voice.There are too many people walking around the grounds, and while I might have taken a risk last night, it’s broad daylight now.Nobody can know there’s more to us than what’s on the surface.
The brief glance she gives me doesn’t make me feel better.There’s a haunted look in her eyes, not to mention dark circles that tell the story of a sleepless night.
“In the car,” she whispers, then climbs into the back seat as soon as I’ve opened the door.
My gaze travels over the grounds while my chest tightens.If one of these assholes said or did anything to hurt her, they’re fucking dead.I don’t care which one of them it was.I’ll fucking kill them.All of the old instincts come rushing to the surface after being locked away for so long.
The intensity of my reaction startles me as I get behind the wheel.I’m still hungry for blood as we roll down the wide driveway.“What happened?”I ask, looking at her in the mirror.She’s sitting with her hands over her face, lying back against the seat.
Her voice is muffled, but the message comes through loud and clear.“She knows.Sophia knows.
Fuck me.If someone hurt her, I could handle it.There’s something clean and straightforward about vengeance.This is more complicated, and not only because my sister is involved.“How do you know that?”I ask, doing my best to be calm and rational, since it’s clear Giulia is anything but.
“She asked me.After you popped your head in last night,” she explains, on the verge of tears.“She flat-out confronted me when it was just the two of us.”
She would too.I love the girl as much as any brother loves their sister, and I would do anything for her.But she can be a real pain in the ass when she puts her mind to it.Sometimes that straightforward, no-fucks-given attitude of hers can backfire on the people around her.“And since I’m still alive and breathing, I’m guessing you said there was nothing happening?”I ask.
“Of course I did.I didn’t know what else to say.I laughed it off and acted like I didn’t know what she was talking about, but I’m sure she wasn’t convinced,” she frets.If she chews her lip any harder, she’ll draw blood.“I was up all night worrying.You have no idea.”
“You must have convinced her because she would have called me otherwise,” I reason.“There’s no way she would’ve stayed quiet if she thought you were lying.”
“I guess you’re right,” she sighs after a few seconds.“But you weren’t there.She gets this suspicious look on her face, you know?”
