He leans a fraction closer. “You were staring, Mara.”
“And you’re delusional, Nicolo.”
His eyes flash—something dark and unreadable. “I think we’re both past pretending you’re uninterested.”
“Are we? When did that happen?”
“When I was ten inches inside you two days ago.”
My throat dries. “I’m not your problem.”
“Everything under this roof is my problem.” His gaze drags down to my legs, then back up to my face. “Some problems are louder than others. And until your brother takes you off my hands, you will remain my problem for the foreseeable future.”
My throat dries. “You should go cool off.”
“I just did.”
“Clearly not enough.”
That earns me the faintest ghost of a smile. The kind that doesn’t reach his eyes, but still feels like a win.
He straightens, grabbing his towel from the chair beside mine. “Try not to drown, nixie.”
He turns to leave, water still clinging to his skin.
“Try not to brood,” I shoot back before I can stop myself.
He pauses at the edge of the archway, shoulders tense, and glances over his shoulder—just once. “You make that difficult.”
And then he’s gone.
The silence he leaves behind feels louder than the sound of him swimming. Duchess meows again, climbing onto my lap like she owns it. I pick her up, pressing my nose into her fur and trying to steady my heartbeat.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I whisper. “I was totally reading.”
She purrs in disbelief. I stare down atJane Eyre, now right-side-up. The words blur together.
All I can see is him.
By the timethe sun hits the garden, I’ve convinced myself I’m totally fine. Totally not still thinking about him. Totally normal.
Duchess sprawls on the grass beside me, belly-up, sun-drunk and shameless. I prop my phone on my knee, FaceTime open, and wait.
Valentina picks up first with her messy bun, sunglasses on her head, chewing something that looks suspiciously like cake. “Finally. I was about to send a search party.”
Alessia joins a second later. Perfect eyeliner. Gold dangly earrings. The background noise of chaos I’d know anywhere.
“We were literally just talking about you. What’s going on?”
“First, where are the guys?”
Alessia rolls her eyes. “Romiro and your brother? Out at some meeting. Why?”
“Just…make sure no one’s around.”
That gets their attention. Valentina straightens. Alessia side-eyes her screen, then drags her phone through the hallway into her bedroom. A door shuts.
Val does the same. “Okay, we’re alone. Now spill.”
