I glance around the garden. The guards are far enough that I can breathe.
“I slept with him.”
There’s a full beat of silence. Then…
“Oh, my God,” Valentina whispers.
Alessia claps her hands together. “Finally!”
“It wasn’t like that,” I say, even though it totally was. “It just…happened. One minute I was taunting him, the next I was slammed against the door. He was angry, so angry, and I kept pushing. One thing led to another, and…”
“And?” Alessia prompts, leaning closer to the camera like she’s front row at a soap opera.
I sigh, staring at Duchess, who’s now licking her paw like this conversation is beneath her. “It was good.”
Valentina snorts. “Good?”
“Okay, incredible,” I admit. “The kind of good that ruins all other good. And now he’s acting like it never happened.”
“Of course he is,” Alessia says, voice dry. “God forbid the Esposito men process an emotion like normal human beings. Do you know how long it took for Romiro to stop pussyfooting around?”
“He’s pushing me away. He’s not like Romiro. Nicolo is so much more uptight and control-obsessed. He’s being cold, and I think he might even be callous just to stop anything from happening between us,” I say quietly. “Like the second he lost control, he decided to punish himself for it—and me too.”
Valentina tilts her head. “Something already did happen between you two, and him acting like it won’t happen again is wishful thinking. It’s just a case of when.”
“He told me I’m his problem.” I roll my eyes. “Everything under his roof is hisproblem.”
Alessia groans. “He really said that?”
“Word for word.”
“Men like that don’t want to feel things, Mara,” Valentina says. “They want to control them. You broke his system. Now he’s trying to fix it by pretending you don’t exist.”
“Perfect,” I mutter. “Love being someone’s system error.”
Alessia smirks. “Okay, here’s what you do. First, don’t chase him. Make him sweat. If he wants you, he can crawl.”
Valentina nods. “And stop living onhisschedule. Make him realize you’re not part of his routine. He got used to you being part of it. Throw a curveball in his direction.”
“I can’t just ignore him,” I argue. “Nicolo isn’t the type of man to care or notice.”
“Sure you can, and trust me he cares and notices,” Alessia says.
Valentina leans in. “Yes, what Allie is saying is true. Since he already broke his rules, you’re already under his skin. In his head. And don’t have another meltdown conversation with him until you know what you actually want. Do you want him to apologize, or do you just want him to look at you again?”
The question hits harder than I expect.
“I don’t know,” I say honestly.
“Then figure it out before you give him the power to decide,” Val says.
I rub a hand over my face. “You both suck.”
“We’re actually amazing,” Alessia scoffs before taking a sip out of her drink. “Also, for future reference, if you’re going to break your no-sleeping-with-emotionally-constipated-men streak, you could at least enjoy it guilt-free.”
Valentina grins. “Yeah, stop making everything a moral crisis. Sometimes it’s just sex. Really, really hot sex.”
“Oh, hi. Pot, meet kettle. Thanks for your never-ending wisdom, Dr. Freud.”
