“Good night, Rena.”
Neither of us hangs up, and a chuckle rips from my lips. “You hang up first.”
“Alesso?” Indecision underscores her breathy tone.
“Yes?”
“I…uh.”
I wait with bated breath.
“Nothing. It’s nothing. I’ll see you in a few hours.”
She hangs up, and I feel a little dejected, wondering what it is she wanted to say but felt she couldn’t. I roll over onto my side, and my eyes have only just shut when the door creaks open, letting a sliver of light in from the hallway. Smothering a yawn, I force my eyes open and prop up on my elbows in time to see a pile of silk pool on the wooden floor. I blink profusely as I watch the figure walk across the room, sure my eyes must be deceiving me.
But nope.
Anais really has removed her silk robe, and she’s walking toward me, completely naked.
This cannot be happening.
“Stop right there,” I growl, sitting up and swinging my legs over the side of the bed. I purposely lower my eyes to the floor, avoiding her gaze. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” The floorboard creaks under her weight as she takes another step forward.
“Don’t come any closer.” I throw out my arm. “Do you want your father to murder me? Is that it?”
She makes a scoffing sound. “Daddy’s too busy drinking and fucking whores to even know his own name. I’m the very last thing on his mind right now.” The bed dips as she crawls onto it. “I have been blind. Too fixated on a stupid crush on Bennett to notice you, but I see you now, Alessandro. I seeallof you.” Her hand touches my bare shoulder, and I jump out of the bed like I’ve been electrocuted.
“This isn’t happening, Anais,” I growl, stomping across the room, grateful for the bit of light that guides my way. I snatch up her robe and stalk back to her, sobering up instantly. I thrust it at her without looking at her naked body. “Put that on and get back to your room.”
“I don’t want to,” she says, and I hear the pout in her voice. “I’m going to sleep here.” The bed moves again, and I grind my teeth. “Look at me,” she says in that orchestrated seductive tone I’ve heard her use on Ben before. “I know you want to. I’m touching myself, imagining it’s your fingers sliding into my cunt and your hands pinching my nipples.”
Holy fuck. I need to get out of here. Keeping my gaze away from the bed, I grab my clothes off the floor and snatch my phone from the table. “I’m not interested, Anais, and you need to stop this.” I pull on my pants and shove my feet into my boots. “Keep this up, and one day, you’re going to flirt with the wrong man, and then you’ll be sorry.”
“Why aren’t you interested? What’s wrong with me?” A glimmer of vulnerability lingers behind her words, and I remind myself she’s only seventeen and impressionable.
I pull my shirt on and keep my back to her as I say, “There is nothing wrong with you, Anais. But you don’t need to do this. You shouldstopdoing this. No decent man would respond to this behavior. The type who would are the type you don’t want to get mixed up with.” I can’t help feeling some sympathy for her because she has grown up in this house, exposed to things no young girl should be exposed to. From what I know, she’s had no motherly figure to help guide her, and it’s clear she’s craving attention. “You’re a beautiful girl, and you’re the daughter of a don. You command respect from your name alone, but you should want to command respect by your actions too.”
“You can help me,” she says. “And we can have fun while doing it. Daddy would never have to know.” She climbs off the bed and clutches my arm.
I still refuse to look at her because I don’t know if she put the damn robe back on. “This won’t happen, Anais. You’re too young, and I’m in love with someone else.” My mouth hangs open as the words leave my lips unbidden. I can’t even blame the alcohol because Salerno’sprincipessabursting into my room sobered me up superfast.
Shit. Is it true? Am I in love with Serena? Is that what this feeling is?
“She doesn’t have to know,” she adds, refusing to give in. She’s tenacious. I’ll give her that. “It can be our little secret.” Her hand moves lower on my body, and that’s my cue to hightail it out of there.
“That’s not how I roll. Take the room,” I offer, walking toward the door. “I’ll find someplace else to sleep.”
* * *
Leo holds his stomach, cracking up laughing, as I fill him in on my eventful night last night, omitting the part where I blurted I loved Serena. “I would have paid good money to see that,” he says in between bouts of laughter. “You poor sucker. She’s going to flirt with you relentlessly now.”
“She won’t get the chance.” I crick my neck from side to side, attempting to loosen my tense muscles. My back aches from sleeping on the floor of the van, but at least I didn’t have to worry about hornymafiosoprincesses crawling over me during the night or ghosts of generations past creeping me out. “We’re leaving shortly, and now Salerno has reclaimed his throne, there will be no need to see the little troublemaker again.”
“Famous last words, my friend.” Leo slaps me on the back, and I groan as pain radiates up and down my spine.
“I kinda feel sorry for her,” I admit. “It’s obvious she’s desperate for attention.”
