When I walk back into my bedroom, Fina sits on the bed, mindlessly stroking Coco, who preens under her touch. They’re best friends now.
“Thanks for taking care of them,” I say to Fina, gesturing at my pets.
“I was happy to pet sit.” She smiles. “Good practice,” she quips before snapping her mouth shut. I sense she didn’t mean to say that last bit. “How are you?” My eyes narrow. She’s hiding something, but I decide to put a pin in that for now.
“I’m okay,” I reply. I’m one hundred percentnotokay, but it could have been worse. And all things considered, I was far luckier than most of the other women.
The sooner that English bastard gets what’s coming to him, the better.
“You sure?” Fina doesn’t appear convinced.
I exhale slowly as I crawl onto the bed and lean back against my pillows. Felix stretches and slides close enough that his soft fur is within reach. Coco immediately growls with jealousy and pushes him with her nose. Felix halfheartedly swipes his paw in her direction, and she recoils in horror.
I smile for a moment, amused at their antics. It looks like Felix won the dominance battle while I was away.
“No,” I concede when it becomes clear Fina isn’t going to take my silence as an answer. “But I’ll be alright soon.”
“Angelo told me some of what happened, but not all of it. I’m so sorry you got caught up in this family bullshit.”
“It could have been you,” I point out, and she pales. Regret makes me curse.
“I’m sorry. That wasn’t fair.”
“No, you’re right. It could just as easily have been me. I’m a weak point. Matteo is with me most of the time, but not always, and Papa doesn’t exactly prioritize my safety, so when Matteo is called away, I’m often on my own at home.”
She waves her hand dismissively. “Never mind me. I want to know what’s happened with you and Kane.”
“Kane?” I affect an innocent expression, but she’s not fooled.
“Yes! I’m not blind, Chiara. It’s clear as day something’s happened between you both.”
“Um…” I don’t feel comfortable telling her we fucked. After all, her brother is my husband, and I know where her loyalties lie.
“Spit it out, sister. We both know you and Luka have been fooling around and also that you have the hots for Kane.” A fiery blush colors my cheeks, and I briefly contemplate locking myself in the bathroom to escape her inquisition. But I soon decide it’s pointless. Fina may have the face of an angel, but the woman is relentless. If I don’t fess up, she’ll torture me until I do.
“Uh, fine! So we may have…done stuff…and Angelo may have, um, walked in on us right after this, um, alleged event.”
Fina’s jaw drops in shock, her eyes widen, and she utters a scandalized gasp.
“Oh my god, you fucked Kane and my brother caught you both in the act?”
I cringe while nodding. Fuck, she must think I’m an awful slut.
Fina laughs with genuine amusement. “That’s…hilarious! Serves the bastard right!”
“Wait…what? You think it’s funny?” Her reaction is unexpected.
“Damn right. The trail of broken hearts he’s left in his wake is legendary. It’s about time he got his comeuppance.” She giggles so hard it sets me off, and before long, we’re both lying on the bed laughing hysterically.
“What about Paris?” I ask when I’ve finally stopped laughing.
“Oh, Paris.” Fina grins and wipes her eyes. “Yeah, that was a bad one.” She snorts some more. “He fucked her first, then got bored after like a day. To be fair, he was probably drunk when they did the deed. There was a party, and Angelo got drunk again. He seduced Paris’s best friend, Michelle, and Paris walked in on them. It was…messy.”
“Wow, that’s…” I snigger. “Horrible?”
Fina sobers. “More than horrible. Paris Remington’s father is super protective of his daughter. Paris is the apple of his eye. His baby girl. Let’s just say Daddy Remington wasveryangry when he heard about Paris’s humiliation because it blew up on social media and was all anyone talked about for weeks. I think there’s still a meme of her rage face doing the rounds.”
“Oops.”
