“I don’t care what he did,” I snap back. “I was asking you.”
He exhales. “It was instinct, I guess.”
“Did Dad teach you that?”
“Yeah.” At least he taught yousomething—unlike me.
“Now you.” I look to Mateo.
His nose is already starting to swell, and I know he’s going to bruise. It’s going to stand out against his perfectly tan face.
No. Stop it. Remember—forbidden.
“Why did you fight him? You could have turned on a light.” I say, narrowing my eyes at him.
He snickers, and I raise an eyebrow.
“Have you ever heard of the element of surprise?” he says. “That’s what you’re supposed to do when you catch someone sneaking around.”
Gino rolls his eyes. “I wasn’t sneaking around.”
I shoot him a look that tells him to shut it. He does.
“It doesn’t matter. You two better clean up anything that you broke,” I say to both of them.
I stand and head into the kitchen, grabbing a beer from the fridge—because I really need one right now.
“Vanessa, I got up here way too easily,” Gino says from the kitchen doorway. “The guy downstairs didn’t even look up when I walked in.”
I glance at Mateo. He gives me those soft eyes again.
“Okay, and…” I say.
“I think you should stay at Mateo’s place instead of here. He has top security at his place.”
I look between the two of them. Great. As if being closer to him isn’t already complicated enough.
Fixing Gino with a stern look, I say, “His place is too far from the hospital for me to walk.”
“He can drive you,” Gino replies easily.
Mateo nods.
I sigh. “Fine. But under one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“No more breaking into people’s apartments.”
Gino snickers. “I actually have a key to Mateo’s place, so I won’t need to ask anyone for one. And technically, I didn’t break in here.”
I roll my eyes at him.
“Pack a bag,” he adds. “Then let’s head out of here.”
I turn and head straight for my bedroom, slamming the door behind me. Through the walls, I can hear the muffled sound of Gino and Mateo talking.
Still fuming, I pull a duffel bag from my closet and start throwing things in. I grab pajamas, jeans, a few T-shirts, sneakers, scrubs, socks, and a sweatshirt. I don’t bother folding anything.
