He exhales sharply. “She may not have been my sister forlong, but she is my sister. We have to protect her. You need to get close to her, get her to trust you, like we talked about. But it’s going to have to happen faster.”
“When are you planning to tell her about the marriage contract?” I ask.
“I probably won’t,” he admits. “I don’t want her thinking that’s the only reason you’re around her.” He pauses, then adds quietly, “I think my dad was right. You two look good together.”
“Just so you know, she’s very against anything with her brother’s best friend.”
“How do you know? Did you ask?” Gino asks.
“Kind of.”
“Jesus.” He rolls his eyes. “Getting rejected stings, huh?”
“Fuck off. But I’m telling you now, hiding the contract from her isn’t going to go over well. She’ll find out eventually.”
“Listen,” he says, firm. “She doesn’t need to know yet. If we need to tell her, we will. But I’m not planning on forcing her into anything.”
“Alright,” I reply. “I’m just warning you now—the blowback could be astronomical.”
“Look at you, using big words,” he says, punching my arm.
I groan, replaying the conversation in my head. Not telling her is a horrible idea.Fuck.And then there’s this goddamn hard-on I need to get rid of, and there’s only one way I can.
I get out of bed and head straight for the room Vanessa’s staying in. For a second, I consider knocking, but I can hear the faint sound of whatever she is watching. I open the door.
She doesn’t look up—too focused on her phone.
I’m going to need to teach her to be more aware of her surroundings.
I walk over and stop right in front of her. She finally looks up at me, eyes wide. I take the phone from her hands, pressthe lock button, and set it on the end table. Then I close her laptop, cutting off the noise of the show, and place it beneath the phone.
“Mateo,” she says softly, breathlessly. “What are you?—”
I press a finger to her lips, silencing her.
“You really need to be better about knowing your surroundings, sweetheart,” I whisper.
“I didn’t think I needed to be when you’re right next door,” she replies quietly.
“I thought your uncle trained you.”
“He did,” she says. “Some fighting techniques. Some shooting. But not enough for me to be an expert.”
I let out a low laugh. “Guess I’ll need to train you, then.”
I lean down and place a soft kiss on her lips.
“Mateo, this isn’t a good idea,” she says softly.
“What isn’t?”
“This sleeping together thing. We’ll do it one time. You’ll regret it, you’ll tell all your friends how bad it was, and Gino will kill both of us.”
What? Why would she think that I would regret it?
“Why? Do you think it would be bad?”
“No, it’s just—” She trails off.
