“Is it Ant—”
“No, Mama needs you. It's a sensitive matter.”
“I was going to stop by in the morning. Mama said she’d be fine watching him for the night.”
Luca's jaw tightens, and he turns to Richard with a stern look. “This is an urgent family matter, so this date is over.”
I spin around when I hear a chair scrape across the floor and watch with surprise as Richard hurries to his feet, clearly intimidated by my brother.
"Don't go anywhere, Richard," I say, but the man's already sliding into his jacket. "Richard?"
“I…you’re obviously needed elsewhere, Emilia, so…” He flicks his gaze toward my brother, who’s standing there with his arms folded over his chest, impatiently waiting for Richard to leave. “I’ll…uh, see you at the hospital."
I watch, jaw on the floor, as my date practically runs out of the restaurant before turning to my twin, who, for some crazy reason, decided to shoot to the sky during our teen years and outgrew me. By a lot. No one would think we’re twins. He's so much taller and bigger than me, a fact he never lets me forget. Now, he’s staring at me, but I refuse to be intimidated by him.
“Figlio di puttana, you had no right!” I hiss, poking my finger at his chest, livid. “How dare you insert yourself like that!”
“He’s weak. No man who leaves a woman in the middle of a date deserves my sister.”
“You freaking asshole, that’s not the point!”
Luca simply raises a single brow, treating me like a child throwing a tantrum. He tosses a couple of bills on the table next to my untouched dinner and clasps my elbow, leading me out of the restaurant. “Let's go home. Antonio was worried sick about you when he heard you couldn't make it tonight."
I stop before cursing my brother out again and turn to him. "Antonio? What does he have to do with this?"
"When Mama told him that you were out on a date, he was worried, as was I, that his shooter could track you. If he's watching the gates, he might’ve seen you leave and followed you.”
Is that what he told Luca? Used my overprotective brother against me? Heck, if Antonio cared that much about my safety, he could have sent a bodyguard for me and not my own brother to scare off my date.
What the hell is Antonio playing at? Can’t he see I’m trying to get over him?
“Emilia—”
“Don’t talk to me,” I snap at Luca, unwilling to admit to myself that my brother only did this because he was worried about me. I can’t think past the anger and hurt.
It’s deafening.
The rage pounding in my head is loud enough that my vision blurs at the edges. My breath comes in short, ragged gasps, and I feel every muscle in my body tense and coil, ready to punch someone. I fight to stay calm and don’t utter another word as Luca drives me to the Rossi estate. He must sense my mood because he remains silent, and I keep a lid on it all until I storm into Antonio’s bedroom half an hour later.
For the first time since seeing Antonio again, I don’t blush and stammer like an idiot. I want nothing more than to stomp on that ridiculously handsome face of his.
“You asshole!”
He’s sitting in a chair by the window, his injured leg propped up on an ottoman, a cane within reach. Since his room faces the driveway, he must've watched me and Luca arrive. Must've known I would eventually find my way into his bedroom. The smug look on his face only fuels my rage.
"You're here," the handsome jerk says, turning to look at me. I hate how my skin burns when those golden hazel eyes rake over me. The little black dress I’m wearing was meant for my date to see and drool over. It's Richard who was supposed to leave me breathless by running his gaze over me. “You look…different,dottoressa.”
“Oh, do I?” I hiss, storming over to him. “That’s because I was on a freaking date with the hottest radiologist in the entire hospital before you sent my brother to ruin it for me.”
His jaw ticking is the only reaction I get. “Did he?”
“Ruin the date? Oh no. Once I’ve made sure you're not dying like Luca made it seem, then I'm calling Richard to pick me up, and I'll spend the rest of the night rolling around the sheets with—"
He moves fast. For someone with a bad leg wound and a cane, he moves so fast that I barely register it until my back is to the wall and his gorgeous golden eyes are glaring down at me. He’s so close. Sweet heavens, he’s so close that I can feel the heat from his body, burning into mine and leaving me shaky and my skin sensitive. So close, I can feel his breath brush against my cheek. “Were you going to let him touch you?”
"What do you care?" I breathe, biting down a whimper when his hand scales up my thigh, and I feel my dress ride up, his touch sending goose bumps darting across my skin.
“Answer me, Emilia.”
