"Your mother arrives tomorrow. She's going to want to see you and Antonella together. Acting like a married couple. Even if she knows that it is fake. You need to prove that you'll do anything. Can you do that?"
I don't answer.
"Bruno. Can you do that?"
"Yes."
Valentino nods. "Good. Then maybe start by actually talking to her before Aria gets here. Because if she sees you treating Antonella like a stranger, she's going to make your life very difficult."
He leaves.
I sit alone in the gym.
The parallel bars mock me from across the room.
I think about her hand on my shoulder.
I think about how badly I want to feel that again.
And I hate myself for it.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Antonella
Something wakes me.
Not a sound. Not a movement.
Just a feeling.
That prickling awareness at the back of my neck. The sense that I'm not alone.
I open my eyes.
A scream tears from my throat.
Bruno sits in his wheelchair in front of me. Watching me. In the dark.
"What the?—"
His hand clamps over my mouth.
I bite down. Hard.
"Fuck!" He yanks his hand back.
I scramble upright, heart pounding against my ribs. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
Bruno examines his hand.
"You bit me."
"You were watching me sleep!" I grab the pillow and clutch it to my chest. "Like some kind of—of?—"
"I knocked."
"I was asleep!"
