“Please.”
I shift my gaze back to Siena, my eyebrows raised. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say that word in my life.”
I drop my jacket on the table and settle into a chair, gesturing at her. “Say what you came to say, Siena.”
She perches on the edge of the chair across from me and looks at me for a moment before speaking.
“What’s going on with you and Valentina?” It’s not an accusation. She doesn’t sound angry. She sounds like she cares, but I have no fucking idea what she’s talking about.
“The same as always. She annoys the fuck out of me. I keep her around because she’s a good hacker. Why?”
“Sophie saw you guys kissing in front of the restaurant the other day.”
Fuck. My. Life.
I shake my head. “What she saw was Valentina kissing me. It lasted all of two seconds. And the entire conversation was her telling me I needed to go get Sophie back.”
Siena regards me suspiciously, trying to decide whether or not she should be believe me. Finally she nods. “And are you? Going to get Sophie back?”
I say nothing.
“Vin.” She sounds tired. “You just blew up a lucrative alliance and declared war on the Irish, effectively putting my husband’s life at risk and forcing me and my child into exile. I’d like to know if it’s because you’re in love with my cousin.”
The room is quiet except for the sound of the city outside the window.
“I don’t discuss my personal business.”
“I know. I’m asking as her family. Not as Matti’s wife or your family, but hers.”
That hits different somehow, and she knows it. Reading thesincerity on her face, I suddenly realize: “It was you who sent her to the Demonio compound. When I was…. Right before the funeral was supposed to happen.”
Siena is quiet for a second. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you needed someone who could actually reach you. I watched a lot of people try. Matti. Tommy. Me.” She pauses. “No one could get you out of that chair. She walked in and got you cleaned up and back on your feet in a day. Of course, you tried to hold her hostage on the compound, but she was smarter than you were so I don’t hold it against you.”
I say nothing. There’s nothing to say to that.
“She can reach you the way no one else can.” Siena leans forward slightly. “She always could. I watched it happen in real time and I tried to stop it for awhile. Then I told myself it wasn’t my business, that you were both adults, that whatever you two were doing had nothing to do with me.” She stops. “But it does have something to do with me. She’s my cousin, my only family. And watching her hurt herself trying to let you go has been awful.”
I glance out the window and back at her. I don’t want to talk about this, but she’s relentless.
“Are you in love with Sophie, Vin?”
I toy with one of the empty espresso cups, hating Siena’s need to see around corners when it comes to her cousin. The truth is I’ve been in love with Sophia Bellamorte since—I don’t knowwhen exactly. But I’m not just in love with her. She is my fucking reason for being here. My reason for everything I do.
“Does canceling the wedding mean I’m in love with your cousin?”
That I love her smile, pressing up against her when she’s cooking, my cock in her mouth all night long, her incredible food, the kindest fucking heart that I pray can forgive me for all the bullshit I put her through?
I blow out a breath. “Yeah. Yeah, it does.”
Siena half gasps. I can’t tell if she’s relieved or irritated by my answer. Maybe both. She glances down at the mess on the table without seeing it, then back at me. Her expression softens.
“She loves you, too,” she says quietly. “She’s been trying not to for over a year. I’ve watched her try to move on and forget you. It hasn’t worked.”
My chest squeezes. I grumble under my breath, “Fucking Irish fuck.”
