I touch the necklace around my throat and look up at him. “Why did you buy these for me?”
Damiano presses another kiss to my throat. “Because I’ve never seen you look more beautiful. Why didn’t you tell me you’re a jewelry expert? I know you didn’t get all that information from the notes.”
“I studied gems and jewelry after high school. I thought you knew.” I play with his tie, still smiling. “I think you made Cristiano Montoni angry.”
“I don’t give a damn. I’ll go and get all those millions from our guests, and then we’ll go home.”
I pack away the jewelry and give the locked briefcase to one of Dad’s armed men, then go in search of the bathroom. It’s not until I’ve turned a corner and I’m out of sight of the living room and Damiano that I realize someone has followed me.
Mr. Dimitriou, and from the expression on his face, he’s delighted that he’s found me alone. “You know a lot about gemstones. It’s impressive.”
“Thank you, but I have to get back to—” I break off with a gasp as Mr. Dimitriou reaches for my ass and squeezes me like I’m a piece of fruit at the grocery store.
“Is jewelry a particular interest of yours?” he asks while staring at my breasts and blocking my way with his other arm.
“Get your hands off me,” I seethe, anger burning in my cheeks. Damiano is the only man who’s ever touched me like this. He’s the only man who’s allowed to touch me like this. From him, it feels completely different. Mr. Dimitriou is making me feel dirty, and I don’t know what I want to do more, cry or throw up.
Mr. Dimitriou crowds me closer to the wall. “That’s not polite when I just dropped several hundred thousand dollars on the jewels you were hawking.”
“And because you bid on the jewels, I’m supposed to let you grope me?” I pull out of his grasp and slap his face as hard as I can. “Go fuck yourself, and your money.”
Dad rounds the corner just in time to see me swear at Mr. Dimitriou and hit him.
With burning eyes, Dimitriou dabs at his lip and turns to Dad. “This bitch lacks manners. I didn’t expect to be so insulted.”
“And I didn’t expect to be groped by someone as old and ugly as you,” I snap, and his face turns red with fury.
Dad seizes me by the upper arm, marches me back to the bedroom, and forces me into a chair. “You will sit there, and you will not move. I will deal with you when everyone has gone.”
“But I—”
“Not another word, Lucy.” He leaves and slams the door behind him.
I clench the seat of my chair, fuming silently while I listen to the voices in the next room slowly fade away as everyone leaves.
Finally, I hear Damiano exclaim, “He did what to Lucy? Where’s my sister?”
Damiano bursts into the room, his curls falling into his sparking eyes. He sees me sitting in the chair, strides over to me, sinks to one knee, and takes my hand. Reaching up to cup my cheek, he asks urgently, “Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”
I admire Damiano’s handsome, upturned face. “Just my dignity. I can’t believe he had the nerve to grab my ass while you and Dad were here.”
His eyes darken. “That bastard touched you?” He gets to his feet and presses a kiss to my brow. “I’m so sorry. And I’ll make him even sorrier.”
I glare at Dad, who’s followed Damiano into the room. This is the proper response when someone in your family is sexually harassed. Kisses and promises of vengeance.
“Damiano, take your sister home and never bring her around the family business again. She doesn’t know how to handle herself.”
Anger pumps through my blood. I stand up and face Dad. “I don’t know how to handle myself? I’ve been groped, but I didn’t stab that old lech in the neck. I think that deserves a medal. Oh, that’s not the only violence I prevented tonight. We were so close to a public humiliation for one of your guests, but I smoothed it over.”
Dad’s eyes narrow. “What public humiliation?”
I can feel Damiano’s strong, solid presence behind me, backing me up. “Mr. Cattaneo’s mistress’s bracelet. She was sweating like crazy when I was examining it because the rubies are fake. Someone must have sold the real stones and replaced them with imitations. I didn’t want Damiano to spend the rest of the night dismembering the mistress’s murdered body in the bathtub, so I pretended the rubies were authentic. Tell me again how I can’t handle myself in your world.”
“I see,” Dad says icily. “So it’s worse than I thought. You lied to protect a whore, slapped a guest, and provoked your brother into angering the new Montoni don. Dimitriou expects an apology from you, and you will give it to him.”
My nails dig into my palms as humiliation courses through me. Why must Dad take everyone’s side but mine?
“Lucy is apologizing to that piece of shit over my dead body,” Damiano seethes. “Dimitriou is going to write my sister the most groveling and sincere apology a man has ever given a woman, or I’m going to cut off his fingers. Lucy is family, and we protect family. What’s more, you should be thanking Lucy for her hard work. We brought in four and a half million dollars tonight, which is far more than what the jeweler told us to expect. It’s all because of her.”
