“That’s his street name,” she said, all smug now.
“How the hell do you know these things?”
“I did some digging, so what?”
I gaped at her. “You know that’s what Leo, the boy who stalked me because he had a crush on me, said in his defense.”
“When a boy does it, it’s creepy. When a girl does it, it’s cute.”
“Nicky! That’s sexist and deranged.”
“Whatever, Sis. Have you seen the dude? He makes smart girls do stupid things.” She shrugged and sauntered out of the room, giggling.
Great. My sister, too, was a stalker.
I had to agree with the last part of what she said, though. Sebastiano—Tino— Bellomo was so sexy it was confusing and dangerous.
Just likehewas.
Chapter21
Lina
Thunder vibrated in my bones, plucking my heart out of my chest. Lightning illuminated against the windows, which, despite how beautiful the drawings on them were, looked so spooky now.
A freaking thunderstorm on the first night at a new house that looked like a Gothic church. Great. How the hell was I supposed to sleep in this horror show?
I huffed as I kicked the sheets off me. Then I went over to Nicky’s room. Carefully, I opened her door and peeked in. Her snoring yelled over the thunder. How could she be deep in sleep in that weather?
I hated to wake her up now, so I just wheeled back and decided to wait downstairs until the storm was over.
The halls were silent and dark, and the storm seemed louder outside the vast entrance. Maybe I should just find the kitchen and make myself some chamomile tea. I hoped Don Bellomo wouldn’t mind. He did say to feel free to behave as if this place was our home.
He’d shown us around and introduced us to the helping staff, but there was no one up this late, and I was totally lost. I must have taken the wrong turn. No way the kitchen was in this part of the mansion where there was nothing but rooms with closed doors.
“Where the hell am I?” My shoulders slumped as I had no choice but to return to my room, the only place I knew how to go back to, and ask for a freaking map in the morning.
The thunder boomed when I turned around, and I hit something hard in the dark. I gasped, looking up, and blue eyes were staring at me. “Ahhhh!”
“Are you going to scream every time you see me?”
“Shut the f…front door. God, Don Bellomo, you scared the hell out of me. One more of those and my heart is gonna stop for real. Please don’t do this again.”
“Do what?”
“Sneak up on me like this?”
“I’ve never snuck up on you, young lady. I heard someone walking in my house in the middle of the night and went down to check. But I understand why you could be so…shaken.”
Lightning cracked the sky, and I could see he was, damn, only in his pants. His torso was completely naked, and he had bedroom hair.
I stared, my heart that was about to cease beating a second ago racing. He had more tattoos on his arms. A full sleeve on one, and a big angel on the other arm. There was a phrase on his broad chest, but I couldn’t make out the letters in the dark. No ink on his abs. I’d never seen a real eight pack before. Who was I kidding? Not even a real six pack. Was that what I hit when I spun? Sebastiano Bellomo’s firm, toned eight pack?
“Angelina?”
I yanked my head up. “Huh?”
“Did you hear what I said?”
