His hand remained steady against my waist. Warm. Heavy. Present. Every nerve in my body seemed painfully aware of it. I hated that too. Eventually I looked up. Big mistake. His eyes were already on me. Watching.
"Stop that."
His eyebrow lifted. "Stop what?"
"Looking at me."
The dance continued. One slow step after another. My heartbeat grew steadily more ridiculous. The room felt smaller. Warmer. The air thicker somehow. Then the words escaped before I could stop them.
"I saw what you are."
Silence. The music played softly around us. Santino's expression didn't change. Not right away. Then something flickered behind his eyes. Gone almost instantly.
"I know."
The honesty surprised me. Again. Everything about him surprised me. "I can't stop thinking about it."
His jaw tightened. Slightly. Only slightly. "I know that too."
The city lights blurred beyond the windows. I swallowed. Hard. The memory of the gunshot flashed through my mind. The mask. The blood. The fear. My chest tightened. Santino looked down at me. Quiet. Patient.
"I have barely touched you since the club."
My breath caught. The words hit harder than they should have. Because he was right. No teasing touches. No stolen contact. No fingers brushing mine. Nothing. Ever since the night of my bachelorette party and that last kiss on the cliffs I gave him willingly.
Nothing. I hadn't realized how much I'd noticed. Or how much I'd missed it. The realization horrified me. Santino's gaze remained fixed on mine. Steady. Unwavering. Dangerous.
"I noticed,” I said.
The admission came out softer than intended. His hand tightened slightly against my waist. Not enough to trap. Just enough to feel. And neither of us was thinking about the dance anymore. Or the ballroom. Or the city. Or even the execution. Just each other. Which was probably the most dangerous thing that had happened all week.
The knock echoed through the ballroom. Once. Twice. Then a third time. Urgent. Desperate. Santino's jaw tightened. I stepped back so quickly I nearly tripped over my own feet.
Wonderful. Perfect timing. My heart was currently trying to escape through my ribs and somebody had apparently decided to save me from my terrible decisions.
The knock came again. Louder. "Santino."
A male voice. Young. Familiar. My stomach dropped.
No. Absolutelynot.
The doors burst open before either of us could answer. Matteo stumbled inside. My brother looked exhausted. Dark circlesbeneath his eyes. Hair disheveled. Clothes wrinkled. Like he hadn't slept properly in days.
"Aurora." His relief was immediate. Then he saw Santino. His entire expression hardened. Determined. Resolved. Something about it made my stomach twist.
"Matteo, what are you doing here?" I demanded.
He ignored me. Completely. Which was annoying because he usually listened to me. Eventually. Sometimes. His eyes remained fixed on Santino. The ballroom felt very quiet. Santino studied him for a long moment. Then folded his arms.
"What do you want?"
Simple question. Dangerous answer. I could feel it. Matteo swallowed. Then walked forward. One step. Two. Three. Until he stood directly in front of Santino. My little brother didn't even look at me.
I stared. Offended. Deeply offended. The audacity. Then Matteo did something that made my blood run cold. He dropped to one knee. The sound echoed sharply across the marble floor. Silence followed. Complete silence.
Even Santino looked surprised. I knew enough about our world to understand exactly what I was looking at. This wasn't a child kneeling. This wasn't respect.
This was allegiance.
