Page 28 of Her Dirty Secret

With a small nod, he moves into the living room, taking a seat on the largest couch. I pointedly sit in the slightly smaller one across from him.

“You’re looking well,” he remarks. “I was worried.”

I roll my eyes. “Thanks, but I’m fine.” God, I’m such a liar.

He runs a finger under his chin. “Really?” he asks, clearly not buying it.

I press my lips together. “On second thought, do you have any vodka?”

He stares at me unemotionally before rising. A minute later, he returns with two tumblers, each containing an inch of cold, clear liquid. He hands me one, and I shoot it back and set the glass down on the coffee table between us.

Alessandro settles on his couch, cradling the glass in his hand, and takes a deep breath. “Is this the part where you tell me that you don’t care what really happened? That it’s over?”

I look at him, shocked. “How did you know that’s what I was going to say?”

He takes a sip of his shot, grimacing against the sting of the alcohol. “Because it’s what I would say in your shoes.”

I narrow my eyes at him, unsure of whether this is him accepting the situation or not. “So you know where I’m coming from then.”

He tosses back the rest of his drink and sets the glass down. “So you know I didn’t fuck Valentina, then?” he parries, looking me dead in the eye.

I squirm uncomfortably. “Yes.” As much of an ass as he was that night, I think even then I knew that wasn’t something he would do. That I was looking for a reason to run.

He looks at me like he knows. “And you know your brother isn’t going to stand in the way of whatever it is you want?”

I purposely still myself, though it kills me. I have got to keep cool. “I was a little surprised that he seemed so willing to let the fox into the henhouse, but yes, I know that too. But that’s exactly it. I don’t want you, Alessandro.”

He laughs. “Is that so?”

I shrug. “Yes?”

Both of his thick, dark eyebrows jump at that. “Then why did that sound like a question?”

“Look, it was just a vacation thing. Anything we were feeling was just being out of our reality. That’s not a relationship.”

“Well, that’s bullshit, but let’s humor you for a moment. That doesn’t mean you don’t want me. That just means you think you only wanted me because of where we were.”

His forthrightness makes me laugh. “Okay,” I concede. “But that also assumes I want a relationship at all. Which I don’t.”

“Also bullshit,” he insists.

I’m starting to get annoyed. “You think you know what I want better than I do?”

He sighs and rises, coming around the table to settle on the couch next to me.

“Yes. Because once again, you’re simply fighting against what you really want, Cara Mia.”

This close, I can see his long, dark lashes over his deep brown eyes. I can see his desire there. And his restraint.

“You’re wrong this time,” I assert. “I’m not looking for complicated. And you, sir, complicate things.”

His eyes drop to my mouth, and I tighten inside. Ugh. He’s right. I do still want him. But it’s just physical. We’re just too much alike, and I’m already exhausted by a short conversation with him.

“Then I’ll make it simple,” he replies, leaning in so I get a full whiff of his spicy scent. “Let me take you on a date. Here, in our reality. If you still feel like it’s not what you want, then I’ll have to accept that.”

“You’ll have to accept that now,” I reply stubbornly.

He laughs. “You’re afraid.”

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