Page 37 of Savage Proposal

“He’s my boss.”

Gemma blinked. “He’sthe guy who needed a home-health aide?” she asked, incredulous.Damnit. I shouldn’t have said anything. “What’s wrong with him?”

Besides the fact that he’s psycho, but I keep fucking him anyway?“I can’t say. That would be a HIPPA violation.”

She hummed and, thankfully, let it go. We had a few more minutes to chat back and forth before she had to go back to work. “Text me soon, okay?” she asked, and her eyes flicked over to Elio. “Maybe we could get lunch or something next time?Withouta chaperone?”

I formed my lips into something akin to a smile. “For sure.”

We hugged again, and Elio and I left the café. “Your sister is?—”

“Don’t,” I barked at him. Whatever he thought of her didn’t matter, and I didn’t want to hear it. “Let’s just go home.” Something flickered across Elio’s face, and he glanced at the watch strapped to his wrist.

“We have some time,” he said. “Is there anywhere else you want to go?”

There were a million places that came to mind, but something about his question pinged wrong in my mind. “Let’s just go back.”

Elio wasn’t happy, clearly, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, we got back into the SUV and headed back to Scarsdale. This time, there was no talking, and the tension in the car was so thick that I was nearly choking on it.

It wasn’t until we pulled into the driveway, and I climbed out, that I was able to breathe again. Elio seemed to be dragging his feet, but I didn’t need him to be in my back pocket to go inside.

Amalia wasn’t in the kitchen when I came through the door, but I did hear voices in the dining room. I walked through the butler’s pantry and stopped dead in the doorway.

Lorenzo was seated at the head of the table; Amalia and Damian were to his immediate right and left. But practically sitting in his lap was a woman…a girl, really. She was fluttering her eyelashes and giving Lorenzo bedroom eyes.

Had Lorenzo sent me out with Elio so that he could entertain some little girl for the afternoon? Anger flickered through me,and I shoved the ugly feeling in my chest as far away as I possibly could. I had no right to feel such a thing.

The girl threw her head back and giggled, as if Lorenzo had said something incredibly funny. She ran her fingers over his arm, and something in my gut just…snapped.

“Who the hell is she?” I hadn’t meant to shout, but my voice boomed, bouncing off the walls.

Damnit.

CHAPTER 23

Lorenzo

Ifelt Gia’s body tense. Glancing at her, she was staring at Isabella, shock clearly printed across her face. For a moment, I thought she would say something, even after her warning from Damian, but then she rearranged her expression. She forced herself to smile; it was even more sickly sweet than the simpering one she’d been aiming at me.

“Lorenzo, do you want me to explain to your…employee?” she asked, petting at my arm.

I looked at Isabella. Her face was twisted into a sneer and my cock took painful interest. I was doing my best not to compare her to Sienna, but my wife would haveneverwalked into the room and demanded answers like that. She had better training than that. Isabella was green to the ways of the Cosa Nostra, and while that would normally grate on my nerves, I liked Isabella’s harsh edges.Goddamnit, it had been too long since I’d fucked her.

“Isabella, this is Gia Bianchi. She’ll be staying with us for a few weeks.”

“Why?” The word came out like a rock being lobbied into the middle of the dining room.

“All you need to know is that she’s here,” I said. “The rest of it doesn’t concern you.”

I didn’t have to look at Gia to know that she was smiling; she probably felt as if she’d won something. My eyes were steady on Isabella: I expected for her to pout and leave the room. Instead, Isabella let out a softohand nodded. “Understood,” she said. Elio came through the butler’s pantry, wincing when I glared at him, but before I could say anything about him bringing Isabella home too early, she said, “I know I rushed us home, but do you think you’d want to go back out?”

Elio stared at her, stricken. “Back out?”

Isabella nodded. “Yeah. You know Cristian’s parish, right?”

Something mean and ugly gripped my chest. “What do you need with my brother?”

She barely glanced my way. “I was going to ask him to hear my confession the last time he was here, but he disappeared so quickly that I didn’t get a chance. Can you take me?”

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