Page 40 of Savage Claim

CHAPTER 25

Lorenzo

“What is wrong with Isabella?”

Amalia had just set down my sandwich—she still wasn’t allowed to do any of the major cooking, but she’d argued that she could handle lunch, at the very least—and she paused, surprised. “You’re finally speaking to me, then?”

Things between Amalia and I had been tense since my fight with Elio. Like him, she and I hadn’t had a proper conversation. But for the last two days Isabella had been short-tempered, and while she assured me that she wasn’t upset, that had to be a lie.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d want to talk to me, given everything.”

Amalia snorted and slapped the back of my head. “Stronzo,” she spat without any heat behind it. “Apologize for breaking my husband’s face.”

“Ehh…” She smacked at me again, and I laughed and held her off. “Fine,” I said, “fine, I’m sorry about Elio’s face.”

Her face sobered. “Are you going to say that to him?”

“No, just you.”

She hummed. “Good,” she said. “He’s being an ass, and I told him that I wouldn’t forgive him until he apologized to Isabella.”

“Same,” I agreed and took a bite from my sandwich.Damn, but I missed her making meals. “Doyou know what’s wrong with Isabella?” Amalia’s face twisted. “She’s mad, right?”

She sighed. “She’s trying to figure out how she feels about certain things,” she said as diplomatically as possible.

“What the fuck does that mean?”

Amalia patted my shoulder. “Ask her about it,” she advised me and swept from the room, taking a sandwich with her. Elio had been making himself scarce in the house, not coming down to the kitchen or dining room, and all of our work-related communication happened through Damian.

I finished my lunch in silence, contemplating what had happened to upset Isabella so badly. She had been fine until that visit to the Palazzo. Then, she had gone cold after Nikolai had sent Yulia as a gift.

Was she jealous? That had been the case with Gia, but Yulia wasn’t competition in the same way, so why would she feel that way?

After cleaning up my dishes, I headed back to my office, and I paused when I passed by Sienna’s office. The door was shut, and I knew that it was locked. It had been ever since I’d stopped Isabella from tearing the room to shreds.

Maybe this was part of the problem. Sienna’s presence was still so heavy in the house; maybe it made Isabella feel unsettled.

Maybe it’s time to put it all away, I thought.

“What are you doing?”

I turned. “Is that really the first thing you’re going to say to me?” I asked my cousin. Elio’s face was mottled with purple bruises that were starting to yellow. There was a burst blood vessel in his right eye. “Shit,cugino, you’re a mess.”

Elio snorted. “No kidding? I thought I could rock the ‘fresh corpse’ look.”

I chuckled. “Are you still pissed at me?”

“Yes,” he said without an ounce of hesitation. “But Amalia can’t stand when I eat in our room, so she said I have to apologize.”

He wasn’t actually going to say the words, but I didn't really need them. “Apologize to Isabella, and that will be enough.”

“I can do that.” His eyes flickered back to the closed door. “So, what are you doing?”

“I think it's time I put some things away,” I said.

Elio sucked in a breath, shocked. “Seriously?”

“I want Isabella to know how much she means to me. I don't want Sienna haunting us anymore.”

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