Page 50 of Auctioned To Her Dad's Mafia Enemies

I raise an eyebrow. “Stockholm Syndrome canwork both ways, you know.”

Antonio smirks, but Luca only studies me, hisexpression unreadable. “You don’t seem like someone who breaks easily.”

I set my fork down, choosing my wordscarefully. “Maybe I’m just smart enough to know when to bend.”

Silence lingers, thick with an unnamabletension. Then Alexis claps his hands together. “Well, in that case, I’mexpecting lunch in exactly three hours.”

Antonio rolls his eyes, Luca shakes his head,and I just laugh. But beneath it all, something unspoken simmers between us,something shifting, changing, pulling us toward a line none of us are ready tocross. Yet.

22

ALEXIS

THE BEGGING TYPE

I stick around to wash the dishes, not becauseI like getting my hands wet because I don’t, but because I want to catch amoment with Aemelia alone. Antonio disappears into the shower, and Luca headsoutside to take breakfast to the men stationed there. The two currently passedout upstairs will be up in time for lunch, but for now, it’s just the two ofus.

She watches me soap the greasy pan, armsfolded, head tilted, her dark eyes filled with amusement. “You know, I didn’tthink big bad mafioso like Alexis Venturi washed his own dishes.”

“We don’t.” I pass her the rinsed dish,watching as she takes it from me, her fingers brushing mine for the briefestmoment. I’m shirtless, and her eyes drift over my body like trailing fingers,lingering on the tattoos and scars that mark my skin like a history of sins.“Unless the circumstances demand it. A man has to be ready for anything—war,love, washing dishes.”

She snorts, shaking her head. “That’s aninteresting combination of things to be ready for.”

“And I’m ready for all of them.”

Her lips twitch, but she fights a smile. “Ican see it with the first and last, but love?”

I turn toward her and catch her biting her liplike she’s enjoying herself a little more than she’d like. “You don’t think I’mready for love.”

“Your reputation precedes you.” Her eyes flickup to meet mine, dark and full of challenge. “I’ve heard about your body count,and I don’t mean the corpse kind.”

I smirk, drying my hands on a dishcloth,amused that even a girl from Maryland has somehow discovered my sexual prowess.“Sometimes they’re like corpses after I’ve fucked their brains out.”

She barks a laugh, shaking her head as shetucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear—a flirtatious move whether she’sconscious of it or not.

“So, I wanted to ask you something.”

She leans in a little closer, her scentwrapping around me, laced with something sweet and familiar. I let my gaze dropto her bare legs, exposed by the short hem of Antonio’s sweater. It shouldbother me, the fact that she’s wearing something of his, but strangely, itdoesn’t.

“What?”

“What does a guy have to do around here to geta kiss?”

She blinks her dark eyes, her lips partingslightly in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I know you had a little something withAntonio,” I murmur, taking a slow step closer. “And last night, I saw you kissLuca. And I’m over here feeling like a chump.”

“A chump?” She laughs, turning away as colorpaints the sweet apples of her cheeks, a perfect contrast to the coolconfidence she usually wears like armor.

“What the hell did Luca do to get you all softand needy?”

“I’m not soft and needy.”

“No?” I challenge, my smirk widening.

“Well…” She hesitates, then exhales. “Maybesometimes.” Her reluctance to admit it makes it obvious she doesn’t likefeeling that way.

“So…”

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