Page 51 of Veil of Vengeance

When I turn to look at her with the pjs in my hand, I see that she’s still glaring at me. I shake my head and step toward her.

“Don’t get all worked up over nothing. I slept out there on one of the couches.” That’s a lie’ I barely slept, because she was so sick that she was burning up most of the night, just like the other past five days I have been here. But she doesn’t need to know that. I place the clothes next to her on the bed.

She crosses her arms and tilts her chin up before asking with narrowed eyes, “How do I know that you’re not lying?”

Her question amuses me more than it should, and I feel my lips lifting into a smug smile. “Maybe I am lying, and I slept right next to you inmy bed,” I tease. She wrinkles her nose in a way that makes her look younger than she is. Her face is now less pale with some color bleeding back into her cheeks.

“I’m just fucking with you. The shower is through that door if you want to use it. I’ll be out there, so if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask me.”

With that, I walk out the door and into my living room and plop back onto the couch. I don’t do anything but listen to any sound that indicates that she has decided to use the shower. When I hear a door slamming from inside my bedroom, I turn up the volume of the TV and sit back with my hands behind my head.

After thirty minutes, both Mara and Ma walk into my living room with two trays. One full of fruits and light snacks and the other has a soup bowl with two cups of smoothies. They place both trays on the coffee table in front of me. I give them a grin as I sit up.

“Ma and my precious sister prepared appetizing snacks for me, how sweet?” They don’t look impressed by my fake enthusiasm, and Ma slaps my hand away when I reach for some blueberries.

“Stop it, Emiliano,” she reprimands, and when she spots the shattered glass on the floor, she raises an eyebrow but doesn’t say anything.

I open my mouth to ask her about when she wants to go back to New York, but my bedroom door opening snags our attention. Valentina walks out with her hair wet from the shower. The clothes are big on her, making her look comical. But seeing her in my clothes makes me want to own her body and soul. It’s a jarring feeling to ignore. Ma and Mara both shoot me a look like they can read my mind before heading to her. I can tell they’re fussing over her, but I can’t make out anything.

They keep throwing glances my way before Ma turns on her heel and faces me. “Emiliano, go to your office or somewhere else.”

“Fuck no. This is my room.”

“Oh my God, just get out. You’re being annoying,” Mara whines. With a huff, I give her the finger and get up, grabbing my phone off the table and slipping it into my black jogger pants.

“Try anything, Moretti, and I will not hesitate to skin you alive,” I warn before leaving out the door. Instead of going to my office, I head to the garden, stopping on my way to grab my gardening tools. The weather is surprisingly warm for October as I head out to the backyard.

The wisteria plants cling to the side of the glass door and around the glass windows, snaking up to the second floor of the greenhouse. Unlocking the door, I’m met with the earthy smell of the plants.

The humidity sticks to my skin and my shoes are muffled as I step on the grass from the mosaic pavement. I place the gardening tools on the stone bench next to the fountain, turning the fountain on before surveying the greenhouse, making out the distinct smell of rosemary.

I check on the rosemary shrubs before moving to the thyme and oregano on the right of the fountain, then head up the spiral stairs.

I bend my head as I pass some of the low-hanging lavender flowers. I tend to the wild olive trees, making sure that there aren’t any moths, ants or bacteria eating at the plant. After watering them, I begrudgingly move to the cape bushes, violets, and the bougainvilleas planted on the other side of the greenhouse, opposite of the trees. I water them, ripping out any dry leaves and making sure that I don’t overwater any of the flowers.

By the time I’m done, I sweat drips down my forehead and off my brow. My joggers are dirty at the knees and some dirt has managed to get on my shirt. The sound of footsteps up the metal spiral staircase alert me to the presence of someone else. I don’t turn around, instead taking off one of my gardening gloves to check on the flower petals of the cape bushes.

“You barely go in here after Dad died,” Matteo comments. I grit my teeth.

“I know, Matteo, I don’t need you to remind me.” I get up, turning to face him. “Why aren’t you with Lucio and Romiro?” I ask as I take off my other glove, holding both in my hand as we head to the stairs.

“I didn’t want to go. I needed to get some codes done before going down to New York.”

I let him go ahead of me.

“Right, well, you need to go down there by this evening, or tomorrow, at the latest.”

He doesn’t reply but nods, walking past the fountain and pausing near the door. Crossing his arms over his chest, his eyes are emotionless as usual. I pick up my phone and the gardening tools I had left and move closer to the house.

“I’ve set up the codes and ran the tests. They’ll surpass any security the Russians might have.” He gives me a look before continuing. “I’m going to see Mara and Ma before heading to New York.”

“Don’t drag it out, Matteo. Make sure to call me when you get to New York.”

He nods and we break off at the stairs. I head to the guest wing to take a shower and change into another set of clean clothes.

The room is smaller than mine and has cream walls and a black carpet. With the curtains drawn, the room is shrouded in shadows. I flick the light on and head into the bathroom, quickly washing my hair and moving on to lathering my body until every inch is covered. After rinsing, I dry myself with a towel, realizing I forgot to grab some new clothes. I wrap another towel around my midsection and shoot Victor a text to grab me a change of clothes from my room.

I comb through my hair as I dry it, running my fingers through it every couple of minutes to check if it’s dry enough. As I’m shaving my stubble, I see the bathroom door open and Ginevra slips in, wearing a red robe.

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