Page 61 of Seduced By the Enemy

“Fine,” she lied, tone clipped, before transferring her attention back to Harper. “What’s new with you,principessa? Got anything you want to show me in your room?”

“Great idea,” Skye enthused, clearly seeing Emilia needed a moment. “Why don’t you two go have a chat while I finish dinner.”

“I hope you didn’t go to too much trouble,” Emme said. “I really won’t stay long.”

Skye held her hand out and squeezed Emme’s. “There’s no such thing as too much trouble for you. Is there, darling?” The question was aimed at Leandro.

Emilia flicked a glance at him as he said, “We’re glad to have you.”

She ground her teeth, anger with her brother growing. It wasn’t his fault that Salvatore had fallen out of love with her. It wasn’t his fault that he’d been right. But she should never have had to navigate that alone. She should have been able to turn to her family in the midst of her heartbreak and lean on them. Rather than feeling herself to be utterly and completely alone in the world.

Thanks to Harper, she managed to make it through the dinner. It was easy to make conversation with a little person at the table, and they all seemed to employ the same tactic. At Harper’s bedtime, Skye stood to take the little girl to her room, which Emilia took to be her cue to leave. She’d gotten through dinner, but she wasn’t going to stay and be alone with her brother. She couldn’t bear it.

Every time she looked at him, she remembered the way he was with Salvatore, and wanted to explode with rage. That he could hurt the man she loved…it all felt so wrong.

“Thank you for dinner,” she said, stiffly.

“Our parents send their love,” he said, as she walked towards the door.

Her heart trembled, and she whirled around. “Please, don’t.”

He frowned reflexively. “Don’t what?”

“Don’t pass on messages for them. They have my number.”

“Emme, you know why they aren’t using it.”

She sniffed and looked sideways. “Yes, I noticed none of you contacted me for my birthday. Thank you so much for that.”

His jaw tightened as he ground his teeth. “What did you expect?”

“A little support. Unconditional love. How foolish I was.”

“All love has conditions—you know the Santoros are a hard line for us. They always have been.”

She jerked her face away, sucking in a sharp breath at hearing even Salvatore’s last name. Her whole stomach contracted as though she’d been winded. “So, what? You beat him up? Kick me out of the family? Take my charities away, for God’s sake? My project in Moricosia, when you know I worked damn hard for that.”

He closed his eyes, and she thought she saw regret in his features. But none of that mattered, anymore. The personal betrayals were the hardest of all to accept.

“He’s the only man I’ve ever loved,” she whispered. “Did you even think, for one second, what you would have done in my situation?”

He stared at her blankly.

“If Skye and Harper had been Santoros, would you have walked away from them?”

He took a step forward. “Yes. I would have walked away before it got out of hand.”

“I don’t believe you. Iknowhow you and Skye met. I know how instantly you fell for her. I think even from that first night, you would have put your life on the line for her. That’s how love works.”

“And how did that work out for you? Salvatore turned out to be everything we said—that’s not love. You think it is, but you’re wrong. One day, you’ll meet someone who loves you back, and you’ll know we were right. Trust me, Emme. This is for the best.”

Her heart splintered apart, the grief so sudden and deep that she couldn’t think of a single thing to say. She simply shook her head and stepped into the waiting elevator. She stared out at Leandro wordlessly, with no idea if she’d ever be able to see him again. A single tear rolled down her cheek.

“Emme,” he groaned, moving forward, but she held up a hand to still him.

“Just don’t,” she whispered. “I don’t need this.” She sucked in a deep breath. “I don’t need you.”

It didn’t even occur to her to wonder how he’d known about her breakup. She was too busy being swaddled back up in the desolation that had become a part and parcel of her very soul.

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