Page 37 of Where Wild Hearts Dance
“And…”
I drag my gaze back to hers and see she’s watching me, each puff of breath lifting the strands of hair that have fallen over her eyes. She’s standing defiantly on the step but her gaze has softened, which only makes her next words sting.
“…you don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t wear. I can wear whatever I want. Even ‘next to nothing.’”
She turns slowly and walks back out to the terrace, her slim hips swaying. I was right about her ass. It’sdevouringthe piece of cotton between her cheeks.
I can’t do anything but stand and stare after her, hoping that whatever lava is brewing in my belly settles before I tear this fucking place apart.
Contessa
I lay back on the lounger, my heart beating through the wall of my chest. Adrenaline is raging through my veins, through my bones. I can’t believe I just spoke to Bernadi that way. I can’t believe I just stripped off my bikini top in front of him. If Cristiano saw me doing that he’d probably banish me from the house. I’d be branded a slut, especially when everyone discovers I’m not the virgin they all assume I am.
After five years of being helicopter-parented, told I can’t do this, can’t do that, and being chaperoned everywhere, I’ve grown somewhat allergic to being told what to do. Sure, I apply some flexibility to Papa and Allegra, but not my sisters anymore, nor my tutors to a reasonable extent, and certainly not consiglieres to mafia bosses who seem to thinkthey own me. And even though a week has passed, the humiliation of Fed’s rejection still burns, and seeing as he’s not here for me to direct all my shame-filled fury at, Bernadi is going to be on the receiving end instead.
The sun to my right is suddenly blocked out and I look up just as a fluffy towel and my Cartier watch is dropped onto my stomach.
Bernadi is standing over me, fists curled, face like thunder.
“What’s your problem?” he growls.
My heart thumps at the base of my throat. I thought I’d had the last word, or at least shocked him enough to keep him at arm’s length for a little while. I hadn’t expected him to follow me out to the terrace.
I’m about to yank off the towel when his tone thaws. “Leave it… Just while we speak.”
I realize he doesn’t want the distraction of my naked breasts and I flush. But I’m not thawing that easily.
“You,” I snap, feeling an untethered thread of anger wind its way up my throat. “You’remy problem.”
“Fine.” He holds his hands up. “Wear whatever the hell you want. See what Cristiano has to say about it.”
“It’s not about the clothes.” I turn and glare at the pool, heaving out hard breaths and feeling a tide of pent-up outrage swelling inside my chest.
“I’m not moving out of the office,” he warns.
“I don’t care about your damn office.” My voice has thinned like a blade. He’s done it. The man has managed to wind me up until I can’t hold back the truth anymore.He needs to know why I hate him. Then, maybe, he’ll leave me the fuck alone.
“Then what is it, Castellano? Because I can’t take any more of your petulance.” He spits out the ‘p’ and that does it.
I leap to my feet and the towel falls to the floor. “You want to know what my problem is? I lost myvirginitybecause of you!” I yell.
He steps backward, his solid legs sending the lounger behind him flying across the terrace.
His eyes blacken slowly and he releases a growled whisper. “What?”
I take a step toward him with gritted teeth. “You shut down the Falconis,” I say, seething behind a clenched jaw. “Youruinedthem…”
“What does your virginity have to do with the Falconis?”
“They took their son to the other side of America.” I take another step forward but he stands his ground, only seeming to solidify more. “He was my best friend and you forced him away.”
He goes to speak but I cut him off. “You asked me what my problem is, Bernadi. My problem is I felt so sorry for Federico that when he asked me to sleep with him, I obliged. You forced him out of his home and Ipitiedhim.”
I shrug my arms to the side. “And now here I am, part of the damn Italian mafia, in which the only currency a woman has is her virginity, and I no longerhave it to give.” I lean in to him and jab his chest, hard, with a pointed finger. “Because ofyou.”
His features darken like thunder and I retreat, wrapping my arms around my chest. Baring the truth has made me feel more naked than losing my top.
When he speaks again, there’s a darkness in his low whisper. “What makes you think I forced him away?”
