Page 29 of A Son Hidden from the Sicilian

She frowned at him, though she did not scold him for violating her privacy. Itwashis house after all.

He looked her up and down, something flaring in his eyes that had heat pooling in her belly. When his dark eyes met hers again, there was an intensity there that she felt burn through her.

Not here. Not now. You cannot keep doing this, Brianna. She told herself this, over and over again, but she knew...all it would take was a touch. That was how weak she was. If there was a way to fight that, she hadn’t found it.

“I’ll go with you.”

He said it so...fiercely her heart tripped over itself. And worse, she felt that sensual haze threaten to invade her brain. But she was reminded of his plan to bring adate, and that was just enough figurative cold water to remind herself how to behave.

“Lorenzo, you made it very clear you do not wish us to be seen together. I do not see why you would come with me when you’ve made other plans.”

“You cannot wear that and...”

She raised an eyebrow when he didn’t finish, standing in her doorway looking like a storm. “And what?” she asked, looking down at the deep red, one-shouldered dress that hugged her curves in a very flattering manner. She felt like a goddess in this dress.

His expression was hard, but his eyes glittered with that samelustthey had almost acted on yesterday in his office.

You cannot give in to that, Brianna. Not tonight. Not without him admitting some feelings.Not withouthimgiving an inch or two.

She considered that. Did hehavefeelings for her?Couldhe? It was thecouldthat had her turning to face him fully. That had her asking the one thing she hadn’t asked yet. “Can you answer me one thing? Truthfully?”

“I suppose that depends.”

“Why did you leave me the way that you did two years ago? Snuck away in the middle of the night like a coward when I know you aren’t one.” His expression hardened even more at the wordcoward. “No word. No explanation.”

His mouth got very stern. “Because the relationship had run its course.”

“And that didn’t warrant a discussion? Because that might have beenyourconclusion, but it wasn’t mine.Iwas blindsided.”

“I have no use for postmortems, Brianna. I am a busy man. I had business to attend to in Palermo and did not have time to deal with hysterical women in Florence.”

She should not find that funny. It should be so arrogant and offensive, the way he said it with such complete authority. Like of course she’d be hysterical. “Do most women you break things off with rend garments, wailing at your feet and carrying on?”

His mouth curved, ever so slightly at the corner. All dark amusement. “You would be surprised,dusci.”

She tried not to scowl or smile and just remain neutral, but, oh, the man was arrogant. And probably right. Worse, she didn’t know how she might have behaved if he’d broken things off to her face. She had been young and naive and desperately in love with him. She’d love to believe her pride would have seen her through, but...well, best not to dwell on it. Whatwouldhave been did not matter in the here and now.

“You know, there was quite a lot of time to think when I was pregnant. To go over it in my head. I came up with all sorts of reasons for why you left.”

“Do you not have an event to get to?” he returned coolly. But that arrogant quirk of the mouth was gone. Like she’d gotten to him. Like this conversation might make himuncomfortable.

The thought emboldened her. “You know, some men leave their partners because they are scared by the depth and breadth of their feelings.”

If possible, his expression got even more remote. He voiced no admissions, no denials. Just cool disdain.

Brianna had to wonder if that was an answer in it of itself. Her heart twisted in a hope she knew was foolish but couldn’t quash. So she continued on, wanting to find some chink in his armor of stoicism. “They can’t handle how much they’ve come to care for and rely on the person, so they leave. Disappear.” And of coursesomemen were just assholes, but she wasn’t trying to make that point in the moment.

Because she didn’t think he was one, even when he wanted to be. Not to other people. The man might hide it, but he cared too much aboutpeople.

Still, she expected his response to be a laugh. A cruel joke. Something scathing enough that she’d stop talking about it. She expected him to put her very firmly in her place.

But he only turned and left, and Brianna...didn’t have the first clue what to do with that.

Lorenzo didn’t often attend events alone. He had a small group of women who were happy to accompany him anywhere at a moment’s notice just to be seen on his arm or get into an exclusive event they might not have received an invite to. This group of women didn’t get ideas, and he did not see “dates” with them as anything more than a business arrangement.

Neither did they.

These women never spoke of feelings. They never pressed for more. They were in it to boost their profiles and nothing more. He preferred these kinds of dates for business events, and this tonight was business. Maybe not in the traditional sense, but in the sense that he had to think of it like business.

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