Page 28 of Isle of Seduction

When I pull away, Giulia’s eyes are wide, her expression one of awe and want, until a shadow falls across her face, and she whispers, “It’s just pretending.” When I turn my head to the side, I see the few people looking at us like we’re the best spectacle they’ve seen all year. My teeth grind together until I can almost pop my jaw.

If she wants to play that game to convince herself nothing more can happen between us, I’ll happily oblige.

Until it won’t be enough anymore.

TWELVE

REMEMBER TO START A FILE WITH ALL HER EXES’ INFO

“You look rested,” my brother remarks when he enters the gym I set up on the property. We share this space, though his little house is a few miles away from my cottage. We vowed to never be away from each other when everything came crumbling down years ago.

I meet him here every morning, but he usually never talks to me during his set.

“And you’re talking.”

“Your wife has that effect on everyone around her.”

Last night, after I brought Giulia back home, Nico and I went back to Carmichael’s home. He squealed like a pig when we blindfolded him and took him to an isolated location so I could just beat the shit out of him. A broken nose was definitely not enough. I’d have killed him, but Nico convinced me to only break bones.

He’s so responsible, you’d almost think he isn’t the enforcer but the head behind our operations. Truth is, we both are.

Carmichael might suspect me, but he won’t have any evidence, and I’m monitoring him very closely.

Nico continues his pull-ups until his skin drips with sweat. The way he ties our night of mayhem back to Giulia means she’s seeping into everyone around her. She’s a fucking siren and everyone in her orbit wants to get close. Even my brother, who barely speaks.

Where I’ve taken an “everyone dies in the end” approach to life and don’t treat much with seriousness, my brother is the total opposite. He won’t talk unless what he has to say is important, weighing his words with care. He hasn’t been in a relationship in forever, if ever, because he wants that person to matter like the rest of our family.

My brother doesn’t do casual, so the fact that he mentions Giulia is a feat in itself.

I push through my routine, running five kilometres on the treadmill before pushing through burpees, handstand pushups, and ending with weighted squats.

I’m stretching when I can’t stand his silence anymore and ask Nico what has been on the tip of my tongue for the past hour. “What did she say to you?”

Nico just shrugs. “Nothing. She’s feisty, ready to fight at every turn.”

“Don’t I know it,” I mumble.

“She isn’t used to peace, even within her own family.”

I frown at that. Nothing she said or showed would make me think that. She’s very close with her cousin Alana. She seems to be the Mary fucking Poppins of the Morettis. Her brother seems to be a complicated issue, but they did text. Only her father hasn’t piped a word about her marriage.

“You think her own family doesn’t respect her?” I ask.

“I don’t know, fratello. She settles when she knows she doesn’t have to fight.”

That catches my attention. And flames nonsensical jealousy. Nico is nothing if not observant and he’s had more chances than I did at doing so. I want to be the one noticing everything about her, but here I am, relying on my best man to do the work for me. He values family above all else. For better or worse, Giulia is family now. Whether she wants it or not, she’ll have his loyalty. And mine.

“Care to elaborate,” I curtly demand.

His lips tip up like he knows something I don’t. “You’ll see.”

I click my tongue, annoyance waking my body up even as my muscles scream for a break. “I’m asking you.”

Nico swats his towel at me while passing on his way to the shower. “Watch her and you’ll see.”

That little shit is taking too much pleasure in keeping her secrets against me. Nico rarely smiles. Only murder and mayhem will get a lift of his lips and it rarely reaches his eyes like it does now.

Giulia’s up to something.

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