Page 52 of Twisted Fate

There is a long silence, so quiet I can hear my heart pounding in my ears.

The next sound surprises me. Damian’s laughter, a rich, full bodied sound that rumbles in his chest and echoes around the room, rhythmic and contagious. It sends a shiver of unexpected pleasure through me. The next moment, Leo and Luca join in, their laughter rolling like waves.

“You shitheads,” Sabina says. “I hate all of you so fucking much.”

She lets out a giggle. Then a snort. Then she goes all in, her laughter bright and sparkling, punctuated by the occasional wheeze or snort.

My lips twitch. I can’t help it. Beside me, Nicole keeps her head down.

“Oh, that’s right,” Sabina says. “You three assholes go ahead and cackle like hyenas after you almost gave me a heart attack.” She smacks Leo’s arm. It only makes him laugh harder.

“As if anyone could make you do something you don’t want to do,” Luca says.

“But the look on your face,” Leo says to his sister, his wide grin making him look like a different man than the one I met when I first arrived.

“Of course, we’ll need to talk to the asshole first,” Damian says after a moment.

“He is not an asshole,” Sabina says primly.

“A long talk that he will not enjoy at all,” Leo says. “But then, if that talk goes well....fuck. If Papa approved, then that’s enough for me. We’ll stop referring to him as the asshole and you can marry him. I’ll even walk you down the damn aisle myself. Okay?”

Sabina runs to him and throws her arms around him, then does the same to Damian.

“I hate you both, but I love you so much!”

“Ditto,” Damian tells her.

Luca watches the exchange with a wistful expression.

Nicole and I share a look, an incredulous one. This isn’t our world. This is the world of the Russos, and we’re just visiting.

Dinner winds down and we settle on the sofas for coffee and after-dinner drinks. Sabina excuses herself for a moment.

“Papa ever mention to you that Roberto asked for Sabina’s hand?” Damian asks Leo.

“No, he did not.” He takes a sip of brandy. “He say anything to you?”

“No, he did not,” Damian replies. “I have to wonder…”

“As do I,” Leo says.

I wonder what they’re wondering, but I don’t dare ask. A moment later, Sabina returns and Luca teases her about being too young to get engaged. The conversation turns to sports, then betting, and I feel like the words the three men use carry undercurrents I can’t understand. I’m mostly quiet, observing. Every so often, I glance up to find Leo watching me with an expression of distaste.

I’m relieved when Damian finishes his drink, leans over and says, “Would you like a tour of the Luciana?”

“I would love a tour.”

We bid the others good night and, taking my hand, Damian leads me out the double glass doors to the deck we crossed earlier.

“This is the aft deck.” He gestures toward twin sets of stairs on either side of the deck. “Those lead down to the swim platform.” I lean forward and catch a glimpse of a large platform with loungers, a table with a sunbrella, and two jet skis off to one side. “The room where we just had drinks is the saloon.”

“Saloon,” I say. “So not a living room.”

“A living room that is called the saloon,” he says.

“What about the room where we had dinner?”

“The dining room,” he says.

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