Page 3 of The Last Vendetta

Please, don’t see me. Please, please, don’t bother me. Just go away, out there, and do what you have to without making me give up this spot.

The couple didn’t pause, sneaking out of the party to get into the gardens down below. They didn’t spot me, but I caught enough of a glimpse as they went down the steps to the side.

Bernardi. I grimaced in annoyance.

While it would’ve been extremely scandalous to catch Luke Bernardi stepping away from his wedding reception to hook up with a server working at it, I wasn’t even surprised to see his younger brother chasing a young woman out like this.

Renzo Bernardi was the spare brother. The second born. In other words, useless to carry on the Bernardi bloodline. He knew it too, and he exploited his freedom.

A player. A partier. A loose daredevil of a wealthy man who didn’t have to work or meet his father’s expectations. I imagined Giovanni Bernardi hardly cared what his second son did. And I bet Luka envied Renzo’s easygoing lifestyle, sans obligations.

I was jealous myself. Being a man in our world was a blessing, autonomy and the permission to make their own choices. It sounded like a dream, and it was one this lazy punk took for granted.

He followed the server, his gaze latched on her ass as she hurried ahead of him. She held his hand, luring him out of the party area, and he tagged along behind. He wasn’t grinning and excited like she was when she looked over his shoulder at him. If anything, he almost seemed bored. Like taking this employee out here for a quickie was just another thing to do. Just another way to pass the time.

His suit stretched and pulled over his muscled physique, but under the moonlight, I had plenty of illumination to really see him. Tall but not bulky. Strong but not beefy. I stared at the sexy man who was off-limits. Admitting my appreciation of Renzo Bernardi would be akin to saying I cared for the enemy. Acardis and Bernardis would never mix. That rule had been imprinted in my mind since I was young.

Still, there was no law against appreciating eye candy. I didn’t see how wrong it was to simply admire a powerful, handsome man—especially in this rare moment when he wasn’t aware that I spied on him.

Until he found me.

He suddenly glanced over while following the server, but the chase was over. His blue eyes lit up under the slash of light that cut through the nightscape from the many windows behind us. Lower, but not out of sight, he happened to notice me peering at him from above.

They’d reached the middle tier of the elaborate courtyard entrance, one level below me.

But his focus was no longer on the easy piece of ass he’d come out here to enjoy.

Over and over again, he glanced up at me, stuck on smirking at me for hiding away from the party.

Dammit. So much for a peaceful moment.

“Oh. You want to stop here?” The server giggled, reaching for his pants and kissing up his neck. “That’s fine.”

He let her reach for his buckle but stood there unimpressed with her lips on his skin.

Still, he glanced up at me with something like a naughty smile curving his mouth upward.

I rolled my eyes, irked that such an attractive man had to be such a playboy ass. Not bothering to look away, I flipped him off. Thanks for ruining my quiet, peaceful moment. Cut too short. As expected.

He grinned, only now reaching for the server’s hands and breaking away from her. “Actually, never mind.”

“What?” She pouted, lifting her hands to grab the back of his neck. “No. Come on. Right here is fine for me.” Her fingers locked on his wrist as she tugged his hand to lay over her breast.

“No. No thanks.” He stepped back again.

“But I?—”

“No,” he repeated, firmly, as he spun her around and then shoved her shoulder to get her going.

She glared at him over her shoulder. “But?—”

“Get back to work,” he ordered as he walked across the patio, away from her and toward the other set of stairs.

Yeah, please leave. Both of you.

I ground my teeth, watching as the girl sulked off to exit up the stairs she’d just tugged him down. At the same time, he leisurely climbed the other set.

As though he wanted to approach me.

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