Page 14 of His UnBearable Touch

“He’s just-”

“Concerned for my wellbeing, I know, but if Salvatore keeps hovering over me, he’s going to be the one in pain.”

“I don’t hover.”

Valerio shook his head, laughing at the indignant tone in his brother’s voice. He gave Natale’s upper arm a gentle squeeze.

“And get your hands off my mate.”

Lifting his hands up in the air, Valerio turned, putting the skyline at his back before lowering his arms back down to his sides. “I would have thought the two of you would be in your bedroom by now. Leave me to my worries on my own.”

That caught Natale’s attention, and the woman that he’d come to see as his sister stepped closer and set her hand on his arm. “What are you worried about?”

Salvatore’s eyes narrowed at him, turning a little more black than human. “You checked her apartment security.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement of fact.

“Every corner of her apartment. The entry and emergency doors all over the building.”

Natale’s smile was as indulgent as her sigh. “I’m surprised you didn’t bring her here to stay.”

“She wanted to go home.”

The eldest Orsino grumbled back. “You could have stayed with her-”

“Salvatore,” Natale’s tone was loving but firm.

“I didn’t let you stay alone-”

“You didn’t listen to my wishes.”

“Your safety was more important than your wishes-”

“Oh?” Natale’s eyes opened wider, a flare of movement.

Valerio took a step back and leaned against the glass, not bothering to hide the smile on his lips.

“So that’s how you’re going to explain it?”

Salvatore shrugged his shoulders and Valerio watched Natale draw in a deep, steadying breath as her eyes darkened.

“That’s all that matters to me, Principessa.”

“And I say he did the right thing. If Allegra wanted to go back to her apartment, it’s her right. After all, you said the man in the subway went after her because of the opportunity, not because she was a specific target.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Salvatore’s voice didn’t allow for an argument, “any danger to our mates is unacceptable. Valerio should either bring her back here or he should remain with her. That is how it should be done and-”

“That would be the worst thing he could do,” Natale’s words were almost an entreaty, soft and gentle in the face of Salvatore’s demand. “She isn’t blind from an illness or nature, my love. Someone took her sight and she’s had to learn to do everything all over again. She has fought for her independence and if Val were to demand that she give it up now, he would be taking more from her than he would be giving her.”

“The danger,” Salvatore looked at him and Valerio understood the love in his brother’s eyes, “the danger isn’t just for her now. If you lose her. If she is taken from you…” Salvatore’s voice was a rough scratch of sound dragged from his throat. “I nearly lost Natale to a jealous heart and if I had,” he wrapped his hand around her wrist and drew her tight against his larger form, “I would not have recovered.”

“I won’t lose Allegra,” Valerio felt his heart constrict with worry, “but I will not take from her what she is not willing to give me.” Valerio’s worry sent chills through his spine. “I would lose as much as you, Salvatore,” he insisted, “but I would not have the joy that you have shared with Natale before that loss. Do not mistake my willingness to make her happy for a lack of concern. She is just as precious to me as Natale is to you.”

Natale was between them, in both her position in the room and her heart. “It’s late,” she insisted, “Val needs to get some sleep so he can be there in the morning.” She turned to look at him across the room and he knew she could see the smile that touched the corners of his mouth. “You have made arrangements to take her to her rehearsal?”

Valerio nodded and enjoyed Natale’s answering laugh before she turned to his brother.

“And you and I need to get to bed.”

Salvatore’s concern shifted to his mate, as it always did. “Are you so very tired, Natale?” His hand cupped her cheek as he looked into her warm eyes, reminding Valerio of what he had to look forward to with his own mate.

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