Page 66 of Sinister Intentions

It wasn’t rare for my brothers to tease me like this. But usually—at least around strangers—they at least faked respect. The same way they did with our father.

Tonight, they seemed to have no such reservations.

Dante leaned forward, his elbows on the table. “So, Jemma. Do you stalk people for business or pleasure?”

I glared at Dante, but Jemma didn’t seem to be caught off guard. “A little bit of both, to be honest. But after I witnessed Vince shaking his booty for a man in the middle of the street, I just couldn’t hold myself back.”

Suddenly, all eyes were on me while I stared at her. She did not just say that in front of everyone, did she?

She raised an eyebrow and smiled while she held my gaze. Her eyes sparked with the challenge.

“I should be able to shake my booty at whoever and wherever I want without picking up a stalker. Thank you very much.”

I could feel my brothers staring at me but kept my focus solely on Jemma. She still had her ball cap on but had left her wig back at my apartment.

And nobody had seemed surprised by that. Apparently, Fee and Alex had known about her disguise, but what about Matt?

Not that her hairstyle changed anything. She was beautiful. Full stop.

“Now I see what you meant,” Dante said, and Matt chuckled. “Apparently, plowing through each other’s boundaries and getting physical with each other creates a very unique bond,” Matt said.

Jemma narrowed her eyes but then laughed. “Torture, hate, stalking, theft, murder—it’s all in the same category,” she said, not backing down an inch.

“You forgot dismemberment,” Alex threw in, and Fee stared at him.

Hero laughed. “How did you create your very special bond?” he asked Fee.

“She bad-mouthed me behind my back,” Alex said with a fond smile plastered on his face.

“You threatened to put me over your knee first,” Fee replied.

I looked from Fee to Jemma to see her reaction. She didn’t seem taken aback at all—the opposite, really.

There was a spark of interest in her eyes. A spark I would love to explore more.

Fuck. No. What was I thinking? A spark to explore? Absolutely not.

“So, basically, it was hate at first sight, which slowly transformed into the greatest love story of all times,” Matt said with a sigh. “You should’ve seen them bickering. It was epic.”

He suddenly turned his head from looking at Fee and Alex to directly at me. He waggled his eyebrows and grinned.

I glared at him, but before I could put him in his place, the dining room door swung open, and Petra entered, followed by a small army of staff carrying platters of food.

As the meal was served, the conversation shifted, but I couldn’t help but steal glances at Jemma throughout the evening.

She seemed completely at ease, laughing and chatting with my brothers. But every time our eyes met, that laughter disappeared from her expression, a reminder of all that stood between us.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Iwatched the Salvini brothers bicker and tease each other, which was kind of nice and surreal at the same time.

I had always heard how the Italians were nothing more than uptight bastards with designer suits, big egos, and zero chills.

But Vince, Matt, Hero, and Dante didn’t seem uptight. They didn’t seem so bad at all.

And they all were objectively gorgeous.

Who would’ve thought those Michelangelo statues were actually factually based on reality? At least, the Salvinis must’ve had some amazing genes.

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