Page 36 of His to Honor

Shaking my head at my cousin’s crudeness, I make my way out of the restaurant and along the corridor. Livvy is just coming out of the ladies’ room. Her eyes are red-rimmed. She stops dead when she sees me. She looks over her shoulder at the door tothe restroom as if considering fleeing. I stride toward her quickly and pull her into a hug.

“Nobody hates you, Livvy.” I pull back so I can see her face. “You know I only sent you to Damiano to keep you safe.”

“Yeah, I know, but Antonio…”

“He loves you, too, Livvy. He just…”

I have no excuse for the way Antonio is with Livvy. Being busy, having the weight of the world on his shoulders is no excuse for him washing his hands of her the way he has. In the past few weeks as he’s bombarded me with messages asking, then ordering me to come home, he’s barely asked about our sister.

“It’s okay, Matteo. You don’t have to make excuses for him. But it’s not just Antonio, it’s Leo, Alessandro, and Mamma too. When they found out about the photos, they didn’t even want to hear me out. It just confirmed what they already thought about me.”

“Mamma loves you.” There’s no point trying to sell her the idea that Leo cares for her because she won’t believe it. “And Alessandro.”

“Mamma’s disappointed in me.” Livvy swipes at the tears forming in her eyes. “She doesn’t want me embarrassing her in front of Boris Reznov.”

Sensing we’re heading toward an emotional conversation I’m not equipped to deal with, I seize upon the chance to change the subject. “Speaking of Reznovs, do you need me to deal with Piotr?”

Livvy barks out a laugh. She knows damned fine I’m steering us away from a discussion about her feelings. “No.”

“You really think you can deal with him?”

Her cheeks redden. “I can deal with him just fine.”

“He’s ruthless, Liv. When he wants something, he gets it.”

Livvy’s blush deepens. “I know.”

“Really?” I fix a suspicious eye on her. “Has something happened between you two?”

Livvy shakes her head. “Not yet.”

“What do you mean, not yet?”

Shaking her head, my sister clears her throat and does what I did a moment ago. She veers away from a tricky conversation. “So, you’re with Giulia Lombardi?”

I was going to tell her not to dodge my question, but her use of Giulia’s married name makes me grit my teeth. “Costanza.”

Livvy rolls her eyes. “She was married to him. You can’t ignore the fact.”

“They were married for all of five fucking minutes and nothing happened.”

“Ooh, the black widow was a virgin until you came along.”

I purse my lips. “Behave, Olivia. What happened between Giulia and Johnny is her business and nobody else’s.”

“Oh, it’s Olivia now. I am in trouble.” She threads her arm through mine and steers me back toward the restaurant. “Don’t worry, Matteo. I won’t say a word. I like you and Giulia together.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, you’re obviously happier with her in your life. I mean, you look ten years younger since she arrived.”

I raise an eyebrow at that. “I look fifteen?”

“No, dumbass, you look forty. Before she arrived, you’d have passed for a fifty-year-old.”

I growl my displeasure, but really I’m pleased that Livvy’s teasing me again. We don’t do heartfelt discussions and apologies, but we do mess with each other as a way of showing our affection.

“Where is everyone?” Livvy asks as we approach our now vacant table.

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