Page 8 of Beneath the Sapphire Sky

A breeze washed over him and he felt the blanket move. He looked out from under one hand to see Raphael sitting beside him.

“That was spectacularly well done—if your intention was to chase her away.”

Dante’s breath caught. He shoved his hands beneath his head to pretend nonchalance.

“What are you talking about?”

Raph chuckled and kept looking ahead toward the river. “You might be able to fool Belle with your grumpy friend act, but you’re forgetting I’m older than you, and I’ve seen it all.” His eyes narrowed and he looked down at Dante. “And don’t think for a moment that you having the hots for her is going to stop me from asking her out. Brother or not.”

All Dante’s blood rushed from his head and pooled somewhere deep in his belly. How could Raph possibly know that?

“Stop looking so shocked. You’re not the first guy to have a crush on his friend. If you haven’t made a move by now, that’s on you, not me.” Raph shook his head. “For the record, I think you’re crazy. She’s gorgeous. Little Isabel, all grown up.”

Dante shoved himself up and faced Raph, furious. “You’ve been home less thanfive minutes! Stay the hell away from her. She doesn’t need Raphael the European Gigolo hitting on her.You don’t hang around for more time than it takes to get in their pants. You’renotdoing that to her. I won’t let you.”

To his horror, Raph leaned back on his elbows and grinned at him. “I knew you were interested, just not how much.” His eyes narrowed. “Don’t you think that part is up to her? If she wants me, that is.”

Dante gritted his teeth and tried to breathe it out, when what he really wanted was to wipe the smug look off his brother’s face.

“Of course it’s up to her. But that doesn’t mean I won’t try to talk her out of it.”

Raph stood up and bowed, mockery dripping from every pore of his body. “Might help if you actually got off your ass and did something about your own attraction, but hey, who am I to judge?”

Dante glared at Raph as he stripped off his shirt and called out to Belle and Ria, joining them in the water.

He’d be damned if he’d let Raph hurt Belle, damned if he’d let him anywhere near her.

But that meant he’d have to let her knowwhy.

He flopped back onto the picnic blanket and groaned. Belle’s friendship was the last thing he wanted to risk losing. Which left him right where he started.

“Damn you, Raphael. Damn you to hell.”

*

“Can you throwme my shorts, Dan?”

Dante glanced around, halfway through scruffing his hair dry with his towel. He swiped at the water dripping down his neck and grabbed Belle’s cut-off jean shorts.

He straightened and something fluttered down beside his leg. He whistled and tossed the shorts at Belle, who’d faced awayfrom him, talking to his sister, then bent to retrieve what looked like an envelope folded in half.

A London stamp?

He unfolded it and gasped. The distinctive Court of Master Sommeliers red logo stared up at him from the corner.

Holy…

“Belle …?”

She glanced at him, then down at his hand. She patted her pocket, her face paling.

He flipped the envelope over. Unopened. The seal was still intact.

“Why haven’t you opened this? Is it your results?”

She’d undertaken the Advanced Sommelier testing only weeks earlier, down in Sydney. A test available only once every two years in Australia.

This was huge.

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