Page 88 of Empire of Temptation

My brothers had the audacity to laugh, but I frowned. Even though Gabriele spoke in Italian, I didn’t appreciate the joke. “Gabriele,” I snapped. “Show some fucking respect.”

He put his hands up apologetically. “Mi dispiace, Papà.” He nodded at Valentina. “Buongiorno, Val.”

“Hi, Gabi.”

“You look beautiful.” He whistled. “The customers are going to swallow their tongues when they see you in that dress.”

“It’s too much, isn’t it?” She bit her lip and looked up at me, her expression full of doubt. “I told you I shouldn’t wear this.”

“No, signorina,” everyone said almost at once. “You should definitely wear that,” Rico finished with.

“Yes, I agree,” Dante added. “You look bellissima.”

“Thank you, but I think I’ll go and grab a sweater.” She gave me her handbag. “Be right back.”

Her heels clicked on the tile as she left the kitchen and went into the hall. My teeth ground together as I carefully placed her handbag on the marble island. Then I wasted no time in closing the distance to my youngest son, my hands curled into fists. Wisely, Gabriele started backing away from me when he saw the look on my face.

“Papà, I was kidding with her.” He darted behind Sergio, putting my brother between us.

Sergio held up a hand to stop me. “Let’s stay calm.”

Reaching over Sergio, I grabbed my son’s shoulder and squeezed hard. “Do not comment on her, capisce? Not on what she’s wearing, not on how she sounds. You are polite and respectful at all times. Am I clear,figlio mio?”

Gabriele winced but didn’t try to pull away. “I understand. I’m sorry.”

“Easy.” Sergio peeled my fingers off Gabriele. “He didn’t mean any harm, Luca.”

I took a step back and straightened the cuffs of my dress shirt. “I’m taking her to work. The three of you, be ready. We will get to work when I return.”

Gabriele grabbed a breakfast roll and his phone, then hurried out of the kitchen. Dante and Rico were quiet, but Sergio said, “Don’t be so hard on him. He’s only sixteen, Luca. He’s a dumb kid and desperate for your approval.”

“I never acted like that at sixteen. Can you imagine if I spoke to one of our father’s girls like that?” My father would’ve had my balls strung up and displayed for the entire town.

“To be fair, you’ve never had a woman sleep over before. We were all caught off guard this morning.”

The clack of a woman’s heels grew louder and we stopped speaking. After I grabbed a breakfast roll off the counter for her, Aldo handed me two travel mugs. “Grazie,” I told him. “Start the car. You’re driving us.”

He nodded and headed for the back door. Valentina came in, a black cardigan sweater pulled over her arms and chest, buttoned high. A crime against humanity, that sweater. “I’m ready,” she told me, taking her new handbag off the counter.

Each of my brothers bade her a polite goodbye and we went out to the car. Once we were settled in the back seat, she took the cappuccino from me. “Why are you mad?”

“I’m not mad.”

She took a sip from the travel mug. “Luca, I have eyes. Gabi said something you didn’t like. What was it?”

I set my jaw and stared out the window. “Don’t worry about it.”

Her small hand landed on my thigh and she smoothed my trousers, almost petting me. “Baby, tell me. I know it was something about me.” She was quiet for a beat and I could almost hear her thinking. “Does he hate the idea of me sleeping over? Is it because of his mom?”

Needing to touch her, I grabbed her hand and threaded our fingers together. “No, nothing like that. But I don’t want to repeat what he said. It doesn’t matter.”

“Did he hear us arguing this morning?”

I didn’t move a muscle, didn’t breathe, because she was so close to the truth.

It turned out she didn’t need any help from me. She was smart and arrived at the answer all on her own.

Her eyes grew wide. “Oh, my god. He heard us . . . oh, my god. That’s it, isn’t it?” Leaning forward, she rubbed her forehead with her one hand. “Holy shit. I want to crawl into a gigantic hole and die.”

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