Page 82 of The Art of You

“I already texted two of our guys to follow him.”

Thank God. I clutched the blanket tighter, shivering again, but grateful Constantine had provided me with the right answer.

My brothers put their silent communication skills to work. Before I knew it, Alessandro was heading inside with Enzo following behind him.

So, you want a word with me alone, huh?

Once it was just the two of us, and the sniper on the roof of course, Constantine closed the space between us.

I scrunched my nose with displeasure. “Another lecture coming?”

“No, but will you accept an apology?”

The blanket fell from my shoulders, but he had fast hands, quickly reaching out to fix it.

“You want to do this now, even with everything going on?” I was fine with postponing talking about him walking in on us in bed until February 30th.

“I do. I need your head clear, same as Hudson’s.”

I supposed he had a point. “What do you want to apologize for?”

“Well, a lot of things, but let’s start with this morning.” His jaw shifted to the side, clearly uncomfortable with bringing up the fact Hudson had been on top of me. “Then rewind to what I said to you yesterday. I didn’t know all the facts, and I gave you bad advice.” He exhaled heavily, stalling. “I’m not sorry for running off all the dickheads you dated in the past, though.” He shrugged. “They weren’t right for you, and you know it.”

Okay, what are you getting at?My heart wasflying. Like right up into my ears now. I could barely hear the sounds of the waves in the distance anymore.

“Bianca never felt comfortable confiding in me about who she loved and?—”

“She didn’t tell any of us.” I had to stop him right there. I’d had the same guilty thoughts, and I wasn’t going to let him go to that dark place. Nope. No way. “I know where you’re going with this, but the choice she made to keep us in the dark is not on you. Or me.”

It took me a long time and tons of therapy to accept that after learning that Bianca had been in love with someone forbidden. I hadn’t realized Constantine had been simmering in the same thoughts, but without an outlet to help him face the truth.

“Look at me.” My turn to play the parent between us siblings. I reached for his forearm, letting the blanket fall as I took a lesson from Hudson’s book on punctuating words for maximum effect. “Not. Your. Fault.”

“I don’t want to push you away like I did her. I was overprotective with the men in her life, too. You know it, don’t argue with me. I’m sure she vented to you a time or two about me, even if you were only a teenager.” He refused to meet my eyes, his accent thickening more than normal as he continued. “And I’ve unintentionally been pushing you away by not letting you fall and get back up on your own.”

I sighed while fighting back tears. “You and Alessandro. Just big teddy bears. Terrifying ones when it comes to bad guys, but . . .”

I pulled my brother in for a hug, since he’d never admit he needed one. He was always the giver of advice and hugs, never asking for anything in return. I was beginning to wonder if he truly didn’t know how to ask. “You’re not pushing me away, I promise.”

“Well, I’m going to try and do better. And if Hudson is who you want to be with, I won’t stand in the way. In fact,” he said while pulling back to look at me, “I’d happily support you two if you were to ever do the whole, uh, thing.”

I blinked back tears. “The thing, huh?”

He scowled, and it was adorable. “Theweddingthing. I forgot English for a second.”

“Sure you did,” I said with a chuckle, unable to hold it in. “You tell Hudson this?”

He let go of me and stepped back, a hand resting on the nape of his neck. “I did.”

This was the definition of leaf turning. Who’d have thought our case would result in something good. “You threaten him with bodily harm if he breaks my heart?” I challenged, checking to see if he really was prepared to flip the page.

The side of his lip lifted. “No need.” His mouth became a hard flat line a moment later, though. “But do I need to have a word with your ex? Don’t think I forgot about that.”

I hung my head. “No words needed. Or arms broken. Or anything, okay?”

“Then look me in the eyes and tell me he never laid a hand on you.” There was the other bear, the non-cuddly one. The one that would rip a man apart for hurting me.

“I can’t do that,” I whispered. “But I will ask you to trust me when I say Pablo needs help, not an ass kicking, and he’s getting it now in rehab.”

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