Page 40 of Untouchable

My eyes snap up from my drink over to him. I couldn’t have heard him right. Did he just say that he is sorry? For what exactly? Because I stopped counting just how many apologies he owed me a long time ago.

“For missing your birthday. For missing all of your birthdays since,” he says as he swirls his glass almost absentmindedly.

“Why did you? I mean, I would hope that you knew me well enough at the time to know just how much it would hurt me to do what you did. So, you either didn’t know me as well as I thought, or you chose to intentionally hurt me. Which is it?”

“I have never wanted to hurt you,” he says hoarsely, his head now hanging between his shoulders, seemingly doing everything he can to avoid my eyes.

I can tell that the alcohol has kicked in for him. He was never able to look me in the eye when he was drinking. Some moral bullshit about him never wanting me to see him like that. All of the times that I have ever seen Alessandro drink more than a glass or two he also becomes bluntly honest. Maybe I should have gotten him drunk years ago.

“Well, you did, and you continue to, over and over and over again. Alessandro, whether you realize it or not you broke my damn heart that night an-”

“Good thing Aiden was there to pick up the pieces just like that, huh?” He says as he snaps his fingers.

“No,” I shout as I shake my head and set my drink down. “You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to raise my hopes up about there being something more between us, completely blow me off and shut me out without a single explanation andthenget pissed that I havetriedto move on.”

“Tried?” Alessandro scoffs. “Looks like you are well past moved on,Princess. In case you didn’t pick up on the glaringly obvious hints, he was going to propose to you on this trip. No doubt you would have said yes. Then you guys would get married, have 2.5 kids and live happily ever after. What part of that doesn’t sound like you have moved on?”

His words are like a slap in the face. He doesn’t even have a clue what I felt for him, what I am feeling for him still to this day or my conflictions over Aiden. He isn’t my friend anymore, of course he doesn’t know. He isn’t even an acquaintance. For years we have practically been enemies.

Having enough of his shit, I pick up my glass, drain it in one gulp, stand up and storm away. I make my way around the coffee table and am halfway past the couch when Alessandro’s large hand closes around my wrist. I look down at him with all the venom that I can muster.

“Do you love him?Trulylove him?” Alessandro asks, his eyes glazed from his buzz and what looks almost like pain etched across his face.

I don’t know what answer he is expecting, I am not sure I even know how to answer that question to myself to be honest. I know that I love Aiden. I deeply care for him. He has become an incredible friend and I couldn’t imagine my life without him. I don’t know if that is the kind of love that Alessandro is talking about though.

“Why do you care?” I ask, throwing back my same question from last night. The one that went unanswered after he stormed out the bathroom door he broke like a caveman.

Alessandro just looks up at me, his eyes pleading for me to answer him. But why should I answer his questions when he has never answered any of mine? Fuck him and fuck this. I am going to bed. I yank my hand out of his grasp, and he makes no move to reach for me again as his eyes slowly watch me go. When I close the spare bedroom door, I lean my head up against it and let out a shaky breath before closing my eyes and sliding down to the ground.

Chapter Eighteen

Alessandro

I am picking up Seraphina and Antonio from school today. Normally they have Bobby and Drew, their private guards, do it but I haven’t gotten to spend much time with Seraphina since I was fully brought into the family after my 18thbirthday, so I thought we could spend the day together.

Pulling up to the curb in front of their school, I scan through the crowd to find them. It doesn’t take long for my eyes to land on Seraphina. I swear I could find her in the middle of Time Square. It is like second nature for me.

My eyes fall down to her school uniform, a navy-blue skirt that falls just above her knees with a white dress shirt underneath. She has her matching white thigh high socks on that only leave a few inches of exposed skin on her thighs. But those few inches are just enough to bring any grown man to his knees.

I know it is wrong. I shouldn’t be thinking these thoughts, especially now that I am officially an adult while she is a minor, but shit, look at her. I always said that Seraphina was the most perfect beautiful baby ever, then she became the prettiest little girl and now, well now she is fucking gorgeous.

Her legs are long and lean, probably from all those long runs she goes on every morning. Her waist is small and tight perfectly matching her petite frame. Her shirts have gotten tighter and tighter over the years, enough for me to definitely notice, despite how hard I have tried to ignore it.

How could I not notice? The sweet little girl that I held in my arms the day she was born has transformed into a gorgeous young woman and I have no doubt that when she gets a little older, she will be a breathtaking woman.

Apparently, I am not the only man that notices how beautiful Seraphina is though. My eyes quickly snag on a tall guy looming over her. Her back is pressed against the building while he cages her in, his hands resting on the wall above her head.

My knuckles crack as I grip the steering wheel tightly. I reach over to unbuckle my seat belt when the car door opens and Antonio pops in.

“Hey! Thanks for giving us a ride. We have missed seeing you around.”

“I’ve missed you guys too. Who is that guy talking to your sister?” I ask, trying to sound casual.

Antonio’s eyes look out into the crowd for a minute before he smiles.

“Oh, that is Dean Ashton. I think he is a senior. He just transferred. He has been following Seraphina around like a dog ever since he got here.” I clench my jaw so hard that I think I hear a molar crack. “His younger brother is my age. He told me that Dean was going to ask Seraphina out.”

“Out?” I ask, my eyes narrowing into thin slits as I eye this guy from head to toe. Who the fuck does he think he is?

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