Page 26 of Something Borrowed

“You don’t care.” My father’s voice is so low I feel my skin crawl with fear.

I bite my lip, glaring at him, too scared to speak again, but too frustrated to back down.

“We will see if you care when I send you to Europe to live in the convent.”

I gasp.

“Break it off with him, Verity. End it. Or that is where you are going. I am sick and tired of your fucking games. You’ve pushed it too far this time. I’m not stupid. This isn’t love. This is you trying to piss me off. I see it for what it is. Now end it. Or I’m booking your flight.”

He spins away from me, his fists still clenched as he marches towards his room. I can’t move.

My heart is racing.

My skin is on fire.

Salty tears blurred my eyes.

One of the security guards clears his throat and I turn my anger onto him.

“Was that fun? Did you enjoy the fucking show?”

He presses his lips together, his arms folded over his chest.

I storm away from them and their pitiful stares. I don’t want people pitying me. Especially notthoseassholes.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Rufino

My phone is blowing up on the drive home.

The constant influx of message chimes makes me grin, thinking it must be Verity contacting me, but when I glance at the notifications, I see a string of messages from my brothers.

Fuck.

No.

What the fuck? I am not in the mood for any more of their shit.

Its Saturday night. Or, Sunday morning. There is no fucking way they should be messaging me about work shit now. They’re probably still pissed off about me leaving the meeting. But still - it’s an odd time to be messaging me.

Ignoring the messages until I pull up in my underground parking area I sigh, flicking open the app.

Oh.

Masaccio has tried to call me several times during the night, but I didn’t hear while I was in the club. So he resorted to messagingme - an image that sends a thrill through my body. Both tension and excitement.

The truth is out.

There is a screenshot of a news article staring back at me.

A photograph.

Verity has her hand on my chest, her face tilted upwards, her long wavy hair flowing down her back - and her lips pressed against mine.

It’s a stunning photo. We are incredible together.

But my brothers aren’t in the same mind frame.

---