Page 10 of Twisted Knight

She seemed to be taken aback by my question. “I- What? No, I mean Italian men.”

I cocked my head to the side; she seemed too taken aback, too dismissive. There was more to her statement and I made myself a promise to discover what.

Chapter Three

DOM

Saying the woman was beautiful was an insult to her. She was breathtaking, the kind of woman to bring you to your knees with just a smile. She was the kind of woman that could bring down an empire… She had Cassie's green eyes but against her caramel skin it looked almost surreal.

She could easily be on the cover of the magazines without using Photoshop, and I hated that she seemed nice and all-seeing as well.

I shook my head. I was happy Luca and I would be gone today, because it felt like when she was around I was mesmerized—just sitting beside her at dinner last night, hearing her melodious voice, smelling her subtle flowery perfume had been torture.

I reached for my suit jacket. As I put it on and put my hand in my pocket, I remembered the piece of paper I’d stuffed in there at the airport.

I got it out and read it again. One word. One stupid, hateful word that could ruin all the hard work I did, ruin the person I became.

‘Rapist.’ That was a word I hated, a word that woke up the voices haunting me. The voices that I had now managed to quiet most of the time were back, screaming.

I’d looked around, but there was no one in sight. If it had not been for the woman with me, I would have gone to the security office to check the feeds. I couldn’t ask for help on this. Luca would go out all guns blazing, and he had enough to worry about these days.

He had to fix all his uncle’s stupid decisions, and Lord knew he made a lot of those in his two years of power. He also had to deal with Cassie and the pregnancy that terrified him. I couldn't burden him with that, especially without knowing if it was really something worth his time.

I threw the paper in the trash and rushed downstairs, just to see Luca whispering in Cassie’s ear while lovingly cradling her stomach, and India, leaning against the wall, looking at them with a little smile.

My heart tightened in my chest as Cassie looked up at Luca, her eyes full of love and trust. Despite everything she knew, everything he was, she was looking at him like her hero, her knight in his shiny armor.

I was not jealous of them. They deserved nothing more than the happiness they were giving each other, but even if I knew I could never have what they had, I couldn’t help this little part of me that envied them, that yearned for this love without conditions, without secrets.

I felt my neck prickle and turned to the side to meet India’s inquisitive green eyes; what had she noticed? I couldn’t let my guard slip in front of someone like her.

I schooled my face in cold indifference as I held her eyes challengingly.

She kept up with me for a couple of seconds before looking away with a half smile on her lips. She surrendered and yet why did I feel like I'd just lost?

“Ready?” I asked Luca as I descended the last couple of steps.

“Sure.” Luca ran his hand down Cassie’s cheek. “Be good, okay?”

She grabbed his hand and kissed his palm. “I promise.”

I snorted. “Do you know the meaning of being good?”

She glared at me. “You better stop or I won’t name my son after you!”

I raised my hands in surrender. God, I loved that woman and when she had told me that their son’s middle name would be Domenico in my honor, I had a hard time containing my tears.

“Call me for anything,si?” Luca tapped his jacket pocket.

“Of course! Now go and do your thing; we’ll be here when you come back.”

Luca looked at her for a second, clearly conflicted.

I nudged him forward. “Come on, the sooner we go, the sooner we’ll be back.”

I leaned down and kissed Cassie‘s forehead before turning toward India and giving her a cordial nod. I couldn’t and shouldn't be outright hostile to her. I knew consciously that she’d done nothing wrong. It was not her fault if she looked like all my wet dreams built into one woman.

Once we settled in the back of the car, and the driver started to pull away, Luca threw a last longing look at the house.

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