Page 57 of Burning Beauty

"I was hungry," he mumbled and sank back into the couch looking offended.

"I don't trust him," Cassandra said bluntly. "He just shows up here and we're expected to greet him like, like...."

"Like a long-lost brother?" Maria supplied, her lips quirking.

"Oh, shut up," Cassandra snapped. "You aren't part of this. It's between me and him." She pointed at his chest. "She's mine now, you can't have her. Go find your own best friend."

Ruiz looked at Maria, who shook her head. She was used to Cassandra's brand of crazy.

"We aren't friends, he's my brother." Maria caught Ruiz's hurt look and had to stop herself from rolling her eyes again. "Okay, we are friends, but we're not friends in the same way you and I are, Cassandra. Ruiz does not want to take me away, he just wants me to be happy. Don't you?" she looked at him pointedly.

"Sure," he agreed, then waved his hand at the TV, apparently bored with the conversation. "Can we change the channel? This isn't really my thing."

"No," Maria said.

"No!" Cassandra snarled. "See, this is how I know you don't belong. You want to turn off our favourite show. You don't care about her entertainment the way I do. Well, you'll have to pry the controller out of my cold dead hand."

"That's a little dramatic," Ruiz said, amusement clear in his voice.

Cassandra growled something unflattering, then pointed her fingers at her eyes, then him. “I’m watching you,” she said.

He snorted with laughter. He thought Cassandra was joking and taking her acting skills a little far. Maria knew her friend was not acting, she was truly upset. Cassandra’s sheltered life made it difficult for her to handle change and clearly that impacted the way she expressed herself.

"Okay, you two, that's enough. You - " she pointed at Cassandra. "Stop attacking him. He travelled up here from Mexico to help keep me safe. I need you to be patient with him. He'll find his place.

“And you - " Maria directed her ire at Ruiz.

"What did I do?"

"You showed up a few weeks after I actually needed you, so stop acting like everyone should roll out the red carpet for you. You're here to work, not avail yourself of everything the mansion has to offer." Nic had given him a room in the house, assuming Maria would want her brother close. She wasn't so sure anymore. He was annoying both Yara and Cassandra, though Cassandra was far more vocal about it. At his puppy dog look, she relented. "I'm happy to have you here, but we need to respect Cassandra's home. We're both visitors."

"You're not a visitor, you live here. Permanently. And we both know Nic would agree with me on that," Cassandra clarified, then pointed her thumb at Ruiz. "He's the intruder."

"Visitor," Maria said from between gritted teeth.

"Fine, visitor," Cassandra relented loftily, but muttered something about deportation under her breath.

Maria sat back in her seat and decided the best way forward was to ignore them both until they stopped acting like children. She might understand Cassandra's behaviour, but she wasn't going to encourage the other woman.

"And another thing..." Cassandra hissed, drawing their attention back to her, but before she could finish her sentence, Luke walked in.

"Boss wants to see you." Luke directed the comment toward Maria, though his eyes were on Cassandra. Maria was more than happy to jump to her feet and rush out of the room. At this point she didn't really care how they settled their differences as long as they did it without her.

"In his office?" she asked as she walked down the hallway next to the big bodyguard. Her own shadow was off for the night.

"Outside," he corrected, and showed her to the patio door, where she slipped outside and into the cool evening.

She looked around and saw him standing by the pool, looking down into the aqua blue water, lit up by lights inside the pool. He looked so good standing there, alone, his strong, lean silhouette outlined by the patio lights. She stopped next to him and looked up at him curiously.

He shifted his gaze to her face and looked at her for a while before speaking, taking in her features as though starving for the sight of her, though they'd seen each other only a few hours before at the supper meal. That look was both heart melting and panty dropping. How could she hate the man who reserved so much of himself just for her?

"How is your brother settling in?" he asked.

"Really well," Maria said, some dryness in her tone. "He loves it here."

"Good, good," Nic said absently. "He is welcome to anything in my home and on the grounds. He is not restricted." He could sense the argument rising up in her and stopped her before she could speak. "Your brother means nothing to me, except that you are pleased by his presence. But if my enemies knew of my weakness for you... no, you must remain behind the gates. It is for safety."

Maria didn't argue. He was rambling, but she got the gist. Ruiz should be safe coming and going from the estate, while Nic didn't think Maria was. Though the only real violence she had experienced had been at Nic's hands, she understood enough of the mafia world to know that Nic was the way he was because the Italian mafia had shaped him. It was a brutal world where enemies wouldn't hesitate to find and exploit any weaknesses. She slipped her hand through his arm and stood close to him, enjoying the sweep of warmth that she got from his body.

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