Page 60 of Made for Saints

I blinked, caught off guard by the unexpected compliment. “You didn’t even look at me.”

His grip on the wheel tightened, and he glanced at me briefly, his dark eyes meeting mine. “I looked.”

“Once,” I countered, my voice sharper than I intended. “And then you went back to your phone.”

He sighed, his shoulders tensing as he shifted in his seat. “I looked, Emilia. You look fine.”

Fine. The word stung more than it should have, and I turned back to the window, my chest tightening with a mix of frustration and embarrassment. Fine wasn’t what I wanted to hear. Fine wasn’t enough.

The drive was passing in silence, the tension between us thick and suffocating.

“Stop fidgeting,” Dante said quietly, his tone softer now, but still carrying that edge of command that set my teeth on edge.

I stilled my hands, gripping the water bottle tightly instead. The silence between us was unbearable, the tension so thick it felt like the air in the car had turned to molasses.My thoughts swirled in a chaotic mess, and before I could stop myself, the words tumbled out.

“You have a female assistant?”

Dante’s head tilted slightly, his brows knitting together in confusion. “Yeah. Why?”

I shrugged, trying to play it off, but my voice betrayed me. “It’s just...surprising, I guess.”

He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “Why? You think I can’t handle working with women?”

“No,” I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest. “I just didn’t think you’d want one. You don’t seem like the type to...I don’t know...trust someone like that.”

He chuckled, the sound low and infuriating. “Someone like that? You mean a woman?”

“That’s not what I meant,” I said quickly, my cheeks flushing. “I just—never mind.”

Dante’s smirk deepened, and I could feel his gaze on me even as he kept his eyes on the road. “Are you jealous, princess?”

I whipped my head toward him, my mouth falling open in disbelief. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” he said, his voice maddeningly calm. “Are you jealous of my assistant?”

I scoffed, turning back to the window, but the heat in my cheeks betrayed me. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Ridiculous?” he echoed, his tone laced with amusement. “You’re the one bringing her up out of nowhere. Sounds like jealousy to me.”

“I’m not jealous,” I said firmly, though the words felt hollow even to me. “I just think it’s funny that you trust her to stock your car but can’t even trust me to—”

“To what?” he interrupted, his voice sharper now. “To take care of yourself? Because from where I’m sitting, you’re doing a pretty shitty job of that today.”

I flinched, his words cutting deeper than I wanted toadmit. My grip on the water bottle tightened, and I stared straight ahead, refusing to let him see how much he’d gotten to me.

“Well, maybe she looked better than ‘fine’ today,” I muttered under my breath, the words slipping out before I could stop them.

The car went silent, and I immediately regretted saying anything. I could feel Dante’s gaze on me, heavy and unrelenting, and when he finally spoke, his voice was low and measured.

“Is this what this is about?” he asked, his tone laced with exasperation. “You’re sulking because I said you looked fine?”

“I’m not sulking,” I shot back, though the heat in my cheeks said otherwise.

He sighed, the sound heavy and resigned, and without warning, he pulled the car to the side of the road. The tires crunched against the gravel, and the sudden stop jolted me forward slightly. My heart leapt into my throat as I turned to him, wide-eyed.

“What are you doing?” I demanded. “We’re going to be late!”

“Shut up,” he said, his voice low but commanding, and it sent a shiver down my spine.

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