Page 72 of Kissing the Villain

I cocked an eyebrow at her. “Heletsyou?”

Her cheeks flushed crimson. “I shouldn’t have said that. I mean… You understand what this is like.” She lowered her voice, resting her elbows on the table, and leaned closer. “My dad forced me to move here because of his election. I only stayed because of my mom.”

“Is holding something over her?”

She nodded. “It’s a long story. I’m sure you know what it feels like not to have control of your life.”

“I have an idea.”

“Luca likes you.” She flashed a genuine smile, playing with the straw in her water bottle. “You’re the only woman he’s ever talked about.”

“All bad things, I’m sure.”

“Nah, girl. He talks to me sometimes. One night, he got drunk and told me all about you. He’s obsessed.”

I laughed at the idea. “Luca doesn’t know how to be with someone without controlling them. Whenever I get too close, he pushes me away.”

“Funny, he says the same about you.”

I stuffed a fry into my mouth, speaking between bites. “Luca is incapable of having a relationship with anyone.”

“His brothers are the same way.” She sighed. “Damian and Bastian make my head spin with all of their games.”

“Sonny said you’re with both of them. Is that true?”

Kali released a groan, averting my gaze. “He’s so nosy.”

“I noticed.”

“I know it’s strange. But yeah, I’m dating both of them. If you can even call it that.”

“What is it like to date brothers?”

“Bastian and Damian are not blood-related.” Her phone dinged again, and she sighed, staring at the new message. “Not that it makes what we’re doing any better.”

“Bastian and Damian’s parents were friends, right? That’s how they co-founded Atlantic Airlines.”

She nodded. “Did Luca ever tell you the real story about what happened to their parents?”

“They were in a fatal plane crash.”

Kali bit her straw, giving me a look that she said too much.

“Do you know another story about their parents’ accident?”

“The owners of a multi-billion dollar aerospace empire should have known better than to get on a plane with faulty parts.” She held up her hands and shrugged. “You know what I’m saying, girl?”

“Accidents happen, right?”

She smirked. “Bastian and Damian run the company, but Arlo Salvatore is still Chairman of the Board at Atlantic Airlines. Convenient, don’t you think?”

“He wouldn’t kill their parents and then adopt them.”

Would he?

Who knew with Arlo? He wanted people indebted to him.

“If the rumors are true,” she said in a hushed tone, “a terrorist organization killed their parents.”

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