Page 29 of Where Wild Hearts Dance
He lowers his fist and pushes it into his pocket, then tips his head back a little and runs his tongue along his teeth thoughtfully. “Wow, you were taking this task seriously before I officially asked you to.”
I glare at him, confused. He should be happy I’m taking the brat off his hands.
“Well, this was enlightening,” he says with a grin before turning his back and heading toward the door.
I don’t like the feeling he’s leaving me with. I go to speak but my phone rings and I recognize the number straight away. It’s one of my most loyal soldiers.
“Wait. I have to take this,” I say and Cristiano stops. I press the phone to my ear. “Yeah?”
Donnie’s words tumble out of him at a million miles an hour and I stare back at Cristiano as I listen. The kernel inside me explodes with an intensity I wasn’texpecting. When eventually I hang up, I crush the burner into a few hundred pieces.
Cristiano turns his whole body to face me and his features darken.
I clear my throat.
“Someone’s burned down my house.”
Contessa
I finish my stretches, reach into my gym bag and lift a bottle of water to my lips. In the corner of my eye I can see Antonio looking all animated as he gushes over Kelly’s performance just now.
“They’re fucking.” Paige, one of the other dance students, glares sideways at them as she collapses back against the wall. “It’s so obvious.”
I almost spit out my water. “I thought he was gay.”
“Bi,” she clarifies. “I’ve been stalking his socials.”
I chuckle quietly. I like Paige. She didn’t go to the same high school as me and therefore knows nothing of my family history and the fact I lost my mama a few years ago. She’s always been friendly and I’ve begun to enjoy having a bit of banter with a female who isn’tblood-related.
I drop the bottle into my bag and pull a sweater over my leotard. “You have way too much time on your hands.”
“True.” She grins then her gaze drops to where I’m unstrapping the silver heels on my feet. “I don’t understand how you manage to wear those, let alone dance in them.”
I wiggle my toes and relish the feeling of freedom as I pack the heels in question into my bag. “Years of practice. And also, the unadulterated fear of breaking an ankle,” I smile. “That works a treat.”
“Well, you seem to be getting better at the routine.” She sighs and stretches out her legs. “Meanwhile, I believe it’s secretly trying to kill me.”
“So, channel your inner zombie,” I say with a giggle. “You’ve already got the moaning down.”
She scowls and playfully smacks me on the arm, then her gaze diverts over my shoulder and she straightens. “Ooh look, new neighbors,” she says, nodding to the window. I turn to see what she’s looking at and sure enough, there’s a U-Haul truck outside and a couple of guys passing boxes between them. I refrain from rolling my eyes. I guess Bernadi was serious when he said he was going to use the space upstairs as his office.
“Wait…” Paige rests a hand on my arm. “They’re going upstairs… with a bed…”
What?I spin around to confirm that the men really are carrying a bed. And a clothes rail. And several boxesthat have the words ‘kitchen’ and ‘bathroom’ written across them.
“I thought the space upstairs was just an office,” Paige says, tilting her chin upward at the faint sound of male voices.
“Yeah.” I think back to the last time I was up there—with Fed. It was a sparse and barren unit—definitely not apartment material. “Me too.”
“You think it’s got anything to do with the barbershop over there?” Paige says.
My chest contracts in tandem with my heart sinking. Bernadi’s barbershop.Yes, I do. Not least because upstairs is where Bernadi he’s planning on stationing himself—with the sole aim of becoming a major irritant in my life.
“Possibly,” I reply.
Paige gets to her feet. “I might head out later. My friend’s just started working at some cool bar in the city. Do you want to join me?”
She turns away to pick up her bag and I stare at her back wide-eyed. It takes me a second or two to process the fact I’ve just been invited to something that isn’t a wedding, funeral or other family gathering. The invitation has come as such a surprise, my instant reaction is to decline. I knit my lips together. “I’d love to but I promised I’d do some stuff with my aunt. Maybe next time.”
