Page 98 of Thorns of Blood
“We’re not here foryou,” Marissa exclaimed as she and Romeo jumped to their feet, greeting us loudly with a peck on the cheek. “We came to see our girl.” She gave me an extra little squeeze, smiling broadly.
I looked over her shoulder and saw Cristiano had remained seated, but his jaw was pressed tightly, his green eyes piercing.
He still doesn’t trust me.
Not that I could really blame him. It wasn’t as if I had been an upstanding citizen or a criminal with morals. Marissa shoved her shoulder against Cristiano’s, shooting him a warning glare, but that didn’t seem to faze him at all.
“I didn’t imagine you as the clubbing type,” Marissa remarked, tilting her head at an angle. I shrugged, not bothering to enlighten her on the fact I’d never been toanyclub before tonight. “It won’t bother you that women will be gawking at Giovanni?” She rolled her eyes. “Women are always fawning all over him. It’s actually annoying. And gross.” She scrunched up her nose.
“I don’t need to worry about other women. I’d imagine they’re smart enough to know they can look but not touch.”
“Ditto,” Giovanni chimed in, grinning. “No man better dare to touch what’s mine.”
“And what if—” Marissa tried to ask.
“No ifs,” I interrupted her. “Giovanni is a smart man. He knows I’m not interested in sharing.”
The irony of my changed stance in our relationship didn’t escape me. But I guessed it was all part of personal growth. Or whatever.
“I need to talk to you,” Cristiano said to Giovanni, his tone exasperated—likely to do with Marissa’s ridiculous conversation. “Is your wife capable of staying alone for a minute?”
Giovanni didn’t miss a beat. “She is, but she won’t be. We’re on a date, and you all are crashing it.”
“I have something important to talk to you about,” he gritted. In a black designer suit, and sleeves that were now cuffed at the elbows, he looked more like the billionaire businessman I remember learning about when I was growing up. But the dark, stormy look still clung to his eyes, hinting at the fact that he was much more than that.
“This is a bad time,” Marissa chimed in, pulling her brother away. “Let them enjoy their date.” She shot me an apologetic look. “I promise we didn’t know it was a date. We just thought?—”
I lifted my hand, waving her off. “It’s okay.”
Giovanni pinned them with a stare. “No, it’s not okay.”
“Cristiano has something important to say to you.” Marissa folded her arms. “But like I said, we didn’t know it’s a date.”
Declan joined us, pushing up the sleeves of his black shirt and pulling Marissa closer to him.
“We shouldn’t wait,” Cristiano muttered, giving pointed looks to his siblings. “Shit always happens when we wait.”
“What are you talking about?” questioned Giovanni.
Romeo shot him a pointed look and Cristiano sighed. “Nothing.”
I blinked, studying them for any signs of what was going on. Romeo stepped forward, handing me a Corona Light. Once I took it, he folded his arms, sharing a passing glance with his siblings, and suspicion flickered in my chest.
“How did you know I like beer?”
“A wild guess,” was all he gave me, and that wasn’t good enough.
“There’s only a handful of people who know I drink beer, never mind the specific brand.”And most of them are dead.
“A sinner told me, and I can promise you that person will be dealt with.”
Swallowing down a gulp, the bitter taste heavy on my tongue, I set the bottle aside on the table.
“What does that mean?” Giovanni demanded, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me even closer to his side.
Romeo replied, “It means, big bro, that we have to clean house.” His casual tone sent a chill up my spine. “But not tonight. You two enjoy your date, and we’ll discuss this tomorrow.”
“Good, you know where the door is,” was all Giovanni said, his brows slanting.
