Page 20 of Claimed By Him

“My dad was a bit more… more sincere than Zio Enzo, I suspect,” I said underhandedly, causing the man to chuckle further. “I’m sorry, what was your name?”

He dipped his head and held out his hand. “Alessandro Marchesi, my dear.” He kissed my knuckles, then released my hand. “It’s a pleasure.”

“It certainly is.” I smiled, then leaned back against the cool sofa and sighed. All I wanted was to stay here with this comforting man, but I knew Antonio would be looking for me soon. “I suppose I have to get back to my brother. He’s lining up a few potential candidates for me to marry,” I spoke candidly, almost sarcastically, knowing he would understand my frustration.

Surprised, Alessandro lifted his brows. “Antonio?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’m sure he has your best interests at heart… he was always a genuine kind of boy.”

“Yeah… I’d much rather be on my own, though.” I spoke thoughtfully, my eyes zoning out on the horizon.

“Fair enough. You seem to be a very independent, young woman.”

“Right?” I asked him, waving my hand into the air. “If only he could see that.”

“I’m sure he does.” He shrugged one shoulder. “He just wants to make sure you’re well looked after.”

I wanted to argue, to keep my fight for freedom going, but the devil heard his name and appeared through the open doors. Antonio walked up, smiling broadly.

“Zio Alessandro? What a surprise!”

He grabbed his hand, helped him up from the sofa, and hugged him. I stood up, smiling politely at their reunion. The two men caught up for a moment before Antonio excused us, putting his arm around my shoulders.

“I’m not letting you slip away again, little sis. I think you might like this one.”

I sighed. “Fiiine. Dopey was a swing and a miss, bro. Who’s it this time? Happy? Sneezy?”

He clenched his jaw, not enjoying my jokes. “Here he is.”

We stopped in the middle of the room, and Antonio introduced me to another very handsome man. I was actually quite intrigued; this guy looked to be in his forties, but he was oozing charm. He turned around and smiled, spreading his full lips to show a set of sparkling white teeth. He had light brown hair that flopped over his forehead and a very sexy, deep voice when he spoke.

“Antonio! Is this your beautiful sister?”

I smiled charmingly, holding my hand out. “Fiona, how nice to meet you.”

“Fiona,” Antonio started, “this is Bradley.”

Bradley touched the shoulder of the man next to him.

“And his son, Mark.”

Bradley bounced his eyebrows, presenting me with a boy probably no older than me. He might even have still been a teenager. My smile lost its genuineness, but I tried my best to keep it there regardless. I spoke through my teeth, “Oh, hi Mark…”

I remembered his name now, Mark Solinas, from my list. He was 21. I broke eye contact and looked over his shoulder, where I saw Tony once again, standing across the room.

He was laughing, shaking his head. His eyes connected with mine before he chuckled even further, making it obvious that he saw my very clear disappointment. I only hoped poor Mark hadn’t picked up on it. If he did, he didn’t care. He was only too happy to keep me company with his wide, dorky smile. So, he was “Happy” after all. I frowned at Tony, trying not to let Antonio’s friends see me roll my eyes.

The smug asshole smiled, bit his lip, and looked away. Obviously, he was enjoying this hell Antonio was putting me through, which was surprising since he’d always been so against me meeting men in general.

I remembered one instance about two years ago when he popped up in the middle of the club I was at. The guy I was dancing with took one look at the tall, tatted man and his stone-cold face, then ran in the opposite direction. Tony gave me one disapproving look, then disappeared as well. So, it wasn’t like he was jealous because he wanted me, oh no, he was just extremely protective for some fucked-up reason. I could have used that tonight, but instead, the fucker was laughing at me.

I spent an agonizing 20 minutes talking to Mark while we were watched over by Antonio standing next to Mark’s devastatingly handsome father and his stunningly gorgeous mother who joined them.

This was too much for me. I felt like I was at a fucking debutant ball, and my options were dwindling by the second. I made my excuses and bolted to the bar again where I downed my third drink.

“Might wanna take it a bit slower there, tiger. You’ve got more suitors to impress.”

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