Page 117 of Tyrant (The Villetti Chronicles)

I shook my head.

“I know who she is,” Gil said, his voice rather soft and unassuming. I didn’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t for him to be so soft-spoken.

“Then you also know why your brother is less than pleased with the both of you,” I replied, my tone clipped.

“Seriously? What the fuck is Zayn’s problem this time? I swear I did everything he’s asked of me,” Enzo replied with a frown. “I’m so sick of him.”

Before I could respond, a lady walked into the room to let us know dinner was ready to be served. I didn’t realise Gennaro had staff, but it shouldn’t really surprise me. Zayn immediately left his father’s side and collected me, giving both of his brothers a death glare. He whisked me away into the dining room through the open double doors on the other side of the living room. Pulling out a chair, he made me sit down. He took his place next to me and slid his hand over my thigh. I’d opted for a demure navy dress this evening in an attempt to make a good impression on his family.

“Your cousin, Verona, is a bit of a bitch,” I whispered to him.

His hand on my thigh tightened.

“What did she say?” he murmured back.

Everyone else was taking their places at the table.

“Made out like you were robbing the cradle, but don’t worry, I put her in her place.”

He lifted his other hand and stroked my cheek. I shivered under his touch. I’d never cared about our age difference. It was barely something I even considered when I found myself attracted to him. Needing him. Twelve years was nothing when you loved someone the way I loved Zayn Villetti. He was it for me.

“Good girl.”

Knowing Zayn trusted me to handle the situation on my own made my heart swell. After I’d given him such a hard time over his decision not to let me in, he’d been more open and honest with his feelings. He showed me with his actions, he had faith in me. It meant the whole fucking world to me.

He dropped his hand from my face as Arlo took a seat next to him. Zayn told me Arlo was treated almost like family in his household. He didn’t go many places without his right-hand man. Especially not right now when he’d been making waves in the criminal underworld. He hadn’t told me how he’d gone about it, but I knew the past two weeks had been a busy time for him.

Dinner was livelier than I’d expected. Zayn’s aunt was sitting on my other side and engaged me in conversation. Her husband, Gennaro’s younger brother, Orsino, had died a year ago. She’d been left widowed with the three girls who were now twenty-eight, twenty-five and twenty-three. It didn’t surprise me that Rina was around my age. She was sitting across from me but spoke to no one throughout the meal. In fact, she was too busy gazing at Arlo every so often. When Zayn nudged him and nodded at Rina halfway through dinner, Arlo scowled at him and I could have sworn the words “shut the fuck up” were uttered. I might have to ask Zayn what was going on between Arlo and Rina later because, clearly, something was up.

When dinner was over, the rest of the family retired back into the living room while the staff cleared the table. Zayn lingered at the table with me, seemingly lost in thought.

“You okay, daddy?” I whispered, leaning my head against his shoulder.

“Mmm.”

“Did Gennaro say anything to you when you were talking to him?”

“About you? No. He probably would have if Martina wasn’t here.”

“Why? Because she’s a woman and it’s a man’s business?”

“Yes.”

I rolled my eyes and took his hand, linking our fingers together.

“Wow, so he’s sexist as well as a bad father. What’s next? You going to tell me he’s a serial abuser?”

Zayn let out a sigh and rubbed his chin with his free hand.

“I would laugh if it wasn’t so close to the truth,” he muttered.

My heart sank at his words.

“What do you mean?”

He looked over at the other room where everyone else, including Arlo, seemed to be in deep conversation.

“It’s better if I show you.”

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