Page 58 of Made to Sin

Then, to avoid whatever flutter grew in my chest, I went back to window-watching.

Surprisingly, the house itself was not as daunting as its master. A one-story, traditional family home for the upper class. Though it was on a replicating large and isolating plot of land, the brick house was much smaller than Marco’s mansion. I would even go as far as to describe it as cozy.

“Are you going to sit in the car all day, or what?” He asked before slamming his car door closed.

I was so distracted by pretending he didn’t affect me, I didn’t even notice him getting out. I wanted to spite him and choosethe former, but I didn’t trust him not to make me follow through with it. Staying in a leather-seated car in the middle of the summer was not something on my to-do list.

I didn’t hesitate much longer and got out.

As we walked toward the driveway, I noticed there was another car parked outside. “Do you have company?”

“Sofia comes and goes,” he clarified.

I groaned, forgetting she was considered an honorary Beneveti and most likely would be around more often.

“Let’s hope she decides to go.”

“Play nice, Katarina,” he gruffly warned, opening the door.

I glared at his authoritative tone, but the annoyance disappeared as I became enraptured by the house. It appeared small on the outside, but the inside was grand with its open layout and minimalistic decor. The couch separated the living room from the kitchen’s black floating island as the spaces mirrored each other. It was a cityscape dream with its mocha walls and white moldings.

He gestured for me to follow him down a hall off of the living room to where I was assuming the rooms were located. Stopping in front of a room closest to the left of the master's suite at the end of the hall, he dropped off my duffel inside.

I briefly took in the place. The walls were the same as the rest of the house, but, in replacement of the dark furniture, the ones in there were made from lighter wood. It was a picture-perfect stock image of a guest room with a queen-sized bed, a quaint study desk and chair, and a chest-height dresser.

“Is that going to be my room?”

He walked back out. “Yes.”

It was an overall nice room, but the idea of being a wall apart from him brought a weird feeling to my stomach. How was I supposed to get anything done knowing he was on the other side?

“The room at the end is mine, across from you is Sofia’s room whenever she stays, the room we passed down the hallfrom yours is my home office, and the one down from Sofia’s is the first bathroom. The other is by the laundry room in the opposite hall.”

Realistically, I would only use my room, the bathrooms, and the laundry room at most, but it didn’t stop me from scowling whenever Sofia’s name came up.

As if fate wanted us to meet, the bathroom door opened, and there the she-devil was standing. To make it worse, she was in a thin towel that covered nothing more than it needed to in order to be called decent.

I unwillingly peeked at Luciano to gauge his reaction. He didn’t have one other than his usual stoicism. I didn’t know if it was better that he was unfazed or if it meant he’d already seen everything underneath the cloth. A frown marred my face, and my stomach twisted at the thought, but I’d blame it on her presence if anyone asked.

She narrowed her eyes at me. “What is she doing here?”

The screech in her voice was eardrum-blowing worthy. Purely for my entertainment, I mimicked it. “She lives here. What areyoudoing here?”

“I wasn’t talking to you,” she snapped.

“She lives here now,” Luciano repeated in that low, disinterested voice of his.

I was tempted to stick out my tongue at her, but that was the childish intrusive thoughts I shouldn’t be listening to.

Sofia’s face shifted into something close to worry, if you could call it that. I would have never believed she was capable of showing emotion if I hadn’t seen it myself. “What about Liv?”

“She can stay with Sylvio when she comes.”

Sofia scowled. “You know that won’t work.”

Curiosity tempted me to stay to find out more about who this Liv person was, but Luciano didn’t entertain the idea anymore.

“I don’t have time for that right now. I have to gosomewhere, but we’ll figure it out when the time comes, Sofia.” He turned to me. “If you need any help settling in, let me know.”

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