Page 31 of Playing the Sicilian's Game of Revenge

He is not your responsibility.

She walked next to him on the sidewalk to their regular restaurant and wondered what it said about her that she could not get that through to her soft, vulnerable heart.

They were seated as they almost always were in a little corner of the patio, with the exception of when the weather was bad. Today was bright and sunshiny, and it was nice to get out of the office and enjoy the breeze and people-watching.

They didn’t only speak of Dante at their lunches. Sometimes they were seated too close to others to get deep into their plans. Sometimes there was just nothing else to say.

And sometimes, she tried to engage him in conversation about his mother, because she couldn’t just let it go no matter how she knew she should. If he actually dealt with that grief...she wouldn’t let herself count on things being different, but she didn’t see the harm in acknowledging it was possible.

Maybe Teo didn’t love her. Maybe he never would. But he certainly liked her well enough.

Today he seemed...distracted. Grumpy. She almost laughed to herself at how little he’d enjoy that description. It didn’t matter, though. She had a very specific topic of conversation to go over with him today regardless of his mood. “I spoke to Lorenzo and Brianna last night.”

He’d been looking off into the distance. Brooding. Now his eyes were sharp and on her. “And?”

“I told them we’d started seeing each other. That we had been for a while, but it was getting serious, so we had decided to tell people. They’d already heard some rumblings after the gala, so they weren’t exactly surprised.”

“Were they approving?”

She hesitated. Even now, she wasn’t sure what their reaction had been. She’d expected a little bit of...something. She wouldn’t have been surprised if Lorenzo had even thrown a tantrum about her being too young, or that Teo working at the same company was out of the question, or something.

But they’d been very...distant about the whole thing, which was not like either of them. “They were not disapproving.”

Teo raised an eyebrow. “Is this something we should be concerned about?”

“No, I don’t think so. I’ve never told them about anyone I’ve dated before. I suppose they weren’t quite sure what to do with it.” Which was true enough. She’d understand better once they were back home and she could gauge their expressions. The phone conversation had just felt...careful, when Lorenzo and Brianna were never careful with her.

“What would your mother think of all this?” she asked. It was not the most subtle of topic changes, but it was the only way she knew how to deal with the yearning inside of her. Maybe if she pushed him too far, he’d break, and she could go back to her solitude. She could have the space to get over him.

And maybe...

She could not let herself finish that thought. She could not dream of happy endings. She would not allow herself delusions. Only practicality and self-awareness would get her through this, happy or at least accepting of whatever outcome occurred.

His frown deepened, and he looked off into the distance again. “I cannot fathom.”

But based on his expression, she thought maybe he was fathoming right now.

“Would she approve of the revenge plot?” Saverina continued, posing it like a general question as she focused on taking a bite of her pasta.

“No,” he said quickly. “She...she was too softhearted to want such a thing. I think she had told me his name in hopes I’d let it go. Or perhaps to ease her conscience. It was not for revenge. That was not in her.”

“But you won’t let it go, even though she might have wanted it?”

He fixed her with a sharp gaze. “I will not. I am my own man. I do this in her honor, because it is what is right. Not because it is what she’d want. She isn’t here.”

Saverina pretended to contemplate this. “Do you believe that? Death is the end?”

“What else would it be?”

Saverina shrugged. “I took a philosophy and religions class at university. There are all sorts of theories on what happens after.”

“Theories. Because there are no facts except bodies in the ground. Now, we need to talk about the museum opening Saturday. If you’ve told Lorenzo we are dating, there’s no point to pretending these things anymore. We will arrive together, stay by each other’s sides, and leave together. Everyone will know we are together, no questions.”

He was very good at that. Giving her just enough leeway in a conversation to think she was getting somewhere, and then shutting her down. She studied his face in the dappled sunlight. She’d always let him shut it down. With everyone else in her life, she was quite happy to poke and poke and poke until she got what she wanted.

But she’d always been just a shade afraid to do it with Teo. He sent out warnings, and she heeded them. Because, in that heady beginning, she’d been afraid he wouldn’t love her. She hadn’t realized it at the time, but realizing it now was embarrassing. She’d always prided herself on being so strong, so blunt and fearless with people.

She hadn’t been those things with him in the beginning. She’d been more like her mother, who she’d vowed to never be like. She couldn’t keep going down that road, because this was no longer the beginning. Saverina was no longer under the illusion it was real.

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