Page 170 of Punishing His Runaway Bride
"Thank you." Sophie squeezed my hand, tears gleaming in her eyes. "I know this might be complicated for you, but Oli, I've never been this sure about anything. He makes me feel whole."
"You should feel sure," I said sincerely. "You deserve all of it."
Ella raised her glass. "To Sophie. To love."
We clinked glasses, the wine sliding down with a bitter warmth. After a moment of silence, Sophie spoke carefully. "Oli, I've been wanting to ask... about Sebastian. Mark told me some things."
My fingers tightened around the glass. "What things?"
"He said Sebastian is actually... Ezio's cousin. Part of the family." Sophie's voice grew more cautious. "Did you know?"
The air in the room seemed to freeze. Ella stared at me in shock.
"I found out today," I heard my own voice, unnaturally calm despite the turmoil inside. "Ezio told me himself."
"Jesus," Ella muttered. "You must have lost it."
"I managed," I said. "Just felt... lied to, you know?"
I'd always thought Sebastian was clean. The kind of guy who'd drink coffee with me in that small French town, fix my pipes, teach Leo to ride a bike—just a normal friend. He never asked about my past, never pressured me, always kept the perfect distance.
But he'd known about Ezio. He'd always known.
These five years he'd been beside me—was it a coincidence, or was it purpose?
Sophie wrapped her arm around my shoulders. "These mob men," she said quietly, but with an edge I'd never heard before, "not a single good one among them. Lies and manipulation—that's their nature."
"Exactly," Ella said bitterly. "They treat women like pawns, like property. Oli, you have to get out of here, the sooner the better."
"I will," I said, my voice resolute. "Two more months, once everything's settled, Leo and I are gone."
But as soon as the words left my mouth, an image flashed unbidden—the storage room, Ezio pressing me against the wall, his hot breath on my neck, his hands moving over my body, igniting desires I'd never known existed. I remembered how I'd responded tohim, how I'd lost all reason under his touch, how I'd almost desperately wanted more.
My face burned instantly, heart racing. The physical reaction filled me with deep unease, even shame. I should hate him, should be disgusted by him, but my body remembered that pleasure, that trembling when he'd completely possessed me.
"Oli?" Sophie looked at me with concern. "You okay? Your face is so red."
"I'm fine," I took a large gulp of wine. "Just the alcohol hitting."
The room went quiet for a while. Outside the window, lights flickered on the glass. A plane flew overhead in the distance, its red navigation lights blinking in the night sky before disappearing.
Sophie readjusted her position, hugging her pillow tighter. "Speaking of Ezio... Oli, I want to ask you something."
My heart inexplicably quickened. "What?"
"What's really going on between you two?" She looked directly into my eyes. "These past few days, I keep seeing him—in the garden, in the hallways, sometimes just standing there, like he's waiting for someone."
Ella nodded too. "I noticed it too. And... I don't know if it's just me, but the way he looks at you..." She paused. "It's complicated."
"The way a man looks at a woman he wants to possess," Sophie said bluntly.
Silence fell again. I could feel their eyes on me, scrutinizing, waiting.
"It's nothing," I finally said, my voice not as steady as I'd hoped. "We ended a long time ago."
"Did you?" Sophie asked softly. "At the party today, I saw you two—"
"What did you see?" My voice turned sharp.
