Page 30 of Secrets of the Brother
I blushed. There was something both flattering and strangely off-putting learning someone I didn’t know had been thinking about me in that way. It was hard to articulate. It gave me an odd sense of a lack of control. Not knowing how to respond, I averted my face as I set the empty water glass on a nearby stall. “Really?”
“Yes. I even left you one of those silly Valentine cards in your desk one day. It saidBee Mine, with a silly little bee on it.”
I actually remembered getting that card.
It was tucked into my desk next to my art supplies.
It hadn’t been signed, but on it was a note asking me to meet my secret admirer in the music room after school. Since I was secretly harboring a huge crush on Enzo even way back then, I had ignored it.
“I remember. I’m sorry, what is your name again?”
He looked over my shoulder at the roar of an approaching motorcycle.
He gave me a wink. “Some other time, beautiful.”
With that he disappeared into the crowd.
How strange.
A hand grabbed me from behind and spun me around.
Enzo glared down at me. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
I matched his glare as I placed my fisted hands on my hips. “I beg your pardon?”
He stepped close, towering over me. “Who was that man touching you?”
He was so near, I could smell his cologne mixed with the scent of gasoline and leather from his motorcycle.
Unlike yesterday, today he was simply dressed in a pair of jeans with a thick leather belt and a loosely tucked-in, thin white T-shirt that seemed to hint at every sculpted muscle on his chest.
I had to tilt my head back to maintain eye contact. “None of your fucking business.”
His gaze zeroed in on my lips. “Watch your mouth,” he ground out.
I had forgotten he never liked it when I cursed.
Knowing I was playing a dangerous game but unable to stop myself, I leaned in. I flicked the tip of my tongue out to lick my lips before saying, “I willfuckingsay whatever Ifuckingwant because myfuckingmouth, and the things it can do, are none of yourfuckingconcern.”
A growl vibrated from deep inside his chest.
He reached for me.
I stepped back, evading his grasp. “Careful,dear brother-in-law, you wouldn’t want to make a scene with your sister-in-law in front of all of these people in the middle of the piazza, now would you?”
He followed me, standing even closer. “You foolish little girl, these people think I’m capable of murder and yet they showed up at my home yesterday, ate my food…drank my wine…and looked me in the eye as they shook my hand and offered me theirsincerestcondolences.”
He raised one eyebrow. “And you think they will be the ones to protect you from me?”
All bravado left me. How could I have forgotten he was a Cavalieri? No one in this village defied a Cavalieri. No one.
I tried to pivot away, but his arm whipped out.
He grasped my forearm, holding me in place. “Go ahead, call out for help,” he challenged.
I tried to pull free, but his hold tightened. “Let me go or I’ll—”
“Or you’ll what? Scream? Do it. I dare you. Scream and see what happens.”
