Page 105 of When She Unravels
I laugh awkwardly. Is there a playbook on how to talk to the sister of your ex-captor about the fact that you’re sleeping with him?
No?
Better change the topic.
“I never thanked you for the pool day,” I say.
Mari climbs onto the bed and folds her legs under her. “Don’t worry, I know Dem didn’t really give you a chance. I had a fun time.” She looks like she wants to say more but hesitates.
“What?” I ask.
She averts her eyes as I pull off my T-shirt and tug a new one on. “That man that came with him…”
I’m not surprised he stayed on her mind. “Giorgio, right?”
Martina’s cheeks tinge pink. “Do you think he’s…”
I venture a guess, “Handsome?”
“No. I mean, of course he is,” she says in a rush. “But that’s not my question. Do you think he’s a bad person?”
Alarm bells go off inside my head. “Why would you ask that? Did he do something?”
Her eyes widen. “He didn’t. It was just something he said. You know what? Forget it.”
“What did he say?” I press. Giorgio appears to be Damiano’s friend, but I’m not about to put blind faith into a friendship I know nothing about. If he overstepped with Martina, I need to know so that I can tell Damiano to pick his friends more carefully.
Martina picks up one of my new shirts and starts examining the label. “My brother said he and I met, and I felt awkward because I couldn’t remember it. I told Giorgio I wasn’t sure how he slipped my mind. He didn’t say anything at first. I thought he was offended, but then he said it’s for the best I didn’t remember him. He said he isn’t someone girls like me should know. What did he mean by that?”
I resist the urge to roll my eyes. Mafia men. Sometimes I think it makes them feel good to intimidate women for no reason, even women who have no interest in them. Martina’s probably never going to see him again. “I wouldn’t worry about it,” I tell her. “Truly bad men don’t waste their time warning you about how bad they are.”
She lifts her gaze off the label, considering what I said. “Hmm. You’re probably right.”
We play dress up for another hour, and it turns out Martina has quite an eye for estimating sizes. Nearly everything she bought me fits perfectly. When the sun sets, we head down for dinner and discover Damiano left earlier and isn’t back yet, so we eat without him. I try to stay up until he returns, if only to get an update on Ras’s mission, but before long, my eyes have trouble staying open, and I climb into bed. His scent wraps around me and lulls me to sleep.
A warm body sliding in beside me wakes me some time later. Outside the big window, it’s nearly pitch black, with clouds obscuring the moon, and only a few stars glimmering in the sky.
A hand curls around my hip. “Did I wake you?” His voice glides over my neck and chest and settles somewhere between my legs.
“Yes, but I’m glad you did.” I turn onto my back and look at him. In the darkness, all I see is the straight line of his nose and the glint of his eyes. “Where’s Ras?”
“He just texted me he landed in New York.”
“That was quick.”
“He took a flight to Valencia and jumped on a chartered flight from there.”
“Won’t Sal wonder where he went?”
“Ras lost his tail at the airport in Valencia.”
“But won’t Sal be suspiciou—”
He places his index finger on my lips. “Vale. Take a deep breath. It’s a calculated risk, just like everything I do. Ras could have had many reasons to go to New York for a short stint and going to talk to your sister is not one that’s on Sal’s radar.”
I exhale and force myself to relax. “You must be tired.”
“Yeah,” he says quietly, “but I’m never too tired for you.” He slides his hand from my hip to cup my right breast. A satisfied rumble leaves his throat. “God, you feel good, Vale. I fucking love these tits.”
