Page 56

My lips tingled in response.

I was almost twenty-five years old, and I finally found a man I enjoyed kissing. One who kissed me back as though he needed my mouth to breathe.

Turning to the couple giggling in the booth, I pointed to their platter. “I’ll have what they’re having.”

“One All-Star Special coming right up.” The cook grinned.

I scrubbed my hands through my hair. I’d meant the couple’s happiness. Their devotion. The fact that they were sharing food and talking like the oldest of friends.

That would be Alessandro and Penelope in thirty to forty years, once the greys took root and the lines carved their faces.

If I went back, that would not be my fate.

Sure, the great and powerful don could fix his sister up with a husband. He would even let me choose. One thing he and Leo had always promised was that I wouldn’t be sold to make a profitable gain. They’d worked too hard to forge our family’s legacy and build their empire without needing to sacrifice me.

Which was better than most women in my position had it.

But just because I would have a say in my future marriage didn’t mean it would be a love match. How could it if I wouldn’t be allowed to kiss—to spend time with—any potential suitors? That was how a woman reached the ripe old age of twenty-five only to be kidnapped before meeting someone interesting. Overprotective brothers who scared the shit out of any boy I might meet was not the way any girl wanted to grow up.

Am I trading one prison for another?

That was utterly ridiculous! But I had to ask myself the question.

Avoiding an honest answer, I asked the cook if I could borrow a phone.

“Sure thing, hun.” He pointed at the landline by the register.

Fingers trembling, I picked up the receiver. But I hesitated over the numbers. Who to call? Both brothers would be incensed. It was a question of who would listen to reason—who would calm the other down when they relayed the news? Biting my lip, I chose the brother I spoke to less. After I disguised thecall, I dialed. It was his private number that very few had access to, and the one he always answered.

Leonardo picked up on the second ring. “Yes?”

“It’s me,” I whispered in Italian. “I’m just checking in and—”

“Serena.” That one word packed a punch. Spoken in a deadly bite and full of something that could easily be mistaken for disgust.

I would have preferred Alessandro’s explosion of violence. He might seem the cold, calculated brother, but Sandro was easily pushed to the edge. Leo? He was iron, unmovable and used to looking down on the world from his golden throne.

“I’m okay, I’m safe,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry. I saw an opportunity and carpe diem!”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he spewed.

My shoulders hunched, and I wanted desperately to turn invisible. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t see me. After days and days without contact, and this was how he greeted me.

“Nothing’s wrong with me,” I snapped back, glad that I couldn’t see the terrible wrath scrawled over his unforgiving face.

“You have everyone thinking you’re dead,” he fumed.

I laughed under my breath, shaking my head at the ceiling. “Let me guess, you knew all along this was just another one of my stunts.”

“Damn right I did,” he barked. “I told Sandro you weren’t mature enough to take a trip by yourself.”

I fisted my hand, words coming hot and ready to my aid. “And how the fuck would you know? You’ve seen me less than a dozen times since you moved out!”

“A cry for help—disgusting.”

I loved how he just assumed the worst.

My eyes closed. Yeah...there was no way they would let me have even a fraction of the freedom I had enjoyed heretofore.