Page 46 of Always Mine
The question is directed at Chiara, but the accusatory tone feels squarely directed at me.
“Oh, yes, sorry! I cut this one off before, didn’t I?” Sophia tracks Chiara’s hand as it connects with my bicep.
“I’m Chiara Gigioliotti. And this lucky guy here is my keeper,” she says with a wink.
I see Sophia’s jaw clench, like she might be grinding her molars. Fuck. This is going from bad to worse.
“Chiara is here for the Natalia Hirsch exhibition,” I explain. “I’m her assigned driver while she’s in town.”
“Oh, that’s nice. Well, I’m on my way out now, but I might see you both there.” She says it like she’s not the one I’m going with. Fat fucking chance.
I’m trying to catch her eye to silently communicate Chiara’s a client, and to be clued in on what is happening right now. But she refuses to meet it. My patience is waning. I need to see Raf, and the sooner I can get that done, the sooner I can get Sophia aloneto ask her what’s got her wound up tighter than a nun in a fucking convent.
“Raf needs to see me. Do you mind buzzing us up?”
Sophia’s face falls as she looks to her hand and realizes the only thing she’s holding is her phone.
“You go. I’m sure you have things to do. I’ll call Raf to come and get us,” I say, swiping to get into my phone, the screen littered with notifications. It’s then that I remember the unopened text from Sophia. I quickly navigate to my messages and open the one from her. One look at the six words and screenshot of the images accompanying them make my stomach drop out.Fuck me. My eyes fly to Sophia’s. She bores her stare right into mine, and the pain I see in them hits me square in the chest. Even after I confessed the way I feel about her, happily got on my knees to show her, the fact that she’s even entertaining the possibility there’s an element of truth in what she’s seen in the stupid gossip blog hits like a bullet. The dark shadow of my biggest fucking regret still rules her opinion of me.
“About damn time you showed up,” is how Raf greets me when he arrives to the ground floor. I glare at him. A warning and a fuck you rolled in one. He knows me well enough to read my mood and not to try me.
Then turning to his sister, he asks. “Why didn’t you just buzz Marco up?”
“I accidentally left my bag in the office.”
“It’s not like you to forget your precious Chanel,” he quips. “Well, as much as I’d love to stay and chit-chat, I’ve got work to do. What are you waiting for?” he asks, indicating towards my arm holding the door open for Chiara, who’s once again lost in whatever she’s doing on her phone.
“Excuse me, Miss. Are you getting in?” Raf calls out impatiently.
Chiara finally looks up and a devilish grin spreads across her face as she enters the elevator, not even a little bit deterred by Raf’s annoyance.
Once she’s firmly inside, she sizes up Raf, and with glittering eyes, she waves her fingers in his direction, “Ahhh. You must be the infamous Big Bad Raf.”
I snort a laugh. This woman really doesn’t have any filter. Raf shoots daggers at her before he darts a hard look at me. I just shrug my shoulders at him.You’re the one who summoned me,I silently communicate. I notice Sophia also has a ghost of a smile on her face, though she’s still refusing to make eye contact.
Trying to bring some semblance of professionalism to the situation, I make a formal introduction. “Chiara, this is Raf Princi, my lawyer who urgently needed to see me. Raf, this is Chiara, AJ’s cousin and my client.” I emphasize the last part more for Sophia’s sake than Raf’s. I hope it will put her mind at ease about what she’s seen and what she thinks it means. This time she does meet my gaze, and the haze of uncertainty clouding them sends a jolt of unease through me. I already know we’ve taken another ten steps back. The more I try and close the space created by time, the more Sophia seems adamant on seeing through her quest of putting oceans between us. She’s convinced distancing herself from me is the answer to all her unanswered questions. It’s not. All she needs to do is let me love, protect, and worship her with the confidence of a woman who knows she’s adored. In the light of day and in the darkness of my dreams, it’s always been her. But something tells me even after all the lines we’ve crossed since she’s been back, I’m still paying for the sins of my lies six years ago.
When we arrive on the level that’s home to Princi Law & Associates, Sophia steps off first, followed by Chiara. Raf nods towards his office, telling me to follow him.
“Would it be okay if I use the restroom?” Chiara asks. Raf’s already walking into his office, so the task falls to Sophia, who looks less than thrilled at Chiara’s presence.
“I’ll show you where it is.”
I take that as my cue to go and join Raf. The floor-to-ceiling windows reveal the view of the striking Manhattan skyline. An urban jungle of skyscrapers and high-rise buildings stands proud and powerful. Today the warmth and sparkle of blue skies is dampened by the winter fog blanketing the city.
All broody, gray and stormy. Identical to Raf’s current mood. Scowling he stands behind the large walnut desk, arms braced in front of him, the seams of his bespoke charcoal suit pulled taut under the tension. I take a seat across from him and steeple my fingers under my chin, waiting for his tirade.
“Let me get this straight. That tiny woman wearing some sort of bear as a coat and waving spirit fingers at me is related to AJ Gigioliotti?”
“You’re already on nickname basis with her, so you tell me,” I tease.
“Why the fuck would you bring her with you?” Raf demands.
“As I tried to explain multiple times when you were blowing up my phone, I’m on a fucking job. AJ has me doing security detail, including driving her around while she’s in New York. She refused to travel with her uncle’s security, and he can’t use his men here because there is too much heat on them thanks to the shit going down with the Rizzo family. He was worried that would make her more of a target, so he called in a favor with me.”
“Motherfucker!” he growls out, though I can’t pinpoint who or what has warranted the curse, so I fill in some blanks for him.
“And, well, you’ve met her. It’s like trying to tame a wild horse. As it is, she’s already thrown me a curveball. She’s staying with Arabella Belmont and not at the hotel with twenty-four hour security she told her uncle she’d be staying at.”