Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 115291 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115291 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
“Are you sure you’ll be okay with Gianna staying with us for the next few days?” she asked.
“Yes. And I promised your father to protect her. It’s easier when she’s living in our apartment.” Scuderi had made it clear that Gianna needed close supervision, and I didn’t doubt it. The girl was trouble.
Aria smiled apologetically. “She will provoke you.”
“I can handle a little girl.”
“She’s not that little. She’s barely younger than me.”
I regarded my wife. Sometimes I forgot how young she was. When I’d been her age, I’d already been a Made Man for seven years, had slept with countless women, had done and seen so much shit, but Aria was young and sheltered, and so was her sister. “I can handle her.”
“Luca, Gianna knows how to push people’s buttons. If you aren’t absolutely sure that you can control yourself, I won’t let her near you.”
What did she think I’d do? Gianna was a seventeen-year-old girl. “Don’t worry. I won’t kill her or you in the next few days.”
“Aria!” Gianna’s screech rang through the hall.
The redhead stormed in our direction and collided with Aria. They hugged each other as if they hadn’t seen each other in months.
When they finally pulled away from each other, Gianna made a show out of checking Aria’s body. “No visible bruises. You only hit places that are covered by clothes?” She narrowed her eyes at me and I gave her a cold smile. I didn’t give the slightest fuck what she thought. Aria, on the other hand, looked worried.
“Get your luggage. I don’t want to stand here all night,” I said.
Gianna turned around and grabbed her suitcase from where she’d dropped it. “A gentleman would have got it for me.”
“A gentleman, yes.” Gianna definitely didn’t bring out anything gentle in me. It was a good thing that my father hadn’t chosen her for me.
I turned and began walking back to the car, only occasionally making sure that Aria and Gianna were close behind in case something happened.
Aria and Gianna actually both wanted to sit in the backseat.
I gave my wife a scowl. “I’m not your driver. Get in the front with me.”
She flinched at my tone, and again I wanted to find a way to get rid of my father. I hated keeping Aria at arm’s length until he was out of the way.
“You shouldn’t talk to her like that,” Gianna butted in.
Aria slid into the seat beside me. “She’s my wife. I can do and say to her what I want,” I told Gianna.
Aria regarded me with furrowed brows, hurt and confusion swirling in her eyes. I almost reached out to stroke her cheek. Fuck, keeping my distance was impossible.
Turning my attention back to the street and away from Aria’s reproachful expression, I started the car and pulled away from the airport.
“How are Lily and Fabi?” Aria asked, turning around in her seat to look at her sister.
“Annoying as hell. Especially Lily. She doesn’t stop talking about Romero. She’s in love with him.”
Aria let out her bell-like laugh, carefree and unguarded. I felt the treacherous twitching of my own stomach, then mouth, but I held back.
Aria put her hand on my thigh with a soft smile. My eyes darted to hers and, without thinking about it, I covered her small hand with my big one. Keeping my distance was a losing game.
When we stepped into the apartment, the smell of roasted lamb and rosemary wafted over to us.
“I told Marianna to prepare a nice dinner,” I said casually. If I really wanted to succeed in pushing my young wife away, I was definitely using the wrong approach. Fuck it.
Aria gave me that smile, that goddamn smile. “Thank you.”
I resisted the urge to dip my head to kiss that sweet mouth. “Show your sister to her room, and then we can eat.” I didn’t wait for her reaction. Instead, I moved into the kitchen area where Marianna was wielding her cooking magic.
“Luca,” she said with a brisk smile, then checked on the lamb.
I reached for one of the roasted potato halves swimming in a sea of olive oil and rosemary. Marianna swatted my hand away, clucking her tongue. “Not before dinner,” she chided in Italian.
My eyebrows rose and, holding her gaze, I took a potato and put it in my mouth. She shook her head. The fucking thing burnt my tongue, but the delicious taste was worth the pain.
“How’s your girl?”
“Good,” I said.
She shook her head. “She’s too beautiful to be alone so often.”
“Marianna,” I warned. I liked Marianna, and I’d known her all my life, but I wouldn’t let her meddle.
She sighed and turned back to the lamb.
The elevator began its ascent, then paused on this floor. I hit the button that unlocked the door and they slid open a moment later. Matteo strode out like a fucking runway model. His eyes scanned the penthouse and, when he didn’t spot his new obsession, his annoying smile dropped. He came toward me and snatched a rosemary potato in passing. Marianna tried hitting him with the wooden spoon, something she didn’t try with me, but Matteo spun around and out of her reach.