Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 118245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 591(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 394(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 591(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 394(@300wpm)
Antonia ran the tip of her finger along the inside edge of my tuxedo lapel. “That wasn’t very nice of you, Matteo. I was just being friendly.”
“Like you were being friendly with Manfredo at Carnevale?”
Her finger traced the waistband to my tuxedo slacks along my belt. “Exactly.”
I gripped her wrist. “I thought I made it clear last night that I wouldn’t tolerate such behavior moving forward. Perhaps you need another reminder from my riding crop.”
Antonia leaned forward. “And just how will you remind me with your riding crop?” she whispered suggestively, the tip of her tongue sweeping over her heavily glossed red lips.
My gaze traveled down to her other hand but didn’t see a drink in it. That would be the only explanation for her sudden, overtly flirtatious insinuation, which was a stark contrast to how she behaved on my boat, but similar to her comments at Carnevale.
Perhaps she was on some form of medication? Or shared her father’s mercurial personality.
I inwardly sighed. Fantastic.
A woman cleared her throat behind me. “I heard riding crop. Are you talking about your horse ranch, Signore Cavalieri?”
I hadn’t realized Ella had crept up on us.
Releasing Antonia’s wrist, I responded, “Not exactly.”
Ella trained her eyes on her sister, despite talking to me. “I’ve heard it is so far north that more than half the people speak German and most of the restaurants in town serve boiled beef and Gulasch.”
Antonia covered her mouth, her shoulders jerking as if she were gagging. Her response was muffled by her palm. “That isn’t true, is it?”
Curious as to Ella’s motives for bringing up such an odd fact, I shrugged. “It’s what the skiers who visit seem to want.”
Ella kept her face slightly averted from me with a curled wave of hair covering her cheek and jaw. “That’s right! It’s negative two degrees Celsius there right now, and it will stay that way through April. My! Isn’t that interesting, Antonia? Right when Palermo gets warm and is bathed in bright sunshine, Matteo’s family horse ranch will still be deep in the middle of a dark winter.”
Antonia looked over my shoulder past the both of us to give someone a sly smile and a wave before glancing at her sister. “I think it sounds positively archaic. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to live in such a boring, backward part of Italy.”
My thigh brushed Ella’s hand when I shifted to the side to block Antonia’s view of whoever she was attempting to flirt with while in my presence.
I was not expecting the shock of awareness, nor Ella’s sudden gasp.
She snatched her arm around her middle as she took a step away from me.
Still not meeting my gaze.
Something teased at the back of my memory.
Refocusing on Antonia, I said, “You’ll learn to appreciate its charms once you are there.”
“God, you can’t seriously think I’d agree to visit, let alone live there.”
The corner of my mouth lifted as I raised my glass to take a sip. “Good thing I wasn’t planning on asking for your approval on where we live.”
The champion horse ranch I helped run with my father was a huge part of my life. Not only was it in the Northern Italian Alps, which had some of the most grandiose and stunningly beautiful vistas in the world, it was also extremely lucrative.
Not to mention its barely guarded border with Austria and Germany allowed my father and me to slip in and out of the country without records or surveillance, which was a useful asset for our more clandestine pursuits.
Antonia flipped her long hair. “I have no intention of going through with this marr—”
“Dinner is served,” interrupted a uniformed servant.
CHAPTER 12
ELLA
Iwrapped my arm around Antonia’s elbow and pulled her away from Matteo before he offered his arm to escort her into dinner.
Lowering my head, I hissed, “Are you trying to antagonize him?”
Antonia tried to pull free, but I tightened my grip. “I don’t know what antagonize means.”
I inhaled through my nose, and barely resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “It means piss him off.”
She cocked her head to the side, arms raised to adjust her earring. “What do I care if he gets pissed off? I’m not marrying him.”
I glanced around to ensure none of the guests, especially my father, had overheard her. “Dio Santo, Toni! Don’t say such things so loud. Do you want to get us into trouble?”
This was partially my fault. To keep her away from Matteo, I exaggerated the horrors of marrying him. Now she had become stubborn and belligerent over the whole affair. Mainly because she just assumed I would fix everything like I always did.
No matter how hard I tried, I could not convince her of the real danger she was in over this mess.
Antonia pulled free of my grasp and gave a dismissive flick of her hand as she made a beeline for Alessio. “You’re overreacting, Ella.”