Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
“Okay …”
She nods at the large wall-mounted screen. “There’s this woman who makes videos online. I found her a while ago, during…” The war. “But I didn’t want to say anything. She only gets about a hundred views a video, but she’s really good. Guess what? She lives right here in the city. Guess what else? She offers tuition. I want to take lessons with her.”
“We can arrange to have her—”
“I don’t want her to know who I am. I don’t want her to look at me differently like everybody does because they’re scared of me, even if they’re trying not to be. I want to be a regular person for once. Can I go to her place? That’s where she does her lessons. She’s got good reviews. Not a lot, but enough.”
“Why her?” I ask. “You could have anybody, Sofia.”
“I just told you why.”
“Sorry,” I tell her in the softest voice a man like me can manage. “I just worry about you.”
“You can come with me,” she says with a shrug. “Look, Matty, she seems so nice, so genuine, you know?”
She picks up her phone and clicks something, making the video on the big screen begin to play. Stock music comes from the speaker. The black screen slowly fades into color as a woman appears.
I stare at her, not hearing her words for a moment. There’s something. I don’t know what. She’s beautiful. That’s clear. Dammit, my heart is pounding. It’s strange. I don’t understand it, but I can’t look away.
She stands at a music stand with her violin in her arms, holding it delicately and yet confidently simultaneously. She’s probably around five-five, emphasizing her curvy build and wide hips that make me want to grab them, sink my touch in, and pull her close to me. Her hair is long, honey-brown, and wavy, making me want to drag my fingers through it.
I quickly push all this away. It’s not often I feel this level of attraction. Often? Okay, never, but it doesn’t mean a damn thing. Despite what Elio said about finding an heir, dating is the last thing I should do so soon after the Gallo Family nonsense. What if we’re wrong? What if it’s not over?
“Matty?” Sofia murmurs.
“Eh?”
“You’re smiling.”
She says this with so much surprise that I wonder if I’m usually that much of a grim bastard.
“I can see how passionate you are about this,” I say to save face. Even as I talk to my sister, I find it difficult to look away from the screen.
“I am. I’ve thought about it a lot.”
She buys my excuse. There’s no reason for her not to. I’m not some monk who’s never been on a date, but I’m not exactly some playboy. Since our father passed and I took over the Family, it’s been the last thing on my mind.
“Can I, then? Please?”
“You’re an adult.”
“That’s a copout,” she snaps. “Sure, I could leave and go to her anyway, but I don’t want to think about you and E being all pouty about it when I come home. I won’t be able to relax and learn if I’m worrying.”
I laugh. “Pouty? Us?”
“Matty?”
As Bella glides the bow over the instrument, her dress shifts, causing her cleavage to wake things up inside me. I quickly turn away before this silliness gets out of hand.
“Okay, Sofia, but on one condition. I have to come with you.”
She skips over and throws her arms around me. “Yay!”
I hold her close. She deserves every happiness. “How do we make arrangements?”
“She has a cell number on her page.”
CHAPTER TWO
BELLA
“Another no-show?” Emily asks, poking her head around my open bedroom door. When I nod, she says, “You need to charge a deposit. You can’t keep letting people get away with this.”
“It’s okay. I’ve got enough for this month.” Just. “What if they had a genuine reason?”
Emily walks into my room and drops onto the bed. We’ve been friends since high school. When I told her I planned on working two jobs to help pay Mom’s way through college, she immediately offered to move in to help with the finances. “We always said we wanted to live together …”
She’s one of the only people who didn’t look at me like I was nuts. After all, it’s supposed to be the other way around. But Mom worked herself ragged after Dad left, and I want to repay her.
“It doesn’t matter,” Emily says. “You’re way too kind. Maybe I should handle the bookings from now on?” She takes one of the scrunchies from her wrist and ties her pink hair up. “You can think of me as your enforcer.”
“We’ll see,” I mutter.
I pick up my phone when it buzzes with a text. Hello, Bella. I’m interested in booking some private lessons for my sister. She’s a big fan of your online instructionals. Do you have anything available for this week?