Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 136915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
“He would never do that,” I said fiercely.
Nevio looked into my eyes. “You put too much trust in dangerous creatures.”
I raised my eyebrows, but his expression became wary and darker. “Alessio told me you were locked in a cell with Vitiello.”
I rose to my feet and moved toward the bathroom. For some reason, I was reluctant to have this conversation with Nevio. Maybe because Alessio’s words replayed in my head.
I didn’t want to lie to my brother, but I knew I had to.
“Let me draw a bath and get in, then we can talk.”
Nevio stayed in my bedroom while I turned the water on and got undressed. I put a generous amount of bubble bath into the water until a thick layer of foam covered the water surface, then I slipped in, hissing as my skin began to prickle from the heat.
“Greta?”
“I’m fine. You can come in.”
Nevio slipped in and closed the door then he perched on the closed toilet lid, his body angled my way. He leaned his forearms on his thighs, his mouth briefly twitching in what looked like discomfort. I glanced at his bloody arm.
“You should have that treated.”
“Tell me everything he said, everything he did. Don’t leave anything out.”
“He didn’t do anything, Nevio.”
“Let me be the judge,” he said with a hard undertone. “No offense, but you wouldn’t know if he did something.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I’m not a stupid child.”
“No, you aren’t, but your kindness and innocence make you entirely unequipped to deal with someone like Amo Vitiello.”
My brother rarely made me angry. Despite his harsh disposition and crude language, I never got mad at him. But now I could feel myself growing annoyed.
“And what exactly is he?”
Nevio locked eyes with mine. “A hunter in more than one regard.”
I tried to figure out what he meant but that was apparently enough to convince Nevio of the truth of his words. “See, you don’t even know what I mean.”
It finally clicked. “You mean he pursues women?”
Nevio laughed darkly.
I couldn’t see what it mattered. “You do too.”
“I’m not bound to marry.”
My stomach clenched. “Marry?”
“This summer.”
I hoped my face didn’t give away how confused I was. Why had Amo lied? He’d said he wasn’t promised, but if he married so soon, he must be engaged. I wasn’t sure why the idea made me upset. Amo’s relationship status shouldn’t be my concern.
When I realized Nevio was watching me, I said matter-of-factly, “Then you have even less reason to be worried. If he’s in love, he’ll hardly make any advances on me.”
“Love,” Nevio scoffed. He shook his head and stared down at his injured arm as if he considered cutting it off. He began loosening the leather cuff with more force than was required. “He doesn’t love her. It’s an arranged marriage.”
I was still mulling over Amo’s lie, which was probably why I forgot to lie at Nevio’s next question.
“So he kept his distance?”
“He gave me his shirt so I wouldn’t freeze.”
Nevio shoved to his feet and ripped the leather cuff off where it had been stuck to the bite wound. A piece of skin came off as well but Nevio didn’t seem to care. Fresh blood dropped from the wound and onto my floor. “Oh, did he now?” Nevio asked, baring his teeth. He stared at me as if he wanted to shake some sense into me then he turned on his heel and stalked toward the door, leaving a trail of blood on his way.
“I don’t care what Dad says, I’ll kill him. We don’t need peace.”
“Nevio.” He grabbed the door handle but stopped at my voice. I leaned over the edge of the bathtub, holding onto it. “Nevio!”
He turned to me, frenzy in his eyes.
“Don’t, okay? He helped me. I was really cold. I asked him for his shirt. He didn’t suggest it.”
Nevio breathed harshly but eventually he came back over to me and sank down on the lid. “Greta, you need to stop being so naïve. You can’t ask someone who isn’t a Camorrista for something like that. Our soldiers fear us but Amo…” His lips thinned again, the fury returning to his eyes.
“I’m fine, okay? I’m well protected, you know that.” I reached out and tapped the skin of his left hand. “Now please let Nino take a look at this before it gets infected.”
His eyes followed me down to his forearm as if he had forgotten about the bite wound. It looked nasty so I didn’t know how he could. He took a deep breath. “Okay. But this discussion isn’t over.”
I gave him a patient smile. “I need to get dressed and find Momo.”
Nevio rose to his feet. “I’ll look for that thing.”
He left. I didn’t tell him that Momo would never let Nevio catch him. Most animals avoided Nevio. There was something too erratic, too frenzied about him. With a sigh, I got up, my body nicely warmed up. My mind drifted back to Amo and the warmth in my body intensified. I stared at my reflection in the mirror above the sink. I had never wondered what other people thought of my body, but I did now, wondering what Amo had seen when he’d looked at me.