Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“Your waiter flirts with you, and Massimo finds out and has me tarred and feathered.” He looked down at me and sighed at the expression on my face. “All right. But you have an hour. And no running off.”
“Thank you!” Spontaneously, I gave him a hug. That violated Massimo’s rule about not showing any affection toward his brothers in public, but I couldn’t help it. After a brief hesitation, he hugged me back.
“Go have a good lunch.”
“Thanks!” I practically skipped through the other diners toward the table.
The redhead and the blonde stood up as I neared. The singer had on a sparkly silver dress, as if she were heading off to a nightclub after this. Which, for all I knew, she was. “Hi, Leila. It’s very nice to meet you.” She held out her hand, which I shook.
“It’s nice to meet you, too.”
“And this is my assistant, Piper.”
With a huge grin, I turned and greeted my friend. “Nice to meet you, Piper.”
“Will you stop smiling? We’re supposed to be strangers,” Piper scolded. “Pretend we’re boring you.”
“Pretend she’s boring you,” Zoey said. “I’m never boring.”
I had to agree with her. Zoey was bright and vivacious and incredibly beautiful. Under any other circumstances I’d be excited to get to know her, but today it was Piper I really wanted to talk to.
“What are you doing here?” I hissed, after we’d ordered.
“We came to make sure you’re all right,” Piper said.
“So you’re not going to sing at the wedding?” I asked Zoey.
“Probably not, unless you need me there to help you make an escape. But I figured that telling your man that I might perform would give us a chance to talk to you.”
“Thank you.” It touched me that a stranger was willing to lie to a powerful man like Massimo—a dangerous thing to do in my opinion—just for me.
“So did Piper approach you, or—”
The two women exchanged a smile. “We’re old friends,” Zoey said.
“How’d you know that I go by Leila?” I didn’t think I’d ever used it around Piper. I hadn’t had much of a chance.
“That big fellow told us. That mountain of a man.” Zoey grinned. “Have I ever mentioned that I love mountain climbing?”
Jealousy flashed through me. Zoey was so gorgeous, and Carmine was a free agent. After the wedding in two weeks, I’d barely be allowed to shake his hand, let alone anything else. Even though Massimo and I were getting along better, it hurt to know that my time with Stefano and Carmine was coming to an end.
Piper looked over to where Carmine was sitting at the bar. “Yep, love me a big, strong, Italian hottie. How’d he end up in charge of wedding planning?”
“I have no idea. But women aren’t in charge of anything in Massimo’s household.”
“That makes him a Masshole, in my opinion.”
Piper’s assessment made me giggle, but I felt guilty afterward. Massimo seemed to be trying to be kinder to me lately. It was less awkward sharing a bed with him—and more fun. Most nights, he used his strong fingers to drive me into a frenzy, giving me an explosive orgasm before sleep kicked in. And slowly, I was learning how to make him feel good, too.
“He’s not that bad,” I said. But then the image of that bloody cloth up in the attic filled my mind, and I winced.
“How are ... things between you two?” Piper asked. “With your relationship?”
I flushed, figuring that Piper was alluding to my lack of experience with men, which she knew all too well. It was embarrassing to think of how incredibly naïve I’d been the first time I’d met her in her role as a nurse. “It’s fine.”
“He sure is hot as hell,” Zoey said. “I looked him up online.”
It was frustrating that Zoey could do that anytime she wanted while I still couldn’t, but for some reason, I was glad that she thought my fiancé was handsome. I sure did.
“Me too,” Piper said. “Fierce reputation, but great body.”
“Yep.” I agreed with both statements.
“Do you want to go home and kiss him goodbye before we rescue you and ride off into the sunset?” Piper asked.
I couldn’t tell if there was a grain of truth to her joking. “Are you here to kidnap me?”
“Not today.” Zoey’s voice was low, her expression growing serious. “But we know people. We can make plans if that’s what you want. Is it?”
“It wouldn’t be easy,” Piper said. “People would get hurt.” From the look on her face, I assumed she meant that people she cared about might get hurt. “But we can work on it if that’s what you need.” She stopped talking abruptly as our appetizers arrived.
I was grateful for the timing because it gave me a chance to think. Did I want to try for an escape? It was true that this marriage wasn’t what I wanted, but I’d known my whole life that it was coming. It was my duty to my family. If I somehow got out of it, the effect on my father would be something he might never recover from. I’d probably never be allowed to speak to him or my mother for the rest of my life.