Two
Mia
Griffin took me to a small apartment in Florence, a one-story place right above an art gallery. He was the kind of man that didn’t say much, focusing on the road ahead of him without asking me any questions. He seemed disinterested in my existence altogether, and he didn’t have a perverted vibe humming around him. Most men I met were sick, wanting to hurt me for their own pleasure.
He looked at me with complete indifference.
His presence was innately dangerous, like he could yank a tree directly out of the ground. His muscled arms were covered with endless ink from his tattoos, and he seemed like a man from the streets.
But the second he spoke to Vanessa, he was a different man altogether.
Sweet, gentle, and obviously in love.
That’s when I finally let my guard down.
He didn’t care about me because he had someone special to care about.
Griffin walked into the apartment first, where he was greeted with a loving kiss from a petite brunette. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rose onto her tiptoes to feel his mouth. His powerful arms wrapped around her slender waist and squeezed her tightly.
Their affection made me think of Carter.
I wished he were there now.
Griffin seemed like a strong man capable of anything, but Carter put me at ease like no one else. He’d proved his loyalty to me, proved that he had a heart under the rock-hard chest. His dark eyes made my body flush with heat.
When Vanessa finished greeting her lover, she turned to me. “It’s so nice to meet you, Mia.” Instead of shaking my hand, she hugged me. It was full of affection and friendship. “I’m glad you’re here. I hope you don’t mind taking the couch. We only have one bedroom.”
“And we need the privacy.” Bones carried his bag down the hallway into the bedroom.
Despite her olive skin, she blushed slightly. “That’s why I rarely take him anywhere.”
“I think it’s sweet.”
She smiled. “So you guys got along okay on the drive? I know he’s a bit intimidating.”
“He was wonderful. Didn’t say a word to me or look at me. It was really nice.” It was nice to be treated like a regular person, not some beautiful woman with sex between her legs. There was no attraction on his part. It was nice to be viewed as a person instead of an object.
She raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like he was pretty rude.”
“No, not at all.” I stepped farther inside the apartment and looked at the couch. “Thanks for letting me stay here. I didn’t mean to get you two involved in this.”
“Don’t worry about it. There’s nowhere safer in the world than right here, with that guard dog down the hallway.”
I took a seat on the couch. “Seems that way. But I still feel bad getting you mixed up in this.”
“Don’t.” She sat beside me. “If a Barsetti asks for a favor, you do it. Carter needed us, and of course, we were there. I have to admit I was surprised when Griffin told me everything, but…I guess I’m not surprised at the same time.”
“It’s not how it seems. Carter is a good man.” I didn’t want his family to think he was a bad person. After the sacrifice he’d made, he was nothing of the sort. Egor was the evil one.
“I never thought otherwise.” She got up again. “Something to drink? Eat?”
Griffin came back into the room. “How about I make us something? So you don’t make the poor girl sick.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Want me to slap you?”
“Ooh.” He smacked her ass as he walked by. “I hope you do, baby.” He opened the fridge and pulled out a few ingredients.
It seemed like I’d walked into a house of newlyweds. “Water is fine.”
“Coming right up.” Vanessa poured me a glass and returned to me as Griffin started to cook in the kitchen. She set the glass beside me on the coffee table.
“You guys are really cute together.”
Vanessa smiled but didn’t reply to what I said.
I took a drink. “I hope Carter is okay. I wish I could call him.”
“He’ll call when he can.” Griffin didn’t look up from the pans on the stove. “I’m sure he’s fine.”
“Carter is a really smart guy,” Vanessa said. “He’s the smartest Barsetti, actually. All through school, he had unusually high marks. His parents thought he was cheating because they didn’t know where his intelligence came from. He went to school for engineering and started his car company right away. Really impressive.”
“Yeah…it is.” He also knew a lot about the female anatomy, how to make me come without even trying. Was that skill? Or was I just that hot for him?
“I work in the gallery during the day, so you can join me if you’d like. Or stay here. It’s up to you.”