I got his drift all right. It wasn’t a subtle point he was making.
“He’ll understand.” I yanked my wrist from his grasp. It was taking everything I had in me to not slap the smug grin from his face a second time. I remembered Asher very well now as a slew of memories bombarded me, even though it had been years since I’d seen him last. He was a sadistic prick if I remembered correctly, and one of the organization’s hitmen. “And just so you know, if you’ve been sent here to get rid of Zack, I’ll fucking track you down and put a bullet in you myself.”
Instead of fear from him, the only response I got was a cold chuckle.
Zack
As much as Sophia tried to sell to me that having to travel so far just to have a date where we wouldn’t be seen was adding suspense to our relationship, I wasn’t buying it and I knew for a fact she wasn’t buying it either. It was just tiring. I’d be happy and relieved when the semester was over. But it was a necessary evil to spend time with her and be able to fall asleep with her soft, warm body cuddled tightly to me.
So, I’d continue to pay the price until we were able to finally date publicly. The feelings I was developing for her were becoming too deep to jump ship now. In fact, if things went well tonight it might just be the night I professed how I felt for her.
My eyes glanced from my watch and to the front door. Sophia was never late, but for whatever reason she was today. I was in the process of pulling my phone from my pocket to shoot her a message when someone sat down across from me at the small two-person table I’d secured in a dimly lit spot at the back of the bar.
“I didn’t think you’d ever get here,” I teased as I looked up and I came face to face with a man that I’d never seen before wearing a suit that looked severely out of place in an establishment like this. “Excuse me? I’m waiting for someone. If you don’t mind finding another place to sit, I’d appreciate it.”
“Of, yeah, about that. She’s going to be delayed.” The man leaned forward resting his elbows on the table, a grin creeping across his face. “I wanted to have a little chat with you first.”
“Who are you? What are you talking about?”
“Sophia Marinotti, that’s who you’re waiting for, right?” His green eyes stared into mine already knowing the answer to his question. His accent was distinctive. Similar to Sophia’s when she allowed herself to slip and the Italian came out. Why she fought so hard to keep her accent covered was beyond me, but there was so much I still needed to learn about her – like who in the fuck it was that was sitting across from me.
“Who are you?”
“I’m sorry.” He straightened and extended his hand to me. “I’m Isaac Marinotti, I’m your girlfriend’s brother.”
I knew she had brothers – two if I wasn’t mistaken. She hadn’t told me they were here though. Helka Island and back in Italy was what she’d told me. With hesitation, I accepted his hand and gave it a brief shake, my eyes catching sight of the horsehead tattoo on the back of his hand. “Is she okay? I’m still a little confused.”
“She’s fine, she’s with my associate right now. I wanted to have a few minutes to speak with you privately before I allowed her to come in. I have a few questions for you, if you don’t mind?”
“Okay. I might have a few for you as well.” Like, what in the fuck was going on? This was so bizarre. I was really at a loss as to what to do, however, if I wanted to have some of her mysteries solved this might be the time. “It’s good to meet you, I guess. What do you want to know?”
“Do you know who she is?”
“I’d like to think so. She’s Sophia Marinotti…” I frowned, second-guessing myself. “She is Sophia Marinotti, isn’t she?” There were so many blanks in her file at school and there was so much she kept to herself about her life back in Italy that it was hard for me to say. Her brother just showing up out of the blue just made this whole thing suspicious.
“Oh, she is. But do you know who her family is?”
I blew out a loud huff of air. “I couldn’t tell ya. She doesn’t talk about her family or life back in Italy. As far as I’ve been told her father is an importer/exporter, whatever that means, and her mother is a housewife.”
Just admitting that to a stranger struck a chord for me. Maybe we’d gotten so caught up in this taboo love affair that we really didn’t know each other as well as we thought we did. I talked about my past and my family. But when I really thought about it, she was quite hushed about the whole situation back home. I was letting it just go, but perhaps I should have pressed her harder.
“Then what have you two been talking about these past few months. Please don’t tell me you’re using my sister just for sex, I’d have to kill you if that were the case.”
A laugh caught in my throat until my eyes spotted the holster strapped under his suit jacket. “I’m with your sister because I care for her. I suspect you already know that I’m her sociology professor. But if you have it in your head that I’m coercing her to be with me, then I assure you that is far from the case. Our relationship is real. I wouldn’t risk my job if I didn’t care for her.”
“That’s good to hear. It’s my job to look out for her best interests. And I’d really hate to be the person who was with my sister and wasn’t sincere in their intentions.”
“Zack! I’m so sorry.” Both of us turned our heads to see Sophia rushing across the room with a man in tow. He was also severely overdressed for this bar like the man before me was, in a suit which I suspected was also hiding a sidearm. She came to a stop, just behind me, placing her hands on my shoulders.
The man who’d come in trailing behind stood next to her, folding his arms across his chest, though I didn’t miss the tattoo that was identical to Sophia’s brother’s on the back of his hand.
“My brother and his buffoon of a friend didn’t cause you any trouble, did they?”
I looked up at her, but she wasn’t looking at me, her gaze was fixated on her brother across from me. “No, we were just having a conversation,” I assured her. And I was just about to find out about her family once and for all.
“See, Sophia.” Isaac cocked a brow up at her. “We were just having a friendly chat. Apparently, he doesn’t know anything about our family.” Sitting back in the chair, he crossed his arms over his chest keeping his gaze fixated on her.
Her jaw clenched as she continued to stare at him. “I told him what was necessary. There’s nothing all that important that he needs to know. We’re just a normal family.”