“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.
Why? Why did I care? I liked my body. Amo’s thoughts about it shouldn’t matter. But then I remembered the flushed sensation that had overcome me when Amo had removed his shirt, which came unexpectedly. It wasn’t as if I’d never seen a naked chest. The men in my family ran around shirtless all the time when they worked out, headed to fight training or went into the pool. They too were fit to an extent that required a daily workout regime.
But Amo…
I shook my head. I didn’t understand any of this. I’d never been attracted to someone before. I didn’t have much contact with people outside of my family but I’d also never had a crush on a celebrity or anyone else I’d met in passing. I was attracted to Amo. My body’s reaction pointed toward this conclusion.
And thinking about his strong chest and gray eyes, I felt the novel desire to touch myself. My breasts and lower. Again something I’d never done because I simply hadn’t felt the desire to do it. I regarded my small breasts, half covered with foam then dipped lower to the apex of my thighs where I felt the warmest. I reached for my sex, my fingertips brushing my pubic hair.
A knock sounded, making me draw back.
“Can I come in?”
It was Kiara.
“One sec,” I called and quickly got out of the bathtub and put a fluffy bathrobe on. I opened the door to find Kiara standing right in front of it, glancing worriedly at Bear. “Is he all right?”
That’s what I liked about her. “I think so. I think Nevio smacked him over the head. I’ll keep an eye on him.”
She nodded then her kind brown eyes settled on me. Massimo had the same eye color and yet few people would probably notice, because the look in his was rarely kind and thus made them appear different. “Your father asked me to talk to you,” she said carefully.