No wonder he was protective of women.
My heart broke for him. At first, I wanted to blame her for abandoning him. But my next thought was, how could I? I had never felt what she felt. Lived through what she lived through. And maybe he was right. Maybe she’d just thought about it, and the wet slate had made the decision for her.
I felt shattered in a million pieces. I could sense that he felt that way too.
I waited as he took a ragged breath. Then another. Finally, he looked at me.
“I don’t want him to hurt you. Even with words. I would never let him touch you, but he might say something awful. I need to warn you so you can be on your guard. But I don’t want you to worry. I will protect you from him. Like I couldn’t protect her.”
I reached up and touched his face.
“You were just a child, Antonio. How could you have saved her?”
“I tried. I stood up to him. Vincent did too. But they were both good at hiding it from us. She was good at hiding the pain.”
There was nothing I could say. Nothing I could do. I suddenly understood how helpless he must have felt. How hard that must be for a man from a family and a life that put so much emphasis on masculinity.
“I wish I could have met her,” I said softly. He squeezed my hand.
“I do, too,” he breathed. And then he captured my mouth in a gentle kiss. It started slow but picked up steam. There was more emotion in this kiss than anything I’d ever felt before. It blew all the other kisses away. It was raw, tender, demanding, and thick with sexual tension. It was the real Antonio. It was the real me.
It was almost as if we were meeting for the first time.
By the time he lifted his lips from mine, I was breathless with awe.
“I won’t let him hurt you. But I know he will try.”
“I won’t let him hurt you, either,” I said, lifting my chin. Antonio’s eyes smiled but he didn’t laugh at me.
“You know, somehow, I believe you,” he said as I leaned my head against his broad, warm shoulder. He slid his arm up my back and made circles with his hand. We sat there, staring out over the city for the longest time.
Chapter 27
Antonio
I stared into the gas fireplace, sipping a bourbon. My brother was doing the same in the green leather armchair beside me. The study was one of the few rooms we used in the place. It was lined with old books that were suspiciously un-dusty. I had a vision of my brother in here with a feather duster at four a.m. and chuckled.
The last few days had been . . . unexpected.
Evie and I had settled into a routine. Breakfast together, a quick stroll around the roof deck, and then I would leave her to her studies, bring in some takeout for lunch, then I would have to wait all afternoon to see her. I did my best to stay away, but I definitely showed up way before dinner some evenings.
The truth was, all I did was think about her. Even while running my businesses and taking meetings. Working out. Drinking with my brother late at night. My brief moments of sleep.
Evie was always on my mind.
“Some stag party. Are you sure you don’t want to go out?”
“Fuck, no. The only person I want to drink with is right here.”
“It’s your last night as a free man.”
I cracked a smile at that.
“I wasn’t a free man from the moment I met her.”
My brother snorted. He didn’t get it. He was like I used to be, even if he was a lot more discrete. He could take or leave sex, even though it was offered to him constantly.
In fact, for the past few years, he had been almost monkish. I understood, though. He ran the family business. Hundreds of people looked to him for leadership. Plus, he was walking the line between above the law and way outside it. It was a big fucking deal.
“Another?”
I nodded as my brother stood and carried both of our empty drinks to the bar across the room. It had been here for a hundred years. Most of the stuff in here had. The curtains and chairs were newer, something my mom had added in the eighties most likely, but traditional enough to be timeless. My brother was a creature of comfort. Nothing dingy or dusty in here.
Just . . . classic.
It was soothing as fuck, especially in the face of the oncoming storm.
Hurricane Papa was due to land any minute now.
I took the drink my brother offered and took a big swig.
“That bad, eh?”
“Auntie won’t let me back upstairs.”