Fragile Longing

Her shock came swiftly. “How . . .” She trailed off, grimacing. “Carlo.”

I nodded.

“Please don’t tell anyone. Santino would get in trouble, and Anna, too.”

“Why did Santino agree to this?” Anna and Sofia must have talked him into it. A hint of anger toward Sofia flared but I quenched it. She’d only reacted to my thoughtless actions in a childish way, but she was young. I didn’t have that excuse anymore.

Sofia shrugged and shivered again. She needed to catch some sleep and hopefully get over her shock.

I glanced at my watch. It was past midnight. “I should take you home.”

Sofia shook her head. “You can’t.”

Maybe I should have told her parents. They might have demanded I marry her right away, which I would have done if it weren’t for the rumors an early wedding might cause. People would badmouth Sofia, speculate about a pregnancy or about her sleeping around. I wouldn’t allow those kinds of rumors to spread about her. She’d suffered enough.

“Please just take me back to the lodge. Anna and I are supposed to stay another night before going back home. My parents will get suspicious if I return early, especially if you take me home.”

“I’ll take you back to the lodge, but I’ll stay the night to make sure you’re safe.” Santino obviously had a strange understanding of protecting the girls, and Carlo was an idiot for trusting him with Sofia. “Tomorrow I’ll have a long talk with Santino and Anna.” Seeing her fear, I added, “I won’t tell on them, but only because I want to protect you, not them. For all I care, Dante can cut Santino’s balls off and lock his daughter in a tower until she’s married to that politician’s kid.”

She watched me in obvious surprise then quickly looked away again.

I straightened, then held out my hand. Sofia put her hand in mine and pushed to her feet. She swayed slightly. I wrapped an arm around her, then nudged her chin up. Her eyes were a bit unfocused and her breath smelled faintly of alcohol. “How much did you drink?”

“Only a bottle of beer.”

“Not the punch?” Marco had mixed the punch himself and it mainly consisted of alcohol. Things would be even worse if Sofia was drunk.

“No, I didn’t want to be drunk.”

Relief didn’t really set in.

“Let’s get you out of here. Do you need me to carry you?”

She flushed and shook her head quickly. My arm wrapped tightly around her waist, I led her into the hallway. The sounds from the party—music and laughter—drifted up the stairs. When we passed the guest bedroom, Samuel’s girl left the bedroom half-dressed.

Sofia cringed and I tightened my hold on her.

Santino came up the stairs, one of his hands under his leather jacket, ready to pull his gun. A skull mask was shoved back on his head.

I narrowed my eyes at him. If it wouldn’t have made waves and brought attention to what had happened today—something I couldn’t allow if I wanted to protect Sofia’s honor—I would have put a bullet through his head. I’d never liked him much. He was a good fighter, cruel and ruthless, but he was also reckless and arrogant. He looked at Sofia and grimaced.

“Where’s your ward? Did you allow her to roam the party without protection as well?” I growled, close to losing my patience. I’d always prided myself on my self-control, but in recent years, I’d often reveled in losing control, had feasted on the rush of adrenaline and anger. One glance at Sofia’s still terrified and lost expression made my protectiveness trump the need for an outlet.

Santino sneered. “Anna’s perfectly safe. Don’t worry. And she isn’t your concern, Mancini.”

I smiled, but it was as much a friendly gesture as a dog baring its teeth in a snarl. “But Sofia is my concern and you had obviously no problem taking her away from her bodyguards and leaving her on her own at a party with men of our nature.”

Santino’s lips tightened. “Her bodyguards should pay better attention, or I couldn’t have gotten her out of the lodge. Sofia snuck away to get cozy with you when I was making sure Anna was safe in the restrooms.”

“I don’t care what you were doing. You shouldn’t have brought Sofia and Anna to a party, which makes me wonder what forced you to take them here.”

Sofia glanced nervously between us.

Something flickered in Santino’s eyes. I chuckled, realizing my guess had been correct. “Does Dante’s little angel hold something in her perfectly manicured hands against you?”

Santino got in my face, but I didn’t back off. “Don’t you worry about my secrets, then I won’t worry about the secret you’d like to keep.” He glanced between Sofia and me. Of course, he’d know something had happened between us. Dante wouldn’t have picked him for his daughter if the man didn’t pay attention.