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I nodded. “You’re back early.” I wasn’t even sure what time it was, but I definitely hadn’t expected her yet.
Carlotta pursed her lips. “It’s almost midnight. Dinner with Diego and Antonia usually isn’t an all-night thing. Next time, I’ll call. I think I’ll go to my room until you’re done with whatever it is you’re doing.”
“We’re done,” I said firmly. Carlotta was definitely offended, and I couldn’t blame her. First, I let a baby move in with us, and now Nevio was here all the time.
Nevio didn’t comment. He only gave me a look that made me feel hot all over.
“Nevio has to leave.”
I walked into the hallway, just wanting to get out of the kitchen. Could you smell sex in a room? Luckily, Carlotta was completely innocent, so I probably didn’t have to worry.
I was so going to hell. Nevio followed close behind me, and a shiver slithered down my spine. I wondered what was going on in Nevio’s head right now. I stopped at the door and opened it. Nevio stayed in the doorway as if he knew I would have closed the door right in front of his face if he’d stepped out into the hallway. Right at this moment, I just wanted him to leave. I didn’t want to own up to what we’d done. I needed more time to wrap my head around it.
I looked away from his penetrating gaze, but my eyes only caught on the knife in his leather holster. He rarely wore it this openly. Heat crawled up my neck, and my core tightened once more. I could almost still feel the silky leather inside me. I dropped my gaze, then frowned at the droplets of blood on the floor. My gaze followed its trail back to the kitchen. Nevio must have cut himself deeper than I’d thought.
I reached for his hand and turned it around. The cut in his palm was long but not overly deep, but it definitely needed stitches, especially since I knew he wouldn’t go easy on it. He’d probably already be cage fighting tomorrow afternoon. “That needs proper treatment.”
“It was worth it,” Nevio said in a low voice, leaning closer. Our eyes met, and I exhaled, feeling the pull it was almost impossible to resist. “And I would cut myself even deeper if it meant seeing you come on my knife again.”
I peered over my shoulder to make sure Carlotta wasn’t close by. “Do you want me to put a bandage on?”
“I think you need a bit of alone time, Rory. Don’t let your conscience ruin this.”
It wasn’t my conscience I was worried about but my heart. Nevio finally stepped back.
Nevio leaned close and kissed my cheek like a friend would, a show for the cameras in the hallway, because I could still smell myself on him. He turned and stalked away.
I closed the door and leaned against it.
“Should I be concerned?” Carlotta asked from her spot in the kitchen doorway.
I raised my eyebrows. “Did you eavesdrop?”
She made an appalled face as if that was the last thing she would do. “I’m too worried about what I might overhear.”
I laughed bitterly. “Yeah.”
She came over to me slowly, her face flashing with disgust as they registered the blood on the floor.
“I’ll clean it,” I said.
Carlotta leaned against the door beside me, her shoulder touching mine. She studied my face. “Are you okay?”
I hesitated. I wasn’t really sure what I felt right now. “I’m not sure yet.”
Her brows pulled together. “Did you sleep with Nevio?”
“No,” I said, then bit my lip, my skin flaming. “It wasn’t like that.” Or did what we had count as sex? It was a form of sex, but Carlotta probably meant the classic version, not the twisted and perverted one Nevio had in mind.
“Looking at your face, I don’t think I want details.”
“You definitely don’t want them.” Carlotta would need an immediate appointment for confession if I told her what had just happened, and she’d probably ask for a new kitchen too.
“Are you okay with what happened?”
“Part of me is. Part of me definitely isn’t.”
Battista let out a cry, and I was glad for the distraction.
