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Tears welled in Kiara’s eyes.
“Oh fuck,” Savio muttered.
“Remo,” I said in a warning voice.
He scowled, grabbed the piece he’d wanted in the first place, and leaned back. “Shut up, Nino. I’m fucking sick of her flinching. It’s fucking annoying, especially because I didn’t even give her reason to flinch. This is my home, and I’m not going to walk on eggshells because she can’t get a grip on herself.”
Kiara swallowed audibly and picked up the few pieces of lettuce she had dropped on her jeans with shaking fingers. Then she rose slowly. “Do you have a mop so I can clean this?” she asked quietly.
“Leave it. The cleaning people are coming tomorrow.”
“I don’t want them to find cheese and salad on the floor,” she said.
“Trust me, they’ve seen much worse on these floors,” Fabiano said.
She gave a jerky nod. “I’ll go clean up and then go to bed.” She pressed herself past my legs. To my confusion, she didn’t move toward the guest bathroom, instead she walked toward the French windows and slipped outside into the gardens.
“Why’s she going outside?”
Fabiano shook his head. “For fuck’s sake, she’s going outside because she’s going to cry in peace.”
I regarded him, and he narrowed his eyes. “You are a fucking genius, but you’re still a stupid asshole when it comes to women.”
“You should probably go after her,” Adamo suggested.
I frowned. “If she wants to cry in peace, she probably doesn’t want my company.”
“Women,” Remo muttered, shoving another piece of pizza into his mouth.
“Listen to the kid,” Fabiano said. “Go to her and console her or whatever it is you are capable of doing.”
“I’ve never consoled a woman.”
Fabiano sighed. “Then improvise, simulate emotions or whatever. I don’t give a fuck.”
“Since you are the one who has a girlfriend and who has experience dealing with female emotions, it seems logical that you should go outside and console her.”
Fabiano snorted. “I knew this marriage was a fucking bad idea.” He leaned back. “I’m not the one she wants to see, trust me. She’ll probably scream bloody murder if I go after her in the dark. You are her husband so act like one.”
I stood.
“Good luck,” Savio said, stifling his laughter.
It didn’t take me long to find Kiara. She was perched on a sun chair. The bluish glow of the pool highlighted her face, and I could see tears running down her cheeks. She quickly ran the back of her hand over her skin, but it was too late. I sat down beside her, ignoring her body tensing. “I’m sorry for ruining your dinner.”
“You didn’t ruin anything. We’ve had far worse incidents, and most of them involved broken bones, so this is nothing.”
I reached for her and brushed another tear away. She became very still and stopped breathing. I grabbed her shoulders and brought our faces closer. She sucked in a breath, but I needed to get through to her. “If something bothers you, say it. If you don’t want Remo to trample all over you, you will have to stand up to him. I can protect you, but it won’t bring you the respect of my brothers. If you want to be a part of this family, you need to gain their respect. Being submissive and shying away like that doesn’t cut it, okay?”
She averted her eyes.
“No,” I ordered.
Her gaze flew back to meet mine. I tightened my hold on her shoulders, and she winced.
“I’m not sure if I can do it. My fear is too strong.”
“Your fear is useless. It cripples you. Don’t let it.”
She narrowed her eyes. “It’s not that easy.”
“It’s not as hard as you make it out to be either. It’s your choice to face your fears or to let them rule over you.”
“Let me go,” she said with a shaky.
I nodded and released my hold on her shoulders. “That’s a start.”
Standing up, I held my hand out to her. “Now come. We’ll return. You can have pizza.”
She hesitated but then she took my hand and straightened. Her pulse was still racing under my thumb, but she looked less shaky. “I can’t eat your pizza.”
“We always share our pizzas. Nobody will mind.”
“I’m vegetarian. Your pizzas all have some kind of meat on them,” she said.
I hadn’t noticed that she hadn’t eaten meat at the wedding. “Next time we’ll order a vegetarian pizza for you.”
She became tense as we stepped back into the gaming room, and her skin reddened in embarrassment. I led her back to the sofas and sat down beside Remo so Kiara didn’t have to. Remo pretended he didn’t notice and kept watching the race on the screen. Kiara squeezed my hand briefly before she released me and took a gulp from her Coke.
Fabiano gave me a look that probably conveyed recognition, though I wasn’t sure why. Nobody mentioned Kiara’s exit or her puffy eyes, and eventually she became more relaxed and watched the race with us.
