Page 41 of One Filthy Kiss

I load the dishwasher, spray the counters with anti-bac, wipe them clean, and wash my hands. Then I switch on the coffee machine and slide my phone from my pocket.

Nikki would tell me to chill the fuck out if she was here.

Scratch that. She’d sit me down with a bottle of wine, make me recount every last detail of what we did to each other, andthentell me to chill the fuck out.

It takes me three attempts to type a text message and hit send.

Hey, Nik, sorry I’ve been so quiet. I know I’m supposed to be spending this vacation with you, but, well, I’ve got so much to tell you, I don’t even know where to begin.

I realize the instant the message reads ‘delivered’, that I didn’t even ask if she was okay. What if Amber’s father has found her. Would he kidnap her to get to me? It sounds like the plot of a Hollywood movie, but if the last few days have proved anything to me, it’s that life sometimes throws a curveball right at you. I send another text.

Let me know you’re okay, Nic.

Please.

She doesn’t like it when I send multiple messages when one would suffice, but that’s currently at the bottom of my list of things to worry about.

“Everything okay?” Ric is watching me from the other side of the breakfast island.

I would guess his age as mid-fifties. His hair is still thick, and he obviously works out in the gym. He’s still good looking in a George Clooney kind of way, with kind eyes, and a smile that makes other people smile back at him.

“Fine.” I force a smile. It’s what I would do if Amber caught me stressing over something, and I react on muscle memory. “Coffee?”

I never see the guy eat or drink or sleep. I have no idea where he stays or even if he has a family to go home to between keeping Gio safe and babysitting me and Amber.

He pulls out a stool and sits down. “Don’t let Mr. Sabatelli’s brother get to you. They don’t exactly see eye to eye.”

“They don’t?”

It occurs to me then that Ric probably knows more about Gio than anyone else. The font of information on Sicilian demi-gods is sitting right in front of me, and there are brownies in the oven. It’s a match made in heaven.

“What happened between them?”

I add cream to a cup of black coffee and slide it across the counter towards him. It feels like I’m trying to bribe him with coffee and cake, but he’s a grown man and if, through loyalty to his boss, he doesn’t want to talk, then he won’t.

“They didn’t fight.” He sips the coffee and glances over his shoulder at Amber.

His job must be a whole lot easier when we’re inside a guarded penthouse apartment accessible only by the private elevator.

“After their parents died, Mr. Sabatelli threw himself into the family business. His brother and sister wanted to help, but?—”

“Gio has a sister?” I interrupt him before I can stop myself. My brain feels like cotton candy with this latest piece of information thrown into the mix.

“Bianca.”

His eyes twitch as if debating whether to continue or cut the conversation short before he says too much. In the end, he must decide that this is all common knowledge to anyone who has access to the Internet.

“Mr. Sabatelli was always in line to take over the family business. But he believed that it was in everyone’s best interests if he shouldered the responsibility so that they didn’t have to.”

That’s one way of looking at it. Another way might be that he wanted to keep all the profits for himself. But this assumption doesn’t sit right with me. It doesn’t quite marry with the Gio I spent the last few days with, especially after meeting Enzo.

“I guess it didn’t go down too well with them.” It explains Enzo’s determination to cause trouble between me and Gio.

“I don’t get involved in the family business.” Ric drains his coffee cup, and I haven’t even touched mine. “But Mr. Sabatelli works harder than anyone else I know. He has dedicated his whole life to keeping the business running because he’s proud of his legacy.”

Warmth spreads through my chest when I think of Gio devoting his life to this hotel. I want to fold him into my arms and tell him that I’m proud of him for what he has achieved, because he didn’t only lose his fiancée in that car crash, he lost his parents too. Some people might have given up, but not Gio.

Perhaps we’re more alike than either of us realized.