Page 58 of How Not to Mess with a Millionaire

And yet he was laughing, because he didn’t feel any of those things. In their place was an irrational feeling of pride. Not of himself, but of her. And something else. A floating, almost euphoric sensation he hadn’t felt since—

Miguel slapped him on the back. “You owe your grandmother an apology. And an expensive bottle of Campari. She found you a real gem. Finally.”

“You’re not telling me that beautiful creature”—Xander waved a hand at the archway Zoe had disappeared through—“was one of Nonna’s fix-ups?”

“In a manner of speaking.” Miguel raised his glass in a mock toast, whether it was to Zoe’s beauty or Nonna’s matchmaking skills, Dante wasn’t sure. “She rented Zoe the villa knowing Dante would be there.”

“She swears it was a booking error,” Dante said, not sure why he felt it necessary to defend his grandmother.

Xander let out a low wolf whistle. “Damn. Nonna really hit it out of the ballpark this time. Do you think she could find someone for me?”

“You?” Miguel scoffed. “Serial dater extraordinaire? King of the one-night stand?”

“Isn’t that like the pot calling the kettle a playboy?” Dante asked, gathering the cards.

A shadow crossed the usually good-natured Xander’s face. “One-night stands start to feel pretty empty after a while. There comes a time when a man wants something more.”

“Not you, too?” Miguel blew out a derisive raspberry. “It’s obvious Dante is a lost cause. But I never thought you’d be tempted to succumb.”

“Succumb?” Xander raised an eyebrow at the ten-dollar word. “To what?”

“To the power of love.”

Love?What was Miguel talking about? Dante wasn’t in love. It was too much, too soon. And what about Nicole? She was hisanima gemella. His soul mate. And she was gone. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—be in love with Zoe. Not so soon. Not when she was leaving. Not when they agreed that what they were doing was temporary. A vacation fling, nothing more.

He shuffled the deck and cut it twice. If he could distract his friends with the promise of more poker, maybe Miguel would forget the ridiculous notion that Dante was in love. “Anyone up for another hand? I need a chance to recoup my losses.”

Xander shook his head. “I’m busted.”

“And I’m not risking what little I have left.” Miguel took his pathetic pile of coins and dropped them into his pocket. “Besides, I’d much rather continue to interrogate you about your love life now that you actually have one.”

Dante pushed the deck of cards to the center of the table. “I told you. Zoe and I are—”

“Just friends.” Xander rolled his eyes. “Right. And denial is just a river in Egypt.”

“You called hercarina,” Miguel pointed out, his tone suddenly serious. “Sweetheart. And I see the way you look at her. I haven’t seen you look at anyone that way since—”

“Don’t,” Dante snapped, pushing his chair away from the table with so much force that the cards scattered. “Don’t say it.”

Miguel stood and put his hand on Dante’s shoulder. “It’s time. You have to stop blaming yourself for Nicole’s death. She’d want you to be happy.”

“I don’t want to talk about Nicole.” Why did it matter what she would have wanted? She wasn’t there. Because of him. No matter what his friends thought, they couldn’t change the truth. If he had talked to the chef, asked a few simple questions. Then Nicole would have known—

“Have you told Zoe about her?” Miguel asked gently.

Dante shook off his friend’s hand, snatched his empty glass off the table, and stalked over to the bar cart. “Why would I do that? She goes home in a few days. To San Francisco. Her life is there. Her family is there.”

Miguel joined Dante, plunked his glass down on the bar cart, and poured them both generous portions of Glenlivet, not even bothering to defile his with soda this time. “So?”

“It’s six thousand miles from here, which, in case you’ve forgotten, is my home.”

“You have your own private jet,” Xander said. “And enough money to gas it up and go at a moment’s notice.”

“Even if I were in love with Zoe—which I’m not—there’s no evidence she feels the same way.”

“Are you blind, man?” Xander leaned back in his chair and stretched out his legs. “With the amount of time she spent staring at you, I’m surprised she even knew what cards she had in her hand.”

Dante wanted to call bullshit. Zoe had taken them all to the cleaners, so clearly she was paying more attention to the game than to him.