Page 14 of Read This Before the Villain falls in Love with You

Let him try, I think, watching the docks on the paper. If he wants a fight, I will end his family for good this time.

"Then we do not bite," I instruct, leaning back. "Put two more bodyguards on Sofia and Nonna. Keep the boats tied up until we find where his crew is hiding."

"He will think you are scared," Adrian warns, narrowing his eyes.

"Let him think whatever he wants," I snap back. "A man who thinks he is winning makes stupid mistakes."

Adrian sighs and points toward the ceiling. "And what about the British woman upstairs?"

I stop rolling the marker. "What about her?" I demand.

Adrian paces the rug. "If Bellini finds out Matteo took the wrong person, it turns into a mess. She runs a big company. People are looking for her. If Bellini hears her name, he will think we planned this to get money or leverage."

"Then Bellini does not hear her name," I say, throwing the marker down.

"That only works if she stays locked in her room," Adrian presses, looking right at me. "And she has been trying every door since she got here."

I don't answer that, mostly because he's right and I don't feel like admitting it out loud.

A faint creak presses through the crack beneath the heavy oak door. The soft scrape of knit fabric brushes against the hallway baseboard, followed by a shallow breath drawn and held tight against the dark.

I lift two fingers from the map. Adrian cuts off instantly, his jaw clamping shut mid-word while the library drops into dead silence.

I push back from the table and walk across the floor without making a sound. I grab the brass handle and pull the door open fast.

Nora is standing three feet away in the hall, wearing an oversized wool sweater that belongs to Sofia. Her hair is tied back in a messy knot, and her face stays completely still as our eyes meet. She does not jump. She just looks at me like she is waiting for a fight.

She crosses her arms. "I am looking for the damn bathroom."

"You have a bathroom right next to your bed," I point out as I step into the doorway.

She waves one hand down the dark corridor. "I took a wrong turn. Your house is huge, all the halls look the same, and it is a total fire trap."

I narrow my eyes. "You had your ear to my door."

She runs a finger along the wall frame without flinching. "I was looking at the wood panels."

I take a step toward her. "In the dark, in the middle of the night."

"It is nice wood," she replies with an eye roll. "People do not build doors like this anymore."

Behind me, Adrian shifts his weight on the floorboards, leather creaking as he tightens his crossed arms and glances toward me for an order. Over by the window, Enzo sits completely frozen in the dark leather armchair, his jaw set and knuckles white around the armrests, not even blinking as his stare cuts straight through Nora.

I drop my voice low. "How much did you hear?"

"I do not know what you are talking about," she states, staring straight into my eyes.

I lean in close. "Nora. Do not test me."

She lifts her chin and holds my gaze. "Fine. I heard a couple of words. Docks. A warehouse. Some idiot named Dante who screwed up a work sheet. I do not know your big secret plan, so stop glaring at me."

"How convenient." I shake my head.

She glares right at me. "It is the truth. I know people in this house do not like the truth, but I do."

I watch her eyes. Her pulse beats steady in the hollow of her throat. No flinch. No tremor in her jaw. She is a tiny thing compared to the monsters in this house, but she stares at me like she's daring me to put her down. It's fascinating. Most people break when I look at them this way; she just sharpens.

"None of that business is for you," I remind her, taking another step forward.