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The buzzing atmosphere only heightened the chaotic feeling inside of her the last twenty-four hours had induced. Walking away from her home, that awful phone call with her mother this afternoon, Nate’s anger at her for overstepping her bounds in that meeting. She would have preferred to be curled up in their suite watching one of Antonio’s Westerns.
“Hey, beautiful.” Franco Messini took advantage of a break in Evangelina’s watch over her to grab her hand and lead her to the bar.
“I don’t really need another glass of wine.”
“Can’t leave my lovely guest empty-handed,” Franco purred, raising his hand to signal the bartender. Securing them two glasses of champagne, he directed her away from the crowd at the bar. “I heard you say you were a fan of Sybil Atkinson. I just saw her. Let me introduce you to her.”
Mina thought that was a fine idea. The less interaction she had with Franco alone, the better.
He led her through the crowd toward one of the tents. She followed him inside the small, intimate space with its seductive dim lighting. It was empty.
“I guess she moved on,” she said lightly. “I really should get back to my husband. He’s likely looking for me.”
“He should be keeping closer tabs on you.” Franco moved closer, his bulky body blocking out the light. The suspicious shimmer in his blue eyes sent a frisson of unease through her. She wondered if he’d been indulging in more than just alcohol. “You’re the most beautiful woman at this party, Mina.”
She licked dry lips as he continued to move closer. “That’s very nice of you to say. But I really think I should get back to Nate.”
“In a minute.” Franco ran a finger down the bare skin of her upper arm. “It isn’t a crime to look at another man’s wife, is it?”
But he was touching her. She took a step backward, the unsettled feeling inside of her unraveling into alarm. Her palms sweaty, pulse racing in her throat, she swallowed hard. “I’d like to get back to the others.”
“Don’t look so threatened.” Franco’s confident, aggressive gaze mocked her as he closed the space between them again. “You haven’t given me the time of day since we met. I just want to get to know you better. You are my business partner’s wife, after all.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. My husband—he—he’s the jealous sort.”
The actor lifted a hand and ran a finger down her cheek. “Maybe he should learn to share... Nate’s always been a smug bastard. Too much so for my taste.”
Her pulse pounded harder, her palms growing ice cold now. She darted a glance at the exit, blocked by Franco’s big body. Told herself to stay calm. But an image of Silvio manacling her wrist, kissing her, the crack of his hand snapping her head sideways, sent her heart slamming against her chest.
Franco was so much bigger than her.
The air in the tent seemed to dissolve. Her breath came faster, tighter, intensifying the cloudy feeling in her head.
“Please—” she murmured in a broken tone.
Franco dragged his thumb across the edge of her jaw. “Please what?”
Please let me go.
“You’d best be taking your hands off my wife.”
Nate’s voice, low and tight, cut through the air. Franco turned, revealing her husband silhouetted in the light, standing just inside the entrance to the tent. His gaze was trained on the actor, a quiet, white-hot fury on his face.
Franco eyed Nate. He was equally as tall as the actor, but less bulky, with more lean-packed muscle. Ferociously intimidating in the way he carried it. Franco registered it, too, apparently, for he stepped back, hands raised. “Easy, Brunswick. We were just talking.”
“Which explains why my wife looks petrified.” Nate walked to Mina and slid an arm around her. She leaned into him, her knees going weak.
“You try my patience, Franco.” Nate fixed his gaze on the actor. “Clean up your act or I will end this partnership, no matter how much I like Antonio.”
Franco scowled. “You have far too much invested to do that.”
“Watch me. Get lost, Messini. You ever come within ten feet of my wife again and I will take you apart.”
Franco’s belligerent gaze tangled with Nate’s. For a heart-stopping minute she wasn’t sure which way it was going to go. Then Franco turned on his heel and left.
Mina sagged with relief. Nate turned her around, keeping his arm banded around her waist. “What happened?”
She shook her head. “Nothing—he—I should never have allowed him to bring me here. He said he was going to introduce me to Sybil Atkinson, but when we arrived, there was no one here.”
