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The very air seemed to consume her, even while giving her sustenance. She was aware her breath had shortened, her heart jackhammering in her chest. From the way Rocco’s lips parted, the way his nostrils flared, he felt it too.
‘Mia...’ His voice was thick, throbbing with arousal. One that ricocheted through her with such ferocity, she nearly gasped.
Resist.
She jerked away, uncaring if the move was seen as weakness. ‘I’m tired. I’d like you to leave, please.’
For a moment, he remained exactly where he was. Contemplating. Probing. And she feared he would call her bluff. Dare her to deny the dark magic spinning around them. Trouble was, she wasn’t sure she would’ve been capable of it. She could barely recall her own name as it was.
Slowly, his hand slid from her nape. But he didn’t remove his touch. Not until he’d drawn his thumb across her lower lip, something he’d loved doing years ago. A gesture perfectly aimed to remind her how the physical side of things had been between them.
‘I’ll leave you be, for now, tesoro. But this isn’t going to go away just because you wish it to.’
‘Then I’ll simply file it under “the nuisance to be tolerated”.’
He had the audacity to laugh. A wickedly husky, dark-as-sin laugh that stroked her in all the right places. ‘And I’ll enjoy watching you try.’ His hand finally dropped. And she refused to admit she missed his touch as he strode to his suite. ‘You know how to contact the staff if you need anything. Dinner is still served at eight. Nonna normally eats earlier but she’s joining us tonight after we put Gianni to bed. We will give her the happy news of our impending wedding together then.’
Rocco didn’t relish living in the state of perpetual anxiety. And yet he couldn’t offload the sensation. But he absolutely refused to glance at his watch. He’d already done so at one minute past eight. That felt like...a lifetime ago.
‘What is it, tesoro? You’re acting like one of those feral cats that patrol the streets of Palermo at night.’
He would’ve been amused, and slightly disturbed at being referred to in such unpalatable terms by his grandmother, had his nerves not been so displeasingly frayed.
Mia was late.
She was never late. Or at least she’d never been tardy, either fashionably or otherwise, to an event when they’d been together. But then hadn’t it been proven that he barely knew the woman he’d been about to marry?
She walked in a minute later, and he actively despised himself for the relief that oozed through him.
‘I’m sorry I’m late. I decided to look in on Gianni.’
‘Is he okay?’ Nonna asked.
Mia smiled. ‘He’s fine. Wide awake when he should be asleep, but fine. I got pulled into reading him a story.’
He rose from his chair at the dining table and pulled out hers. ‘That’s good to know. I was beginning to worry you’d wandered into the sea.’
Mia stiffened. Nonna sent him a sharp look. Rocco hid a grimace, aware things were getting out of hand. Again.
Just as he knew the solution. An unbreakable commitment to secure his son in his life. For starters. Only once he knew Gianni was going nowhere would he be able to rest.
But that wasn’t all, was it?
These fevered little incidents with Mia needed to be culled. One way or the other. And her wild accusations regarding Alessandro disproved sooner rather than later. His cousin had been hard-working, ambitious and fully dedicated to him and Vitelli Construction. The idea that he could’ve mistreated Mia, in any way, was deplorable to him.
And yet as he resumed his seat he couldn’t halt the niggle of doubt that’d been resurfacing since Mia’s declaration in his lawyers’ boardroom.
Alessandro’s not-quite-so-offhand musing over if Rocco was rushing his relationship with Mia.
Alessandro’s questioning Mia’s credentials as an engineer.
He’d also noticed that when his cousin had been around, he’d demanded more of Mia than any of Rocco’s junior engineers.
As if he’d wanted to see her fail?
He frowned inwardly, allowing Mia and Nonna to converse as he delved deeper into his memory. Looking out for his cousin and ultimate boss was one thing, but would Alessandro have deliberately kept him from his own child?
He shook his head, unable to fathom Sandro’s reasoning for it. If he was guilty. The verdict was still out and he wouldn’t rush to condemn his cousin until the evidence was before him.
