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“Diego,” she followed him as he walked toward the fridge.
He opened it and retrieved a beer.
He had a back up plan. It was written all over his face. “I might have invited him and a few others over for pizza and beer tonight.”
“You did not?”
“Look, they’re my friends. I always hang out with the guys. It’s no big deal.”
“Of course it’s a big deal, you idiot...does he know that you’re trying to set me up with him?”
“No.” He sipped his beer. “I haven’t said anything. I figured you both would meet here with the others and I planned on seeing how you both got on first.”
“Hmm, I’m not sure whether or not I believe you. But I’ll let it go for now.”
Emelia narrowed her eyes at her brother before she walked away toward her bedroom.
Once inside, with the door closed, she slid to the floor and let the tears fall as her heart took another hit.
She didn’t want to meet anyone regardless of what her brothers wanted. The only person she wanted, that she couldn’t have, wanted her to be with someone else. He wanted her to move on with her life and stay away from him. Could she do that? Could she ever forget about her love for Dante and move on?
She could try, but she seriously didn’t think anything would work.
Chapter Five
Dante knew without looking up that Mateo was watching him eat out of the corner of his eye. It had been his brother’s suggestion to go out for dinner, and he couldn’t help but wonder whether it was to get them away from Barbara, who would love to spread any gossip she heard, or simply to grill him about what he did.
So far though, Mateo had
yet to ask him about his disappearing act earlier, but Dante knew his brother would ask him the question soon. Curiosity wouldn’t let him stay quiet.
Dante hated the silence between them while they continued to eat, and instead of waiting for Mateo to finish shoveling the food in his mouth, he started, “About earlier.”
Mateo turned his head to look at him, but he stayed silent.
“I’m sorry I left the way I did.” Dante placed his cutlery down, having lost his appetite with thoughts of Emelia with another man. “I just needed to be alone.”
How lame was that excuse?
He cursed to himself, and drank some of his dark coffee before he met his brother’s gaze.
Mateo still hadn’t said anything, but Dante could see his brother turn over in his head the conversation that they’d been having when he’d lost it.
“You were fine until we started talking about Emelia,” Mateo pointed out. “Why would me mentioning Diego setting Emelia up with a guy make you angry?”
“I wasn’t—”
“Don’t lie to me, Dante.” Mateo pointed at him with his fork, which he ended up dropping to his plate. “You’re so damn stubborn that it’s annoying.” He pushed his plate out of the way and leaned forward with his elbows on the table. “Look, I know you’re a priest, but you’re my brother before anything else. Right here, in this café, I want you to forget about all the religious stuff and talk to me—brother-to-brother. I want to know what is going on with you as a man and as my brother, because that person, earlier, wasn’t you. You’re the calmest of the lot of us.” He chuckled. “Shit, even I don’t act like that when Caprice pisses me off.”
After a long pause, Dante said, “I have a difficult time imagining Emelia with a guy. I know she’s only a couple of years off thirty, but it’s still weird.” He figured he’d skim the truth about his reaction because he certainly wasn’t ready to admit his true feelings to Mateo. It was bad enough that he’d told their brother Eric.
“So you still think of her as our little sister, huh?” Mateo asked, and Dante hoped he didn’t seriously expect an answer.
“She’s all grown up, Dante, and considering the time you two have spent together over the past few years, I’d say that you, more than anyone, should know that.” Mateo raised a brow. “I know you’re a priest and she’s our sister, but you still have twenty-twenty vision, so surely you haven’t missed the fact that our sister is one beautiful woman. She should be happy instead of looking so damn miserable all the time.”
Mateo shook his head and leaned back in his chair before he continued, “Diego’s worried about her and that’s why he agreed to take her to New York with him. He decided that he wanted her where he could keep an eye on her. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she looked like she’d lost her best friend...you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you, brother?”
Dante had listened to everything that came out of Mateo’s mouth, but he certainly had no idea how to respond. He’d noticed Emelia a lot more than he ever should have, and he’d let her slip into his heart as the woman he loved, with nothing brotherly about it.
