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“She has us.”
“And you are?” she prompted, certain though that he was one of the grandsons. Not Gabe – she knew he had tattoos and a permanent scowl. No wedding ring, so probably not Nico, Massimo or Fiero.
“Raf.” He extended a hand. She hesitated before allowing her own to be captured by it, then immediately wished she hadn’t when a spark of heat seemed to fly from him to her. Her fingertips tingled as though she had pins and needles. She jerked her hand away, cupping the teacup in both palms once more.
If he noticed her strange reaction, he didn’t show it.
“How is she?”
Relieved to be moving back onto more familiar terrain, she adopted a well-worn expression, a mask of sympathy she always used when dealing with the families of her patients. “Her voice is a little slurred still, and movement down the left side is uneasy.”
A muscle jerked low in his jaw and for a moment, he turned away, as though grappling with a reality that was impossible for him. “The same as last week?”
Lauren knew from experience that sugar-coating the truth wasn’t ever helpful. “She’s unlikely to improve.” The words emerged cooler than Lauren had intended. She forced a small smile to her face in a gesture of understanding.
She waited to hear what he would say, wondering at how he was feeling. His expression gave little away.
“And her mood?”
“Her mood?” Lauren was surprised by the question; she couldn’t have said why. “Robust, up-beat. At times reflective, but that’s to be expected.”
“Is it?”
There was speculation in his voice and Lauren’s gaze shifted to his then away again. There was speculation in his eyes as well, a speculation that terrified her and which she instinctively shied away from. Lauren hadn’t been interested in men for a long time and she’d definitely not welcomed their interest either.
“Anyway,” she murmured dismissively. “I’ll leave you to it.”
“There’s no need to rush off. Honestly, I’d appreciate the company.”
Lauren’s stomach tightened. Instinctive panic flooded her. “No. It’s late and I’ll be joining your grandmother for breakfast tomorrow.” Even to her own ears she sounded so formal, so much older than her twenty-eight years. Life had done that to her; she accepted that now. Life, and her career choice. She made an effort to lighten her tone but her smile was uneasy. “I’m sure you know how early she wakes.”
“With the sun,” he grinned easily. “Yaya’s never had time for laziness. When we were boys she hammered that into us. I’m sure she’s the reason I can only sleep four or so hours a night.”
Lauren’s medical training asserted itself. “Four hours a night isn’t enough to sustain healthy functioning.”
He lifted a brow, a sardonic challenge in his look. “Do I appear unhealthy to you?”
Her mouth went dry and she was uncharacteristically at a loss for words. What answer could she offer? He was a paragon of physical strength. It had been the first thought she’d had as he’d pulled through the water, muscles rippling, showcasing a body that was tanned and virile.
“It’s only my medical opinion,” she murmured, ice and flint in the crisply offered syllables. “Good night, Mr Montebello.”
He watched her leave with a small frown on his face, the air cool against his wet skin.
When was the last time a woman had run away from him?
Okay, the stunning blonde hadn’t exactly run but she’d made it clear that she didn’t welcome his presence – at all.
And that had irked him. Made him want to challenge her,
to tease her, to tempt her. Yes, to tempt her.
For a moment, he’d forgotten that she was here in the capacity of staff, that she was working with Yaya. Heaviness weighed down on him.
Yaya.
With a muffled oath he moved to the sun lounger the woman had occupied only a few moments earlier, sitting on the edge of it and staring at the water of the pool. It continued to ripple long after he’d pulled himself out, the surface dancing in small rings towards the edge.
It took Raf that long to notice that it was raining – just a little, but enough to vibrate the water’s surface, each droplet causing a domino effect, so that no single droplet existed as its own reaction. Each affected the other.
