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I’d taken my time showering and getting changed, being careful not to disturb her. Just because I was going to be agreeable didn’t mean I had to rush to follow their orders. With a last look at the sleeping Theresa I had walked down to meet them, by which time nearly half an hour had passed.
To Michael’s credit, when I had walked into the room, he hadn’t seemed angry or upset. If anything, he had seemed to be in a particularly good mood as I had prowled over to the settee. He had leaned back in his chair, and as soon as I was seated, he had asked me what my intentions were with Theresa.
Now I hold his gaze as I fold one leg over my other knee. "That’s why the lot of you have come here? To ask me about my personal life?"
It’s Massimo who answers from his perch by the fireplace, "Firstly, you are our brother, so it means, yes, all of us are concerned about your personal life."
"And even more so when it seems to concern a person under our protection," Adrian adds as he leans back against the wall by the window.
The brothers are stationed at various points around the study. It might seem casual to an untrained observer, but there’s no doubt in my mind that they have taken up positions such that they cover all of the exit points in the room. Add to that, the meathead standing guard outside the door, and if I were to try to leave now, they’d definitely stop me. Not that I am going to attempt that particular move. And not only because I am not yet back to full strength. I am curious about their interest in Theresa. They seem to treat her like she is their younger sister or their ward.
"Vowed to protect?" I tilt my head, "Is that why Seb, here," I jerk my chin in his direction, "decided to take her out without informing me?"
"Informing you, huh?" Seb smirks. "Who is she to you that you need to be informed about her every move?"
"I am her—" I open my mouth, then shut it.
"You are her?" Michael’s smile widens. "Go on, I am listening."
"She is someone I protected once already with my life," I point out.
"An action which you claim you don’t even remember taking."
"It’s not a claim," I say through gritted teeth, "I still don’t remember the events of that day."
"Fine," Michael raises his hands, "I’ll grant you that. All the more reason I have to wonder why it is you have taken such an interest in Theresa."
My muscles stiffen. "Question is, why is it that all of you are so interested in Theresa?"
"Xander cared for her," Seb growls, "so she is under our protection."
"And I’d never let anything happen to her," I counter.
"We agreed to have her move in under the same roof as you, only because it’s easier to guard both of you this way," Seb walks toward me. "It’s why, when she called, I agreed to accompany her to Venom."
"Venom? You took her to a nightclub?"
"Relax, it's owned by us," Seb drawls.
"I don't give a fuck who owns it. Who gave you permission to take her to a nightclub?"
"We definitely don’t need your permission for that," Michael smirks, "unless, of course, you are telling us otherwise?"
"Otherwise?" I scowl. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, I don’t know. The way you are going all possessive over her, makes me wonder if you haven’t got more of a vested interest in her?" Massimo retorts.
I lean back in my couch. "I’m sure I don’t know what you mean. I have no interest in her."
"Hmm," Luca’s brows draw down, "the way you were eyeing her up seemed to indicate there was more than just a passing interest at your end."
I tilt my head. "I admit, when I regained consciousness and realized what I had done, it intrigued me. I am not the kind of man who’d take a bullet for anyone else, let alone a woman I don’t know at all. It made me wonder why I had reacted so. It’s the only reason I asked for her to be moved here to the same place as me. Also, I hoped that seeing her would help me regain the missing bits of my memory, but other than that?" I glance between the brothers, "Nope, I have no interest in her."
"So, you won’t mind if we decide to find a suitable match for her from within the Cosa Nostra?" Seb drawls.
Motherfucker.Every muscle in my body tenses. My shoulders knot. I glare at Seb, and his grin widens.
"Well?" he asks. "Since you are not interested in her, you won’t mind if we secure her future, right?"
