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I hear footsteps behind me. Several sets of feet, and deep voices. The voices fall silent and the feet slow to a stop.
Chiara looks past me, and the smile dies on her face.
“You’ve been making her cry, Salvatore.” A deep, sly, familiar voice.
Vinicius.
I turn and see all three of them. My former friends all dressed in suits. I presume that they’ve just come out of the Maxim, which has one of the few casinos in the city that I don’t own. Vinicius will have been needing his fix.
“Tequila has been making her cry. I’ve been kissing it better.”
Chiara grasps the edge of the fountain. Her feet gather beneath her and her shoulders clench. Her breathing comes faster as she looks at Vinicius, Cassius and Lorenzo.
Don’t be afraid, baby. I won’t let them anywhere near you.
“Bambina,” rumbles a deep voice. Cassius is circling around me and watching Chiara like a hawk. He holds out his hand to her. “There’s been a mistake. Come here and we can talk about it.”
She stares at his hand like it’s a snake that’s going to bite her.
I step closer to my promised bride. “Don’t even think about it.”
But Cassius wants to do nothing but think about it. “If he ever scares you or does anything you don’t like, I’m here. I’m nothing like him.” He jerks his chin at me.
Chiara’s gaze flickers among the three men and comes to rest on Lorenzo, the only one who hasn’t spoken. He’s staring at her with naked hunger in his eyes. It’s that dress she’s wearing. That clingy, black satin dress that hugs her hips and her tits like we only dream of doing. Our sweet virgin, looking like sex.
Mysweet virgin.
“Back off,” I say to my former friends. “I won’t tell you again.”
I loop an arm around Chiara’s waist and haul her to her feet. We’re walking toward my car when Lorenzo steps in front of us.
“Has he fucked you yet?”
Chiara stares at him in revulsion. “I’mseventeen, asshole.”
Lorenzo’s eyes open mockingly wide. “Oh, Salvatore wouldn’t want to break the law, would he?”
Vinicius strolls closer to the fountain as if he’s suddenly interested in the water, but his manner is too casual. I feel Cassius pressing in our other side. Three wolves, circling closer.
I try to guide Chiara to my car, but she pulls out of my grasp and rounds on them, brimming with drunk-girl anger. “Why do you guys even care about that?”
Vinicius smiles a pointed smile. “Isn’t it obvious? We want it for ourselves.”
“It? My virginity? Don’t be disgusting. It’s not some trophy you can hang on the wall! It’s my body and…” She trails off, her inebriated mind stumbling onto another possibility. “Actually, yes, Salvatore has screwed me a dozen times. You can all just go home.”
“Beautiful girls shouldn’t tell ugly lies,” Cassius says. He’s close enough to reach out and touch her. I can see his hand lifting toward her cheek.
I pull Chiara closer and wrap an arm around her waist, giving the others a look of gloating.
She’s mine.
So back off.
“Chiara couldn’t wait to dress up for me tonight, could you, baby? Doesn’t she look delicious? Excuse me, I have to take my bride home.”
Cassius’ jaw is tight with fury. Even Vinicius has dropped his perennial smirk as he watches me walk Chiara away from them.
Lorenzo’s eyes are narrowed and his head turns slowly as he watches our progress. “Better keep a close eye on her, Fiore. You don’t want anything to happen to her between now and your wedding.”
