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“Oh, shut up.” Gia giggled as she looked at the screen again. “He’s fun and I am bored out of my goddamn mind. You want to try it? Say anything, and you’ll get an answer. Honest to god, nothing is too disgusting for this guy.”
“Wow, that’s quite the endorsement. I’m really tempted, but I think I’ll pass.” Valentina said drily.
Then she sighed and picked up the silver dome that covered their meals. Poached salmon, jasmine rice, asparagus spears and hot buttered rolls. Tiramisu for desert, a carafe of white wine and two half-liters of Pellegrino completed the dinner.
Gia looked over Valentina’s shoulder. “Well, it’s a whole lot better than bread and water.”
Valentina sighed, it did feel as though they were being kept prisoners. It was humiliating and embarrassing to think her father would keep them waiting like this before even deigning to speak to them. But of course, that was exactly how Gianni wanted them to feel—degraded. In his eyes, the girls had disgraced the family, and he wanted them to share in that humiliation. To Valentina’s further horror, her father had called for both her doctor and therapist to come to the house to assess Valentina’s state of mind. Although it could not be denied that the episode at the clubhouse was one of the more intense and terrifying episodes, generally speaking Valentina’s flashbacks were coming with less and less frequency. She was getting better every day. She could feel the strength returning to both her mind and body. Valentina could deal with little setbacks along the road to recovery, as a matter of fact she expected them.
It was just too bad that she had to do itthereand worst of all, in front ofhim. It was Hal who had chased away the demons and fought through the past to bring her back to the present.
It. Was. Hal.
How totally, absolutely, and utterly embarrassed Valentina had been when she had come back to her senses to find herself sweating and shaking in his arms.
No, embarrassed didn’t come even close to cutting it.
Humiliated.
Mortified.
Horrified beyond belief.
Having the man who she had been attracted to, intrigued by, and—in her most private thoughts, lusted after— be the one to rescue her from her freak-out fright fest was far worse than any nightmare she had ever experienced.
She must have looked insane.
Valentina’s one fervent prayer over the last few days had been that she would never have to see Hal again.
Never. Ever. Again.
Gia cleared her throat and began,
“Uncle Gianni, let me first say, with respect, we are not children to be kept in our rooms waiting for you to meter out our punishments,” Gia stated bravely.
Gianni responded with annoyed impatience. “Gia, why must you always over dramatize everything? Was your door locked? Was your car not sitting in the driveway? Did anyone remove the keys from your purse? You have always been free to come and go as you please. Is this not true?” When he paused and looked pointedly at Gia, she had the grace to blush.
Then he took a long-suffering breath before he continued, “I understand that you and Valentina are no longer children. My only wish is that you would stop acting like it.”
“Papa, I…” Valentina began.
But Gianni silenced her with a look.
Then his focus was back on his niece. “The first question I would like answered, Gia, this man whose invitation led to this … this …” Gianni waved his hand wildly in the air as he searched his mind unsuccessfully for the English equivalent.
“Uncle Gianni, I think that word you are looking for is shit-storm,”Gia mumbled automatically.
“Ha costui si rovina?”Gianni glared at his niece.
Valentina’s eyes darted up fast to her father then volleyed to her cousin then back to her father again. She leaned forward in her chair dying to hear how her cousin would answer this one—because really, that ship had sailed a long, long time ago.
“Has heruinedme?” Gia looked at her uncle with incredulous wide eyes. Her voice carried a tone that spoke to the ridiculous, absurd, and not to mention insulting way that Gia viewed the notion that she would remain a virgin well into her mid-twenties.
For the very first time in her life, Gia had no words.
“Papa, I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about in that regard.” Valentina broke the tense silence with measured words as she bit down hard on her lip to hide the ghost of a threatening smirk.
“And you were there? In the room with them?” Gianni’s eyes glittered dangerously. His expression of outrage wiped away any evidence of her growing mirth.
