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“Nod and smile, isn’t that what you told me?” I asked.
A shaky breath shuddered out of her, and she chuckled lightly. “Your family really is something, Luca.”
“Now you see why I keep my distance,” I said, smiling at her.
I meant it as a joke, but when Scarlett looked up at me, there was no amusement in her expression.
“You should be better about that,” she said then. “They love you, I can tell. And they miss you. You’re the only son…”
I sighed heavily. I was aware of everything she was saying. I’d heard it countless times before from each of my family members at different times in my life. My mother, mostly. She never let me forget it.
“I know it doesn’t look that way, but I try,” I said, pulling her a little closer, wanting the comfort her warmth always brought. “For Leo’s sake. I try.”
She gave a small nod and allowed the topic to die down. I was grateful for it, because I wasn’t in the mood to keep rehashing my family drama all night.
“He’s a great kid,” Scarlett said then, her eyes finding Leo where he was still playing around with Gabby. “And you’re a great dad.”
I looked at her then, totally caught off guard. The sincerity in her voice couldn’t be missed, and her eyes seemed to have misted over for some unknown reason. I suddenly wanted to know it. It felt like there was so much distance between us lately, even with her body so close to mine on the dance floor. Like she was just out of my reach no matter how tightly I held on.
“I’m not that great,” I replied, letting my walls down. It was a new feeling for me, but she made it easy. She made me want to. “I know I work too much. I’m missing out on everything.”
Scarlett moved her hand from my shoulder and brushed my cheek with the back of her fingers, her gaze burning right through me.
“You’re running a billion dollar empire, Luca. Leaving a legacy for him,” she said. “I haven’t known you that long, but I know you make time. Chris doesn’t have a bad thing to say about you and Leo.”
Her brother’s name settled between us like an immovable block of ice. I knew she felt it too because she dropped her hand to my shoulder as she created a more respectable dance space between our bodies.
“There has to be a way,” I whispered, snaking my arm around her waist to keep her from moving further away. “We can figure it out.”
Scarlett started to say something, but Allegra, my other sister, appeared out of nowhere. She’d been dancing close by with her husband that whole time.
“You two…” She wiggled her eyebrows at us suggestively. “What’s really going on here?”
Her husband, Paul, said nothing but fixed us both with a knowing smile.
“Mind your business, Allegra,” I told her in Italian.
Growing up in a home with nosy sisters had scarred me, and I wasn’t about to dissect my train wreck of a love life on the dance floor with her.
Of course, in true Moretti fashion, Allegra didn’t back down. “Oh, Luca, a blind man can see she’s not just your employee,” she rattled off, also in Italian.
It was like we were having a private conversation out loud. I glanced at Scarlett, who kept her expression unreadable, and decided to stick to speaking in our native tongue. For her sake.
“Whatever you think you see… it’s none of your business; there will never be anything here!” I said also in Italian.
Allegra shrugged, shaking her head at me. “You’re going to die alone if you keep this up,” she said, right before Paul twirled her away.
Something passed behind Scarlett’s eyes but disappeared before I could pinpoint it.
“Bathroom,” she muttered, pulling out of my arms.
And it was only once I saw her get swallowed up into the villa that I realized, with her expertise in languages, of course, she understood every single word my sister and I had said.
Chapter 22
Scarlett
Thebathroomwassurprisinglydeserted given the extensive guest list, giving me the moment of isolation I desperately needed.
