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“Are you fucking her?” Sebastian asks, and I rear my head back.
“No,” I answer smoothly and immediately, though I’m surprised by the question. I run my hands through my hair, frustrated that Sebastian has made such an observation. We have known each other merely a week, but he can already see the writing on the wall. I need to do a much better job of schooling my features, because he picks up on everything.
He sighs.
“Nico. We need her to find whatever it is we are looking for. She is the only one who is remotely capable of figuring out her father’s mess of paperwork. Not only because she is his daughter, but because she is fucking excellent at her job,” he says this like I don’t already know, his eyes not leaving mine. “Regardless of how fucking beautiful she is.” He watches me, and my eyes narrow, not liking him looking at her in that way. The blood starts pumping around my body, and I feel the light flames of possessiveness flicking at my skin. I scratch my neck, frustrated by my reaction.
“Hmmm, just as I thought. You haven’t fucked her, but you want to,” he states, picking his coffee back up and taking another sip. I suddenly want to rip it out of his grasp so I can tell him to stop talking about Emilia like that.
“Be careful, Nico. Business first. Pleasure later. I need you both focused on the work, not each other.”
“Is that what you did with Goldie?” I ask, knowing full well it wasn’t and that I am treading on very thin ice. No one questions Sebastian, especially about Goldie.
Sebastian grunts. “That woman had me by the balls the minute we met,” he says honestly, and I smile. But then he continues. “We need to sort out this shit and we need to sort it out fast. She is the daughter of our enemy, Nico. I think you need to sort out where her loyalties lie before you start making her yours.” And of course he’s right. Business before pleasure, always.
“She is not on his side. She isn’t on anyone’s side. But it’s more than that. She is more than that.” The words leave me before I think about what I am saying.
“What do you mean?” Sebastian looks at me with concern.
What I want to say is that she isn’t just a quick, meaningless, lust-driven fuck. She’s vibrant, and beautiful, and she challenges me. Her pushing me is like an aphrodisiac. Emilia is the kind of woman who will make me work for every inch, every comment, every thought of hers. And what had me sleeping like shit last night was the fact that I want her so badly and not just for sex. I’ve never been so consumed by thoughts of a woman before.
But instead, I say nothing, letting my silence speak for itself. He’s too damn perceptive and knows where my head is at anyway; there’s no point in dragging Emilia into this any more than she already is.
“As I said, business first, Nico. I need you focused,” he says after a moment of silence, eyeing me warily.
I grind my teeth together in thought as the others walk into the room. Sebastian giving me his permission, albeit under his requirement to keep our project as the priority, unlocks a barrier I didn’t even realize existed. Something clicks into place, making that possessive need to make her mine the center of my thoughts. Yet I don’t even know if she feels the same. I can only assume she doesn’t, considering the circumstances I’ve put her under.
She has turned me inside out. I need to get my shit together.
“Boys,” Dante says, taking a seat next to Sebastian, as Carter merely grunts before punching me in the shoulder and taking a seat next to me.
“What’s up with you?” Carter asks me, grinning.
“I’m trying to decide if I liked you better before you met Doc or after,” I snark, finishing my coffee, because he is always so damn happy now. He’s always smiling, and laughter a daily occurrence. The love he has for his new family radiates from him. Before he met Doc, he was a grumpy violent asshole.
“Right,” Sebastian says, pulling us all to attention. “Let’s sort out what we know about this guy, and why he was so comfortable to die in our basement last night. We’re starting from scratch.”
* * *
I crackmy neck to try to relieve the tension building. We have been here all day reviewing footage, looking through facial recognition databases, searching for any possible motive, and my body is tired. I wanted to check in on Emilia today, maybe even bring her back here to work together on some more boxes, but that didn't happen.
As we all get up to leave, my cell rings, and I see it is my sister Sofia. For our daily chat, no doubt.
“Go, Nico, we’ve got it,” Sebastian says, waving me off. I nod as I leave the conference room and pick up the call, making my way through the corridors to my apartment.
“Hey, Sorella,” I say, trying to sound upbeat even though I could fall asleep standing.
“Fratello!” she yells into the phone, and I hear music thumping in the background.
“Where are you?” I ask, refusing to believe she is an adult who can now make her own decisions, being out so late at night.
“I’m out in Milan with Jasmina!” she squeals with a laugh. Who the hell is Jasmina?
“If you are having so much fun, Sorella, why are you calling me?” I push into my apartment and walk quickly down the hall to my bedroom.
“She really is the prettiest woman, Fratello...” Sofia’s voice skims across the phone line, and I huff out in frustration.
“Sorella,” I say in warning, really not in the mood for drunk women to be calling me from parties, not being a party man myself.
