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“I’m Jase.” I peek over my shoulder to see Jase standing there. At least he put a shirt on.
“The fuck?”
“Motherfucker. I knew it.” Both my brothers let their cursing fly.
My father only stares over my head at Jase. My brothers keep bickering about how Bianca let me go work for him and whatever else. I’m not really paying attention to them. My focus is on my father.
“Why are you in my daughter's home?” My father finally speaks.
“Dad!” I hiss. I think we all know why, and it doesn’t need to be spelled out.
“I enjoy spending time with her.” I can feel Jase step closer to me. His body comes into contact with mine.
“Oh, is that what the kids are calling it these days? Spending time together?” Gio grumbles. I’m going to kill them. My face is on fire at this point with how mortified I am.
“He’s a doctor! How are we kids?!” I rush to respond, wanting this encounter to be over with. They’re going to scare Jase away. My smart, gentle giant.
“Don’t,” Jase snaps at my brother. It actually startles me. He’s always calm or a bit flustered with his words. But not right now, he’s not. “You’re making Lucia uncomfortable.” Gio actually shuts his mouth, shocking the heck out of me.
“Get dressed. We’ll talk downstairs,” my father orders.
“Is that what you want, Lucia?” Jase asks me, not taking what my dad said as an order. My father’s head slightly cocks to the side. I think he might like that Jase isn’t going to let someone tell me what to do.
“Yeah, downstairs sounds good.” To be honest, I would say just about anything to get them out of here.
“I’ll be waiting,” my dad responds before turning and taking my brothers with him.
“I’m sorry,” I tell Jase as I turn to face him. “My family is a lot, but they mean well.” I’m sure after this, I’ll never see him again.
CHAPTER 15
JASE
“What’s your name?” barks Lucia’s father. The three men in her life are lined up shoulder to shoulder in the dining room. Their arms are crossed over their chests, their elbows almost bumping each other, grim, flat-lipped expressions on their faces. Even for someone as bad as I am at reading people, their message of intimidation and disapproval is clear. Too bad I’m not affected by this sort of thing.
“Jason Ali.”
“Dr. Jason Ali,” Lucia adds with emphasis on the doctor. I barely suppress a smile at her stance, which mirrors the men’s. You put these four anywhere, and everyone would know that they were in the same family.
“Like an actual doctor or what?” Giovanni booms.
“No. He’s a lab doctor. A fake one with just the initials,” inserts the other brother. His glower is so fierce he could probably brown the sugar on Lucia’s crème brûlée.
“I’ve got an MD,” I reply, “but it’s fairer to say that I’m one with just the initials since I don’t do surgeries or see patients. I’m a research doctor.”
“He’s finding a cure for Alzheimer’s by destroying plaque,” Lucia says. She might tip over if her chin goes out any farther. I find this inexplicably charming and way too sexy for the circumstances.
I clear my throat and turn back to her family. “I’ve got a couple medical patents that have earned me several millions over the past five years. My current position is funded by a pharmaceutical company as well as my own money. Given the importance of my medical patents, I could lose my job and never be able to work again but suffer no change in living circumstances. All of this is not said to brag but to answer your question that yes, I can provide for your daughter.”
Giovanni seems to thaw a little at the edges, but the other brother is still angry. “Why were you upstairs?”
“Oh, for crying out loud,” Enzo breaks formation and pushes at his brother. “We’re not five. Lucia’s a whole-ass adult with a business. She can be in her apartment with a man if she wants.”
“Exactly. Thank you.” Lucia loosens up a little too.
“How much money did you say your patents made because I’ve got a—” Enzo doesn’t get to finish before Lucia is on him, beating him over the head with a napkin she swiped off a table.
Gio tries to drag her off. Out of nowhere, the woman with the white shoes comes flying in. She launches herself onto Gio’s back.
“Don’t touch Lucia!” she yells. “What are you doing, Daddy? Help us!” she snarls over her shoulder.
Papa Giovanni grimaces. “Boys, leave your sisters alone.”
“Lucia’s the one that’s hurting me,” says Enzo from somewhere under the pile.
“You deserve it for this and for all the things you used to do to me when I was a kid. I know you were the one that decapitated my Aviator Barbie!” Lucia yells.
