Chapter 35
Thirty-Five
REGINA
I now have one thing in common with Giovanni Ravera. I adore clay pigeon shooting.
I also love the fact that I can dress comfortably for the occasion, and jeans and a cozy jumper are paired with what they call a shooting jacket and boots.
Safety goggles protect my eyes, and as we stand in their impressive ocean-fronted garden, the general buzz of competition runs like electricity through my veins.
Nico and his brothers are also super competitive, and I’m relieved that Desiree hangs back with Sophia and Katrina, who appear not to share my love of firing bullets at inanimate objects. If anything, the three women are bored and hold their steaming mulled wine with expressions of pure tedium.
Giovanni calls me over to his side, and my heart lurches as Nico whispers huskily, “That’s unusual.”
“Is it?”
He gently pushes me forward, and I wonder if I’m about to be banished to wait with the women.
Vito doesn’t appear too happy about my participation. I’m guessing he believes a woman’s place is in the bedroom, and as I head toward them, Giovanni’s enigmatic expression gives absolutely nothing away.
“Regina.”
He crooks his finger at me, and I head toward him with the smile of a fool.
Nico’s eyes are burning into my back. I feel him; it’s impossible not to because, for some reason, my entire body is in tune with his.
There is something connecting us, more than with any man I have met before, and I wonder if it’s due to the duplicitous nature of our relationship.
We are fooling his family, and I wonder if his father has guessed.
“I like how you shot the first round.”
“You do?” I’m surprised because Giovanni shot every single clay and missed none, whereas I missed several.
“You have a good eye, and I’m interested in a small wager between us. A personal competition if you like.”
Vito’s smirk alerts me to the fact this probably won’t end well for me, and I say nervously, “I don’t begin to believe I can beat you, Giovanni, but I’ll give it a go at least.”
If anything, a gleam of admiration lights his eyes, and a soft smile replaces the usual enigmatic stare.
“Best of five. If you win–” he pauses and pins me with a dark glare, “I will invest in your business.”
I’m surprised because he made no secret of his belief that a wife shouldn’t have a business outside of marriage.
He continues, “If I win–” His eyes flash with danger, “You sit beside me at dinner.”
I’m a little confused but shrug, “Then it appears I have won already.”
Giovanni laughs out loud and Vito grins, a slight shake of his head telling me I’m probably wrong about that. For some reason, the two men scare me half to death, and I wonder why.
Giovanni hands me the rifle, and I’m surprised when he gives me tips and instructions in a low voice. It’s almost as if he wants me to be successful. He is taking time to explain best practice and I’m grateful for it.
Vito watches with interest, as do the rest of the party. It’s as if I am the entertainment, and I wonder about that.
However, as I position the rifle as Giovanni showed me, my heart beats fast as he roars, “Pull!”
I steel myself and watch carefully for the clay and as it hurtles into the air, I take aim and fire.
I catch a corner of the clay and watch as it comes crashing down, and Giovanni appears to be impressed with that.
Four more clays are fired in succession, and I mange to shoot three of them in total.
As I surrender the rifle to him, my heart is beating furiously and my hands are shaking because that was intense. I never realized how much concentration it took me to fire five shots, and the rifle was heavy and uncomfortable to handle.
“Well done, Regina, you did well.”
I’m flushing with pride as I accept the compliment and then retreat to stand beside Vito while Giovanni takes his turn.
As expected, he shoots all five clays with a precision that impresses me, and as Vito takes his turn, he manages four.
The others step forward to replace us, and as Giovanni guides me back to the rest of the onlookers, he whispers, “I guess we’ll have a lot to talk about at dinner, Regina.”
I swallow my nerves because something is telling me I was set up for a grilling tonight. This man isn’t stupid. I’m almost convinced he doesn’t buy our story, and now I’m going to be interrogated over my relationship with his son, and God help us both if he discovers the true nature of it.
Simeon is the overall winner, and we celebrate with champagne on the veranda overlooking the ocean. There is a chill in the air despite the huge heaters attempting to chase the ice away, and as I sit beside Nico, I love how his arm rests on my shoulder as I snuggle as close to him as possible.
“You did well, baby girl.” He kisses me on the cheek, and I sense Desiree embracing her inner serial killer as she slays me with imaginary daggers.
“Not well enough. I’m to be seated beside your father at dinner tonight.”
Nico’s eyes flash. “I wondered what his reason was for challenging you.”
“I’m a little nervous.” I whisper so nobody can hear us, and Nico squeezes my shoulder.
“It will be good. I have every faith in you.”
Sophia is doing her best to entertain Katrina, who looks bored out of her mind. Vito ignores her, and so does Desiree, who is chatting to Julius, who has stepped up to entertain her.
Nico whispers, “I’m shocked that Julius is so attentive.”
“Why does that shock you?”
“He isn’t one for polite conversation, especially with a woman like Desiree.”
“Perhaps he likes her.”
“I’m not buying it. Something isn’t adding up.”
I glance over and note Desiree leaning closer to Julius, smiling at something he says and, almost as if she can sense my attention, her eyes flick to mine and the pure disdain in them causes me to groan inside. She hates me.
Luckily, Sophia announces that we should all head inside where a celebratory lunch will be served. As we follow her, I’m on edge because this is the strangest Christmas I have ever experienced.