Nine
MASSIMO WAS HAVING dinner with his family when security alerted them to an unexpected guest. It was Ynez, and she was insisting on seeing him.
He excused himself from his family and was stunned to see his ex-girlfriend in the living room, tears streaking down her cheeks and her lip bleeding.
Ynez gestured for Massimo to stop when he attempted to approach her. "No." Her voice was tight and full of pain. The one other time he had heard her speak this way was when she had forced herself to confess to him about someone stalking her in the past, and how it had traumatized her for life.
"I didn't come here to ask you back. But I just want you to tell your f-fiancée —-"
Massimo's jaw clenched at the way Ynez choked at the word.
"Could you please tell her to stop hurting me? She's already won. She has you! Why does she need to have our mother and Zio Arnoldo side with her, too?"
Massimo had to force himself to remain still as Ynez shot him a look of despair before turning away to leave. His honor demanded that he go after her, but logic argued against this. Kindness in any form would only make Ynez hope there was still a chance for them, and that had been their problem in the first place.
Massimo's hellish mood was evident when he rejoined his family in the dining room, and it only worsened when La Strega pointedly asked if he had permitted Ynez to continue visiting him even when he was now engaged to someone else.
"No, I did not. But she is free to do so if she wishes. Ysabel may soon become my wife, but it does not give her any right to dictate my actions."
Seeing how the words infuriated the Marchetti matriarch, Giancarlo smoothly stepped in to steer the conversation to less volatile waters, and the tension in the room gradually eased.
Their staff had just started serving dessert when Sarica casually asked if she could invite Ysabel for coffee, and Penelope noticed the subtle change in Massimo's mood.
Although Sarica was yet to be married to Giancarlo, she had been with the family for years while Penelope had only known them for several weeks. She was new to the entire family, and perhaps that was shy she was the only one among them to realize Massimo's growing displeasure.
The Marchettis' tacit show of approval for Ysabel, as opposed to their equally courteous disinterest in Ynez, had clearly made Massimo feel he was obliged to take his ex-girlfriend's side...since no one else was doing so.
And that wasn't good at all , Penelope thought uneasily, since that might mean Massimo would never be over his guilt for breaking up with Ynez.
TUESDAYS WERE YSABEL'S day off from work, and although she usually still woke up early in the morning despite this, today was different.
So much had happened that she inadvertently ended up sleeping in, and by the time Ysabel woke up, her mother and Zio Arnoldo were already gone. She sleepily shrugged into a bathrobe, but someone started knocking on their door before she could step inside the shower.
What if it was Ynez?
Her sister hadn't returned any of their messages or calls since last night, and Ynez had left her keys in the living room.
Forza, Ysabel.
It wouldn't do her any good to be scared of her own sister, regardless of how violent Ynez tended to be in her rage. She steeled herself for the worst as she opened the door—-
Huh?
Massimo stared down at her, his expression volatile, and so were the words he threw at her in a furious growl. " Porca miseria! Who did this to you?"
Ysabel belatedly remembered the ugly scratches on her face, but when she tried to instinctively cover them, Massimo reached for her hands to lower them down. "I asked you a question," he gritted out.
Ysabel avoided his gaze, saying, "Please come in." She didn't see any good in telling him the truth, especially when Massimo still tended to side with Ynez. While she did understand why that was —-his distrust still hurt, and she didn't think she could deal with even more pain at the moment.
Massimo strode past her without another word, and Ysabel felt like laughing and crying again when she felt the way her senses tingle as she caught a whiff of his aftershave. Could her flesh be any more traitorous and shallow?
This guy had already shown her a glimpse of how furious he could get on her sister's behalf. But instead of worrying over his reaction, all her body seemed to care about was how beautiful and sexy he was, and her heart even dared to skip a beat as she forced herself to turn and face him. Why do I want this man so?
Massimo's teeth clenched as he had a more thorough look at the bright red gashes marking the delicate skin of Ysabel's cheeks. He had come here, intending to demand answers—-
Why had she hurt Ynez?
Had she not promised him she had changed?
So why, dammit?
But one look at his fidanzata 's face, and Massimo had known right away that the truth he sought was more complicated than he expected.
"You still have not answered my question. Who hurt you, Ysabel?"
She shook her head, and his lips tightened. Ynez had come to him last night, sobbing her sister's name out in accusation. While his fidanzata, even with all the ugly red lines marring her face, refused to say a word.
Ysabel couldn't help trembling as she saw him reach for her face.
His fingers grazed over a swollen bruise on her left cheek, and Massimo swore under his breath when she winced involuntarily at his touch.
" Mi dispiace ."
The words had his fidanzata opening and closing her mouth, and it became immediately obvious that Ysabel had a one-track mind when it came to apologies.
"It is too easy to read your thoughts, signorina ."
His cockiness was just too much that Ysabel couldn't help it. Her hand was already up in the air, but before she could even flip him off—-
His reflexes got the better of her once again, and Ysabel could only gasp in shock as Massimo grabbed her wrist, and her finger went straight into his mouth.
Oh!
Wetness pooled between her thighs as Massimo started sucking her finger like it was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted.
She tried pulling her finger away, but her struggles only had his dark eyes gleaming down at her.
"S-Stop..."
And to her shock, he actually did stop.
Huh?
Ysabel was still trying to figure out whether she was more relieved or disappointed when Massimo bent his dark head, and his silky voice slid into her ear like an invisibly seductive caress.
"Never, ciliegina mia."
Ysabel froze, unable to believe what she had just heard. "W-What did you just say?"
Massimo's jaw hardened when he realized what he had let slip. Shit.
"What did you call me?"
"Ciliegina mia..."
He had called her that, too...five years ago. Did that mean anything—-or were those words something he simply used for every woman he dated?
Massimo could not understand why his chest tightened upon seeing the flash of pain in her eyes. Why was she looking at him as if the words he had uttered could destroy her? Had her sister perhaps told her...about the past?
"It was only that one time."
Ysabel's stunned gaze flew up to Massimo when he suddenly spoke in a rough undertone.
"Just one time that I used those same words for Ynez—-"
Ysabel forced herself to smile despite the pain and jealousy clawing at her heart. "I understand."
"Then why do you still look at me like I have stabbed you?"
Because you did.
Ysabel didn't say the words out loud, of course, but the way Massimo's jaw clenched seemed to suggest that he knew what was on her mind.
A part of Massimo rebelled against the idea of having to explain himself, but he just could not get the look of hurt on Ysabel's face out of her mind. He knew, of course, that all of this could be an act, but when he saw her lip start to tremble—-
"I want you to know that this has never happened to me before." His pride could go to hell, as long as it meant that his fidanzata would stop hurting. "And I know this might not make any difference, but I only used those words to describe your sister on the first night we met. After that, I no longer used those words because for some reason...they no longer seemed suitable ."
It took a moment for Ysabel to realize what he was saying, and another moment for her to understand what those words implied.
Oh, amore mio!
Ysabel had to bite her lip hard to keep herself from crying the words out, and after so many years of struggling to deny the truth of her feelings—-
I love him.
Ysabel knew in her guts that Massimo was telling her the truth, and even though he didn't know it yet—-
He loves me, too.
Because that was what his admission amounted to.
Massimo loved her!
And since this changed everything, she found herself vigorously shaking her head, which then caused Massimo to stare at her in bemusement.
"I understand."
Massimo's mood turned wary. Were they okay then...just like that? His fights with Ynez were often long and ugly, with his ex-girlfriend sending voice messages to his phone that were full of raging screams and swear words.
"It's not like my sister has a trademark on those words, and besides..."
Her cheeky tone nearly had him smirking, just because.
"It's true, isn't it?"
"What's true?"
"That I'm your little cherry... duh. "
This time, Massimo was no longer able to keep the smirk off his lips, which then caused Ysabel to laugh, and the sound of it was...
Fuck!
Massimo knew he should stop comparing the two sisters to each other, but how could he when Ysabel was showing more and more similarities to the girl he had imagined Ynez would be? The girl he had met at the funhouse might have been fiery, but it was also clear to see that she had a sense of humor, just like what Ysabel was showing now...and Ynez never did.
Ysabel suddenly crossed her arms and looked at him challengingly, and Massimo asked, "What?"
"Aren't you going to say anything?" Ysabel asked in her best imitation of La Strega 's imperious voice. "I already admitted I'm your little cherry—-"
Massimo suddenly hauled her close, and the rest of what she had to say was replaced with a whimper.
Aaah!
Instead of kissing her as she was already breathlessly waiting for him to do, Massimo's fingers gripped her hair as he pulled her head back...so he could start sucking on her neck.
Oh!
She knew right away he was avoiding kissing her or touching her face because of her wounds and bruises, and his tenderness made her fall for him all over again...even as every part of her body burned in desire.
"Massimo..."
His name slipped past her lips in an aching whisper, and in the blink of an eye, she found herself gasping as he had her pressed against the cold, smooth glass of the windows in their living room.
"No!"
Her parents' apartment might be on the fourth floor, and the windows fully tinted, but Ysabel still felt mortifyingly exposed, and more so when she felt Massimo reach under her robe.
"S-Stop..."
But her protest quickly turned into a moan as his hands cupped the cheeks of her ass before giving them a tight, hard squeeze.
"I...I w-want to stay a virgin!"
The panicky claim was supposed to stop him, but all it did was make Massimo release a soft, lazy laugh that had her bare toes curling against the floor.
"And so you will, ciliegina mia. "
Her knees buckled as soon as Massimo purred the words straight into her ears.
"But in the meantime, we can still enjoy each other's flesh... sì? "
She could no longer answer him coherently, with his fingers already tracing her folds over the shamefully soaked fabric of her panties.
Up. Down. Up. Down. Uuuuuuuup. Dooooooown.
That was just how long she lasted.
That was just how much she wanted him.
And she couldn't even make herself feel angry when she heard Massimo chuckle as her body writhed helplessly in her release.
Yes, yes, yes.
Ysabel felt as if she was floating, and lost as she was in a haze of desire, she couldn't even put up a token of resistance as Massimo guided her to the couch before going down on one knee and cleaning her up with his handkerchief.
Massimo struggled to make sense of his feelings as he gazed down at his fidanzata. Ynez had often warned him about Ysabel's ability to fool and manipulate the people around her. She's so good at pretending to be nice, Mas. I'm just so scared if you let her close, she'll get her claws into you, too.
It was one of the reasons he had avoided Ynez's sister in the years they had been dating, and it was those words that now taunted him in his mind. Had he not come here, furious on Ynez's behalf and intent on demanding answers? So how had it ended this way?
"Massimo?"
He remained on his knee even as her searching gaze collided with his. "Cos'è?" What is it?
"You never answered my question either. Why did you come here?"
A shuttered expression fell over his features as the uncertainty of her tone threatened to break the walls around his heart.
Because I was furious with you for hurting Ynez.
That was the truth...but as he gazed at the scratches that cut into the soft skin of his fidanzata 's face, Massimo could feel his anger finding a new target in his ex-girlfriend, and he then heard himself say, "I came here...to make things official."