Chapter 4
Emma
“W hat was that all about ?” Krista set her towel on a chair and narrowed her eyes.
I sighed, wishing I could have another chance to put that damn guy in his place. He’d helped himself in here, then didn’t even back down? Where were his manners? Didn’t they train them? Not only that, but he had the gall to talk back to me!
“The maintenance staff.” I gestured at the doorway to the room where the rear sliding door opened to the balcony. She had her own unit next to mine, but it was only my condo that had a trespasser.
“A janitor?” She huffed. “No, he looked like a hot cop.”
I slanted her a disproving smirk. “Cop?” We knew what the cops looked like, and they were every mafia member’s enemy. That man—
“Dammit!” I slapped my fist against my thigh.
“What?”
“I didn’t get his name.”
“Um...” She raised her brows. “Why would you?”
So I can have a name to the face. The face of one of the hottest men who’d ever walked the earth. While I wanted another chance to put him in his place, I was also grateful for the reprieve. His absence made the room feel lighter. It was easier to breathe without him here. I didn’t know how to explain it, but that cocky jerk had one of those vibes. Larger than life. Commanding. His masculinity was unmissable, from his lean facial features, the wise eyes, and that sharp attitude.
Whoever he was, he made an impression. A bad one, of course. He didn’t seem at all sorry for walking in when I didn’t hear him because I had my earbuds in. His apology felt more like a trite procedure to spew by rote. And the nerve of him, checking me out like that... I caught his expression in the reflection of a low pane of glass from another door leading to the kitchen. Thank goodness I wasn’t facing the door, because if I’d flashed him, I—
“Em?”
I flinched, jarred back to the moment. “I need his name to report him to management.” Crossing my arms over the towel, I tried to look defiant and poised.
She groaned. “Are you even dressed for the pool yet?”
“No. I was in the process of changing when I was interrupted.”
A sly smile crossed her face. “Ohhh...”
“No. There’s no ohhh there. He’s to blame for my lock not working. I may as well set a damn welcome mat out there for anyone walking by.” I slumped to the sofa, spent on too many emotions.
Anger at that worker not even caring about invading my privacy. Nervousness that I’d stayed here without a decent lock. The smidge of awareness that I felt toward that guy wasn’t helpful. It’d been a long time since a man caught my eye, but him? Some crude worker who thought he had any right to check me out like that? Or talk back to me?
Lurking the deepest, though, was the worry.
Did one of Antonio’s men come in here last night? I hated to bear the idea that I had been vulnerable to be spied on. Ever since the marriage was arranged, Antonio liked to dabble with stalking me. He’d send creepy gifts and notes. Anytime our paths crossed at parties and dinners, he’d stare after me the entire time.
When I saw the sliding glass door open, my first thought was that Antonio had followed me and Krista to the Tropican. That he was on my tail, eager to force me into this marriage sooner rather than later.
His possessive nature terrified me. Considering it could’ve been him or one of his men, I sank into a spiral of dread.
“Emma.” Krista’s tone was gentle and placating, like it often was of late. If not for her, I wouldn’t have any support system for my unraveling life. “You can’t even know if anyone did come in here last night.”
“We’ve been here for a week,” I told her as she sat next to me. Her hand was warm and soothing as she rubbed my back, and I leaned into her. “A week without Antonio following me at home. He can’t be taking it well that he doesn’t have immediate access to me.”
“How could he know you’re here ?”
“The Tropican is a Giordino property.”
She nodded. “Yeah, but you didn’t tell your dad where you went, right?”
I furrowed my brow at her. “You know I didn’t.” She’d packed as hastily as I did and watched me scrawl a simple note to him: I’m going out of town for a while. The note was short but not sweet. I wished I could’ve made it a farewell forever note.
I’d turned my phone off, too, not wanting him to track me here. When we left, I fretted that he’d assume I was running away, but I knew better. And he knew I knew better. If I tried to bolt, he’d have his men find me. If I tried to hide, it’d send a bad sign to the Marcheses and they’d declare war. I didn’t want all that blood on my hands, and my father was all too aware that I didn’t. I was a rule follower because I never wanted to cause more trouble or death.
What a twisted way to live.
“Let’s circle back to the door.”
I nodded, preferring to analyze facts.
“The door was slid open a little bit, right?”
“Yes. And I know I shut it.” For one, the AC was on and if the door wasn’t sealed shut, it would’ve defeated the purpose of chilling the air that could escape.
“Yeah. But could you have opened it up again?”
I shook my head but frowned as I thought back through the night. “No.”
She raised her brows. “In the week that we’ve been here, we’ve been sitting on the balconies and having some wine.”
We had been. Either here, behind my condo or at hers.
“Not last night. It rained.”
“I stepped outside for a few minutes after the rain came.”
Dammit. She didn’t believe me. “I did too. But I know I closed that door.” A woman trying to avoid the prospect of being pawned off in a marriage she didn’t want wouldn’t be that careless with security. I couldn’t fight the arrangement, but until I was announced as Antonio’s fiancée, until he ensnared me, I would cling to my privacy for as long as I could. I’d defend it, too.
“Nothing was stolen, right?”
I shook my head. I knew what she was doing, trying to suggest that if someone trespassed, it was just any old person.
“Nothing happened to you.”
I cringed but shook my head again. All my clothes had been intact. The camera in my room showed nothing. The first time Antonio “got lost” in my home and ended up in my room, I woke up and screamed so loud that he said it rivaled the screeches from the traitors he tortured. Since that day, I kept a camera hidden in my room.
Yet another thing I’ll have to stop when we marry. I’ll be in his bed. All his to do with as he pleases. A sob built in my chest.
“So maybe...”
I stood, hating that she was picking at my story. “So maybe someone didn’t open that door and I left it open.” I didn’t. Even that sexy, hulking guy suggested that I needed evidence to prove that someone had been in here. “Fine. Whatever. The fact remains, though, that the resort knew that lock was acting funky. And they didn’t replace it on time.”
“Well, we did show up sort of unexpected. And you demanded this condo.”
“Because it’s the furthest from everything else.” I rubbed my brow, tired of holding up this towel.
My life was ending, and here I was being so stupid to think I could hide for a little while and have fun. This dread and anxiety combination wasn’t fun. It was hell.
Between the worry that Antonio was stalking me and the annoyance with that man who showed up and dared to check me out the way he had...
I groaned, so aggravated that I felt like everything was spinning out of my control so fast that I no longer could tell which end was up.
“Okay. You need to calm the hell down, sis.”
I heaved out a deep breath. “I don’t know if I can anymore.”
She stood and nodded. “Yeah. And I’ll help you. Forget about swimming. Let’s go out and have fun.”
I wished I could. She knew how to party better than I did, but with how on edge I felt at the moment, I wasn’t sure I could even attempt to be fun.
“We’re going out. We’ll get some drinks. Dance. And just let loose. It’s been too damn long since we hit up a club.”
All that would accomplish was...nothing. Getting drunk and then sweaty from dancing didn’t appeal. It would be a limited distraction. A Band-Aid on the situation, not a solution.
“If that sexy man working on the lock didn’t interest you...”
I smirked. I was too busy wanting to fight with him to get close to admitting interest.
“...then we’ll find some other men more your type at the club. It’s worth a shot at least. Because if you wanna lose that V card to someone other than Antonio, chop.” She clapped her hands twice and I tried to smile at her enthusiasm.
I’d only said that on a whim. It felt nothing more than wishful thinking that I could choose a man I’d want to have sex with—at least once in my life.