Chapter 22 #2
"So basically, it’s all in the wrist," he concludes, a patronizing chuckle escaping him. "Most people think it's about raw power, like your husband out there, but it's really about finesse. You have to slice under the ball right at the moment of—"
He suddenly cuts himself off, his sentence trailing into nothing as he glances around the empty patio. His smile falters, replaced by a deep, suspicious frown. "Wait a minute. Where the hell did Alessandro go? A towel doesn't take this long."
He sets his water bottle down on the glass table and starts to rise to his feet.
A spike of pure panic hits my chest. If Nino goes looking for him right now, he’ll catch Alessandro in the middle of whatever covert move he's pulling, and the entire operation will blow up in our faces.
I don't think. I just act.
"Oh, come on, Nino," I giggle, the sound bright, airy, and completely unbothered.
Before he can fully stand up, I lean across the small gap between our lounge chairs.
I reach out and place my hand gently on his forearm, my touch light but deliberate enough to make him freeze.
I give his arm a playful, reassuring squeeze, looking up at him through my eyelashes with a perfectly practiced, mesmerizing smile.
"You know how Alessandro is," I say softly, lowering my voice to an intimate, conspiratorial murmur that forces him to lean back down just to hear me.
"He has a big ego. You completely humiliated him on the court just now. He’s probably hiding in the locker room, brooding and trying to recover his pride. "
Nino blinks down at my hand on his arm, the sudden proximity and harmless flirting catching him completely off guard. The suspicion in his eyes momentarily battles with his massive vanity.
"Is that so?" he asks, his tone dropping as a smug, slow grin creeps back onto his face. He doesn't move away from my touch.
"Absolutely," I tease, letting out a soft laugh as I slowly slide my hand back, brushing my fingers lightly against his wrist before resting my chin back in my palm. "Honestly, it’s quite refreshing to see someone finally stand up to him. His does have quite an ego sometimes."
The bait works. Nino sinks all the way back into his cushions, completely trapped by the attention of the Don's beautiful wife, his suspicion entirely melting away under a fresh wave of arrogance.
To make absolutely sure he stays anchored to the spot, I take the space next to him on the bench.
I keep him talking, but as he goes on and on about his victories, I notice the gleam in his eyes shifting.
It's getting more and more sinister, a slimy, familiar confidence taking over. He’s actively flirting back now, leaning in a little too close, his gaze dropping to my lips.
A cold sweat pricks at the back of my neck. I internally swear, wondering where the hell Giulia and Alessandro are. Someone needs to save me from this mess before I have to break character and this man's nose.
"Why are you both on the same bench?"
The voice drops like an anvil.
We both whirl at the sound of Alessandro's deep baritone.
He is standing a few feet away, looking completely enraged.
His eyes are fixed on the small distance between Nino and me, a dark, terrifying storm cloud brewing on his face.
Seriously, what crawled up his ass? He's the one who told me to distract him.
Nino, entirely too drunk on his own ego and his padel victory, just grins and relaxes against the bench. "Relax, Alessandro. I was just giving your lovely wife a few tips to play padel better. Since your not the proper role model for that."
The insult hangs heavily in the air. The temperature on the patio plummets, and for a second, I’m certain Alessandro is going to draw a weapon. But to my absolute surprise, Alessandro controls himself. He tightens his jaw so hard I hear the bone click, staying cool instead of openly exploding.
“Careful, Nino.”
Just then, Giulia returns from the gardens, pocketing her phone and completely breaking the suffocating tension. "Sorry about that, everyone. The caterer had a massive—" She stops, sensing the absolute venom vibrating between the three of us.
I notice Alessandro's mood deteriorating the longer we stand there, his aura turning completely lethal. I know it’s time to leave before someone actually dies.
I walk over slightly toward Alessandro, touching his arm. "I’d like to leave now. The sun is getting a bit too harsh."
Without a single word, he nods, his movements stiff. "We're leaving," he announces flatly.
I offer a tight, polite smile to Giulia. "Thank you for the game, Giulia. It was wonderful meeting you."
"Goodbye, Sienna," she says quickly, looking incredibly nervous now.
We turn to walk away, but Nino just can't help himself. He raises his bottle, teasing us loudly as we head down the stone path toward the car. "Don't forget to practice that backhand, Alessandro! And remember, I'll be expecting that apology in front of the council next week!"
Alessandro doesn't look back, but his stride is heavy enough to crack the pavement, and I know the ride home is going to be a completely different kind of dangerous.
The second the heavy car doors slam shut, cutting us off from the rest of Melvitto Garden, Alessandro explodes.
"What the hell was that back there, Sienna?" he roars, slamming his palm against the steering wheel. "You were sitting on the bench with him. You were touching his arm. Why the fuck were you flirting with him?"
I stare at him, my own temper flaring up at his sheer hypocrisy. "I was doing exactly what you told me to do! You looked me dead in the eyes and whispered 'distract him.' He was about to get up and hunt you down, Alessandro!"
"I told you to keep him talking, not throw yourself at him!" Alessandro fires back, his knuckles white as he grips the wheel.
His chest heaves, his dark eyes flashing with a raw, unhinged fury. "I do not want any man looking at you the way Nino was looking at you. I don't want another man's hands near you, and I damn well won't watch my wife stroke some traitor's ego on a bench!"
"Well, next time don’t tell me to distract anyone!" I snap, crossing my arms and glaring out the windshield. "Figure out your own damn reconnaissance if you can't handle how I get the job done."
Before the last word can fully leave my mouth, his large hand wraps firmly around the front of my throat. It’s not enough to choke me, but the sheer power behind it pins me completely in place.
With one fluid, deceptively powerful jerk, he pulls me entirely out of the passenger seat and drags me right across the center console onto his lap in the driver's seat.
I yelp, the sudden loss of gravity catching me completely off guard as my hands scramble to grab his broad shoulders for balance. My breath hitches, my heart hammering against my ribs as I find myself straddling his lap, forced to look directly down into the dark, possessive storm in his eyes.