“Just get up!” I tell him, heading for the door in an attempt to be downstairs as hastily as I can manage. “We are still nothing to one another until I know it’s entirely safe.” I know it’s not what he wants to hear, but it’s the truth. “Until it’s safe, we play it cool. Now hurry up.”
I leave Zane behind, loathing the feel of damp clothing back on my body, but what else can I do? I left no time to change, so I’m left in the clothes I threw on before going down for breakfast, the same ones that got drenched when I allowed myself to cave to Zane’s whim. The only thing that’s different about me is the persona I’m now wearing. The broken girl I thought I was stuck being isn’t so broken and all it took was intimacy with a man I trust most.
However, when I walk into the room, I see the devil himself knows full well what Zane and I have been doing. It only worsens when Zane walks in behind.
“I hear you are getting overly friendly with my daughter, Maverick.” My father’s first remark is brought forward with derision and he’s unable to give Zane or me any eye contact as he shuffles papers to tidy his desk. Once done, he stands up, only now giving Zane some direct attention. “Is that part of our deal?”
“No, sir,” Zane answers, trying to hide all the nervous energy from his voice.
“Then why are you doing it?” he asks, giving Zane the deadliest of looks. “I didn’t realize I offered the opportunity to take advantage of my daughter when you were alone. I only asked her to give you a grand tour, not give you the chance to get into her panties. Men who take advantage of my daughter in such a way will feel the price of that, Maverick. So, do you want to think again before you defy me?”
“It’s all on me,” I interject quickly. I gulp, knowing that if I answer one person will be put out, but to offer Zane a chance, I take a steady breath. “It means nothing to me, Sal. I just wanted sex.” I look behind me as I speak. “Sorry, Zane. What you said was nice, but I just wanted some fun.”
I see the hurt on his face and my heart bleeds from the cracks his expression creates. I know I could tell the truth, but I worry what will happen if my father knew the intimacy we were caught in was sincere. I know how my father works the majority of the time and it’s neither pleasant nor yearned for, so I have to do damage control and make my father think I feel otherwise for Zane.
I turn back, square my shoulder, and focus myself on my father and ready for the finalization on fooling my father. “I got greedy, Sal. Zane had no input in this. I seduced him to get what I wanted and I got it. He’s still very much here to be a part of the Dio Lavoro. We are nothing to one another. I fooled him into thinking that I want him.”
“Do you love him?” my father questions, walking around his desk.
I steady myself – answer too soon and he’ll know it’s a lie, take too long and he’ll guess that, too. I shake my head before I say, “No. He broke my heart twice; I won’t put myself out there for a third time. I just needed something to lessen the tension.”
“Kind of like your own initiation?” my father asks, sitting on the edge of his desk.
“Yes, exactly that, I guess. I wanted him to feel what it felt like when I tell him I love him only to walk away.” I take a deeper inhalation than normal. “If he can survive that and still want to be here then I guess he’s a keeper.”
My father’s first response is to laugh at me. “Whether he has sex with you or not, Amelia, is irrelevant. He’s here to stay. You know death is the only way out of this life. He’s too deep already and he has the same fate as the rest of us.” My father stands, approaches, and stops just before me. “I’m just disappointed you’re turning into a little a whore right under my nose. Will I find you screwing Lorenzo next time?”
“Maybe,” I comment, giving a small smirk. “Depends who I fancy next.” I give a nonchalant shrug, redeeming my guise my father believes is the new me. “I always did fancy Matty, maybe he’ll be next.”
“You’re just testing me now,” my father grinds out, his face reddening. “If you’re going to be a little slut, take it outside of business personnel.”
“We’ll see,” I mock, laughing a little. “Zane was today’s flavor; we’ll see who I fancy next. There’s not really a damn thing you can do about it either, Salvatore.”
“You cannot go around doing this,” my father comments, shaking his head in dismay. “You used to believe in love, now you’re just becoming cheap.”
“Well, I wouldn’t know what real love was because every time I’ve felt it, it’s been stolen from me. Each time hasn’t gotten any easier, so I’d rather throw around a lot of lies to get what I wanted than get a lot of broken hope. Zane was just the second victim in that after Lorenzo.”
“Seems that Zane feels another way,” my father notes, nodding at Zane.
I look behind me, meet the eyes of the man who I love so strongly, and just see utter hate. I can barely apologize or backtrack when he shoots me a deathly glare and begins to back away. Zane leaves the room totally humiliated, and I’m left wondering if trying to save both our asses has just cost me my chance of happiness – again.