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“I’m sorry, guys, I’m not feeling very well. That’s what I get for eating stuff from the craft table at my photo shoot today,” Natalia says, rubbing her flat stomach for dramatics before I even have a chance to fake being sick.
“Are you okay?” Luca asks his sister.
“Oh, my dear, that’s a shame. I was looking forward to getting to know you,” Elek says.
“Another day,” I say, smiling at him. When pigs fly.
“Yes, that sounds lovely.” Elek grins.
“I’m going to take Natalia home and make sure she’s okay,” I tell them.
“Maybe you should head to Mamma’s instead, she’ll know how to look after you, Nat,” Giorgio suggests to his sister as his eyes narrow on me.
“I know how to look after my wife,” I tell Giorgio.
Natalia reaches out for me and squeezes my arm, letting me know she’s got this. Before Gio can argue further, she says, “I’ll be seeing her tomorrow for the charity lunch. If I still feel unwell, I’ll go home with her then.”
Her brother seems surprised but drops it. I place a hand on her back and say our goodbyes, then escort her out of the restaurant.
30
NATALIA
My phone is blowing up on my way home from the restaurant.
“Your brothers, are they worried about you?” Alessandro asks.
“They are overprotective,” I tell him, shoving my phone back into my bag as we arrive home, too annoyed with them to answer it.
“You hungry? I can whip us up something. Maybe not lobster or steak, but it will fill you up enough to make it to the gym,” he teases.
I playfully slap his hard arm. “He was an asshole. I don’t know why our families are fighting over him, ew.”
“Unfortunately, that asshole has good hotels in great locations that would be great in either of our portfolios,” he explains.
“Still, he’s going to make a lot of money out of the deal, and I hate that someone like him will win,” I tell him.
“Welcome to the real world, princess,” he says as we step inside.
“I’m not a naïve person,” I say angrily as I storm inside.
“I wasn’t saying you were,” Alessandro says, following after me.
“Yes, you were,” I argue back. “You like to think because I have a title that you and I are different. We’re not,” I snip at him and storm further into the house, leaving him behind.
“That’s not at all what I’m saying. Don’t lump me in with someone like Elek,” he argues back.
Whirling around, I stop and poke my fingers into his hard chest. “You’re a Conti.”
“You love to make me out to be the villain, Natalia. But don’t forget your brothers were there tonight, too. They could have done something, but they didn’t, it was me. Me, a fucking Conti, that saved you from having to deal with that asshole.”
He’s right.
And I’m also hangry, so that isn’t helping my mood. But now I’ve started this stupid fight, I’m going to have to either agree with him—which is going to cause me immense agony—or I’m going to have to distract him.
“Don’t talk about my family,” I say, poking him again.
“We’re back to poking again?” He groans as I poke him again. “Stop fucking poking.”
