Page 160 of Alessio

Alessio winked back.

“Right,” she whispered.

He didn’t fault her for wanting to keep an eye on her sisters, though. She had been forced away from them for so long, now, that she tried to make up for lost time. Already, Greta was now in her senior year of high school, and Giulia asked to go to Siena’s almost as much as she wanted to stay with Ginevra.

Alessio didn’t think Ginevra was jealous of the girls’ affection for their half-sister, but change could be tough. And in some ways, people had a habit of holding onto the past.

It would get easier.

Eventually.

Alessio supposed him and Corrado could help with that occasionally. By being there, or with whatever else she might need to make her life easier. And the girls, too. He liked her sisters, even with their desire to make sure he understood not to touch their things on the bathroom counter, and including all their attitude first thing in the morning.

He’d forgotten what it was like to be a teenager. Then again, he had never been a proper teen, anyway. A moody prick, sure, but he hadn’t had the same experiences as Ginevra’s sisters.

Ginevra took a minute to admire the inside the Guzzi guest house, which frankly … was larger than most normal homes, but as Alessio had spent time in it before, he was more interested in watching her.

Well, her and Corrado.

“So, you’re where Les has been, huh?” Corrado asked.

Ginevra turned away from the painting she had been admiring over the fireplace to give Corrado a sly grin. “For a couple of days, but then he left a day early to come here.”

Corrado gave Alessio a look.

He shrugged. “I thought people here might like a heads-up on what I was planning, that’s all.”

“I see.”

“Are you jealous?” Alessio asked.

Corrado arched a brow. “Over what?”

“That I was with Ginevra.”

“I slept alone, Les.”

Right.

And he so hated that.

“But that was my fault,” Corrado muttered, facing Ginevra again. “I wish you hadn’t left—at least, not without telling me something.”

“I thought Marcus would explain,” Ginevra replied.

Corrado laughed darkly. “He would have, likely—except I didn’t answer my calls.”

“And then you broke your phone,” Alessio added, “before you headed off to … where was it?”

“The lodge in Quebec.”

“And then Vegas,” Alessio said. “Where you still didn’t bother to answer anyone’s messages.”

“I know what I did, Alessio,” Corrado murmured. “I understand how I made it worse, thank you.”

“Always helps to have it pointed out, though.”

“It also doesn’t matter,” Ginevra said, “because we’re here.”