Page 4 of Claimed At First Sight

And she’s here, right now. Available.

Mateo will come around. Especially if Mialina herself consents to the match.

I smile to myself. This is an unexpected but welcome development.

This trip just became worthwhile.

My focus is entirely on Mia when a fierce rally breaks out on the lawn. Back and forth they go until the shuttle drops almost out of Mia’s reach. She stretches for it anyway, catching the edge and sending it back over the net with a sharp flick of her wrist.

It’s not enough. Isabella returns it easily, placing it where Mia can’t recover in time.

She skids to a stop, a hint of a pout tugging at her mouth, and my eyes linger there for a beat too long.

“Two against one isn’t fair!” she complains.

“It is when you are the reigning family champion!” Her older sister laughs.

I don’t hesitate. Shrugging off my jacket, I toss it onto a chair without looking away from her. I cross the terrace and step onto the lawn, my pulse picking up uninvited.

Mateo says something behind me, but I don’t catch it.

The grass gives slightly under my shoes as I pick up the spare racket. I turn it once in my hand as I close the distance to the girls.

Mia stills when I get closer, her warm brown eyes assessing me without a hint of deference.

I like it.

She doesn’t shrink or look away. Instead, her chin lifts in a silent dare.

“I can’t have you fighting this battle alone,” I tell her with a wink.

Surprise flickers across her face. “Are you any good?”

I step closer, my shadow falling over her.

“I guess you’ll find out.”

Chapter Two

Mialina

The moment he steps onto the lawn, the space around us shifts, like he announces himself without saying a word.

Men like him have a presence that settles over a room, or in this case a garden, until everything else subtly rearranges around them.

Don Gualtiero had been like that. Mateo carries the same energy, especially since becoming don.

Plenty of ambitious mafia men try to cultivate that kind of authority. I should know. I was raised by one. But while Father could be formidable, he never possessed this effortless ability to command a space.

With our late Don and Mateo, that ability demands respect. With this stranger, though, it rubs me entirely the wrong way.

Maybe it’s because he inserted himself into our game without even asking, assuming that because I’m outnumbered, he’s rescuing some helpless damsel in distress.

But I’m not that. I never will be.

The shuttle whizzes over the net, and the stranger and I both reach our rackets for it… and miss.

Without his jacket, he looks even broader up close, his dark shirt fitted across his shoulders.