With Simona strapped to my front and Daniele in his buggy, we strolled through the park toward a fenced-in dog area. Domenico kept his distance, pretending he was a casual walker, but Elia stayed at my side. For an outsider, it looked as if we were a couple. Elia definitely played that card, considering how close he walked beside me. Loulou dashed off the moment I unleashed her and soon chased around with other dogs.
“Must be strange,” Elia began, sitting down beside me on the bench. “To live in a foreign city with a man you hardly know.”
Daniele followed the playing dogs with his eyes. That fascinated look usually only managed to appear on his face when he stared at the screen. Simona, too, watched with big eyes.
“I’ve been prepared for that kind of life since I was a little girl. The rules in our world have been the same for a long time.”
“They are, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy to stick to them.”
I turned to Elia. The way he looked at me, like he wanted to see what it would take to get a rise out of me, raised my protective walls. “Do you make a habit of breaking the rules?”
He smiled as if he was going to tell me a secret. “It can be freeing.”
He was flirting with me. Loulou yelped then squeaked. My head jerked around. A bigger dog was trying to mount her. “Can you help her?”
Elia didn’t hesitate. He jumped up and jogged toward the two dogs. The owner of the other dog, a young man with glasses and a hipster beard did the same. They managed to separate the dogs. To my surprise, they began to chat.
Elia smiled the same smile he’d given me all day, but this was less expectant, less challenging. It was naturally flirtatious, one he didn’t have to force. The hipster guy laughed, still holding his small bulldog by the collar. Elia grinned, but then he noticed my gaze and his demeanor shifted. He said something else then hurried back to me with Loulou on his arm.
I searched his face. For a moment, back there, he’d looked like I’d caught him. Maybe Elia was breaking the rules, but not in a way he’d insinuated to me. Now it made sense why Cassio had chosen such an attractive man to guard me. Elia wasn’t a danger in his eyes. I could probably parade around naked all day and Elia wouldn’t care in the slightest.
We returned home much earlier than planned because Simona had a never-ending crying fit. She wouldn’t let me calm her no matter what I did. Daniele, too, got cranky because of it, but Loulou’s presence prevented his meltdown at least. When I finally managed to have Simona settle down for a nap after what felt like hours, I felt drained. I’d considered calling Cassio to ask for his help because unlike Daniele, Simona quieted as soon as her dad was close. Now I was glad that I managed without calling him.
I didn’t want him to think I couldn’t handle the situation. My clothes were drenched with sweat when I sank down on the sofa minutes after Simona had fallen asleep. Daniele sat on the floor, his tablet on his lap. I’d given in and returned it to him. If he also had started wailing like Simona, I would have started crying too.
Elia came toward me, carrying two cups. “You look like you need a coffee.”
“I need a drink and a shower.” Despite my lack of experience with alcohol, I suddenly got why people craved a drink after days like this.
He laughed then handed me the cup. “Coffee is a start, don’t you think?”
He sat down beside me, again closer than was appropriate. This time it didn’t bother me because now I knew the truth. I took a sip of the black coffee. Usually I drank mine with milk and sugar, but this felt good now. I regarded Elia openly, not even bothering to hide my attention. He wore a tight white shirt that accentuated his muscles and a black gun holster over it. I wondered if he was good with weapons, if that was at least part of the reason why Cassio had chosen him—or maybe his presence was only as a trap.
Cassio had set Elia up to do this. I had no doubt about it. Cassio was jealous. He had admitted it himself, and Faro and Mansueto had confirmed it too. I hadn’t expected him to be jealous enough to trick me like that, though. It infuriated me, but beyond that, it made me really sad. If Cassio trusted me this little, we had a long way to go for this marriage to work.
I set the cup down on the table then faced Elia. I leaned closer, gauging his reaction. “I’ve been asking myself a question…”
His eyes shifted to caution, but the smile remained plastered on his face
“Does Cassio know?” I murmured.
His smile became less honest. “Know what?”
“That you like men.”
For an instant, Elia’s expression slipped before he could control it again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh yeah?” I said. “I saw how you checked out that guy in the dog park. You were flirting with him like you’ve been pretending to flirt with me. I’m not blind. Maybe the men in our world don’t notice because they prefer to see what they want to see, but I don’t care if you like men or women. Love is love.”
Elia shook his head. “I didn’t check anyone out. You can’t go around saying something like that. You know what would happen to me if
