father. “Why?”
He shrugged. “From what I can gather, Siena blamed him for her mother’s death. She wanted him to walk away from the business because it wasn’t safe. Her mother was taken as a hostage and then murdered. That’s when Siena turned her back.”
Again, I shouldn’t care. But I did care. “She didn’t want anything to do with the business.”
“I guess not.”
“Which is why she got a job at the gallery.”
Bates shrugged again.
“She’s not a threat, Bates. She’s just a woman trying to get by. Everyone in Italy has ties to the criminal underworld. It’s impossible to meet someone who doesn’t.”
“I still think it’s too much of a coincidence. If she wants nothing to do with the underworld, why is she working for you?”
“She wants to decorate my house with artwork, not work in one of our offices. She’s still sticking to her own discipline.”
He shook his head. “Maybe I’m being paranoid, but I don’t think I am. The last thing I want to say is I told you so.”
“If she has no connection to her family, then what’s the harm?” I questioned. “It’s not like she has a group of men she’s reporting to. She’s completely on her own, and even though she’s got a serious attitude, one woman is no threat to us.”
Bates dropped the argument because he knew he didn’t have a case. “I just wanted you to know. Do whatever you want with the information.”
I was glad my brother told me all of that, but not because I thought she was a serious threat. Now it all made sense. She didn’t want anything to do with me because she knew what kind of lifestyle I led. She knew I was at the top of the hierarchy of the underworld. She knew I was dangerous, and being associated with me for too long would put her right back where she didn’t want to be.
Now it was no wonder she was nothing like the other women.
Because she really didn’t want me.
The more she distanced herself from me, the more interested I became.
Four days had come and gone, and I hadn’t heard from her once.
All I got was a shipment of paintings I had already approved of. She didn’t even deliver them in person. There was just a note for Giovanni and instructions where the paintings were to be hung.
Was she avoiding me?
I got her address from my security team and stopped by for a visit. She had a quaint little house just outside Florence. It was a two-bedroom Mediterranean-style home with a small garden and driveway. It wasn’t ideal for a family, but for a single person, it was the right size. I left my Bugatti out front then knocked on her door.
It took her a few minutes to answer, and when she did, she didn’t look happy to see me. “What are you doing here?” The annoyance was bright in her green eyes, like she couldn’t stand the thought of my stopping by unannounced. The signs of arousal that she showed the last time I saw her were long gone. Now I was just a nuisance to her.
My hands slid into the pockets of my jeans. I admired the way her blouse clung to her curves so snugly. Her black jeans fit her long legs perfectly, catching the perkiness of her ass and the tightness of her legs. “Came to see you.”
“Well, a phone call would have been more appropriate.” She stepped outside and shut the door behind her, as if she was trying to hide something from me. Or she was hiding me from someone else.
I glanced at her closed door before I looked at her again. “Got company?”
She kept her hand on the doorknob, like standing in my way would really stop me from getting inside if I wanted to. “I’m on a date right now.”
The last thing I should be was angry. We only had one night together, and that was the most time I extended to any woman. After that, they were just a memory. There was no attachment or interest. By the following night, I was usually with another woman anyway. But I’d never been the recipient of such indifference, of a woman so unaffected by me that she looked for someone else the second we were finished.
It reminded me of myself—which annoyed me. “Then tell him to leave.”
“Why would I do that?” She stood her ground when everyone else would crumble. “I’m not going to let you ruin a second date.”
“Do