“I’m glad I didn’t break my crown.”
He stopped rubbing the gauze on her knee. “Don’t make light of it. You could have been seriously hurt.” He was very thorough with his inspection.
She shivered at the recollection. “I know.” If not by that street, then by those two unsavory men. “At least they got nothing from me,” she added without thought.
His head whipped up, his expression going from solicitous to alpha in a flash. The glint of battle darkened his eyes. “They?” he rumbled ominously.
A sliver of inappropriate thrill went up her spine at his display of protectiveness. “Just common street criminals.”
His shoulders seemed to grow broader, his visage darker. He held himself still, looking as if he was trying to regain control. “What in God’s name were you doing in that area?”
“I was looking for a place to stay for the night.”
His mouth tightened. He capped the bottle of antiseptic. “Coretta is crawling with pickpockets. It’s not the safest place in Seirenada.”
“My screaming scared them off.”
“You scared me.” He was looking at her so intensely that she fought the urge to squirm. His features rearranged into the charming, polite mask he often presented to others.“It’s a good thing I’ve heard you screaming before to have recognized that it was you.”
“What? I’ve never screamed around you before.”
“There was that time in the media room…” A corner of his lip kicked up teasingly.
Luca had said it was soundproof so they were free to make some noise. She rolled her eyes. Jerk.
He rose, rewarding her a view of his muscled thighs. “Much as I’d like to make you scream and let your eyes roll back in pleasure, we’d better move it. We have a royal wedding reception to attend.”
“Wh-what?”
“I’m not leaving you here alone. Not after what happened,” he said, his voice harsh. “Do you still want to go?”
She couldn’t see his face. He had turned away from her, depositing the antiseptic bottle on a night table by the bed.
“A simple yes or no would suffice.”
Somehow she knew what he wanted her answer to be. Sabrina’s chest tightened painfully because she realized she couldn’t give him what he was asking of her. She had come so far. “Yes.”
His back lengthened and his shoulders went taut, as if he was shoring up his resolve. Then he faced her. His eyes were bleak. “I thought so.”
Luca had never been more frightened in his life than when he saw Sabrina hurtling down that street. He hadn’t told her of a tourist who had drunk too much alcohol, lost his footing, and tumbled all the way down to the intersection to be run over by several cars.
A gruesome image of Sabrina’s broken body kept intruding on his thoughts.
Eleni’s visit was another matter for concern. He had made Sabrina a target by her association with him. He was pretty certain she wouldn’t attempt another visit, but still he couldn’t be sure. He’d never know a moment’s peace if he didn’t know where she was every minute she wasn’t with him. He had no choice but to bring Sabrina to the reception. He had to keep her safe. In doing so, he’d be breaking his word to Markos.
“What is the exact nature of your relationship with Markos?” he asked brusquely.
She startled. “Wh-what?”
“In your letter, you addressed him as Mr. Konstantinos.” He laughed, but it was devoid of humor. “Is it a sort of kinky endearment?”
“Kinky?” she repeated blankly.
Dio! He didn’t really want to know, but the compulsion was too powerful to resist.
“Did Markos get his kicks when you addressed him so formally?” Now he was imagining his friend and Sabrina engaging in some boss-secretary role-playing. Acid flooded his gut.
She was still looking at him blankly, her brow furrowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Luca.”
He raked a shaking hand through his hair. Enough! Stop torturing yourself.
Tonight, he’d put her in the path of opportunity. He’d swallow his pride. He’d make her choose between him and Markos. Markos must have mattered to her. Still mattered, most probably, if she had plotted and schemed her way to see him once again.
But he was never going to be someone’s choice by default. Someone’s rebound lover. He was going to give her the opportunity to pick between him and Markos. Tonight. Even if what all he wanted to do was handcuff her to him and throw away the key.
He had to make sure the other family members were not about, though. Especially Mrs. Konstantinos. What he would be doing was against his friend’s wishes, but he would protect the family from any unpleasantness. Markos, however, was more than capable of hearing a former lover out.