Billionaires: The Hero: A Deal for the Di Sione Ring / The Last Di Sione Claims His Prize / The Baby Inheritance

“I don’t really need another glass of wine.”

“Can’t leave my lovely guest empty-handed,” Franco purred, raising his hand to signal the bartender. Securing them two glasses of champagne, he directed her away from the crowd at the bar. “I heard you say you were a fan of Sybil Atkinson. I just saw her. Let me introduce you to her.”

Mina thought that was a fine idea. The less interaction she had with Franco alone, the better.

He led her through the crowd toward one of the tents. She followed him inside the small, intimate space with its seductive dim lighting. It was empty.

“I guess she moved on,” she said lightly. “I really should get back to my husband. He’s likely looking for me.”

“He should be keeping closer tabs on you.” Franco moved closer, his bulky body blocking out the light. The suspicious shimmer in his blue eyes sent a frisson of unease through her. She wondered if he’d been indulging in more than just alcohol. “You’re the most beautiful woman at this party, Mina.”

She licked dry lips as he continued to move closer. “That’s very nice of you to say. But I really think I should get back to Nate.”

“In a minute.” Franco ran a finger down the bare skin of her upper arm. “It isn’t a crime to look at another man’s wife, is it?”

But he was touching her. She took a step backward, the unsettled feeling inside of her unraveling into alarm. Her palms sweaty, pulse racing in her throat, she swallowed hard. “I’d like to get back to the others.”

“Don’t look so threatened.” Franco’s confident, aggressive gaze mocked her as he closed the space between them again. “You haven’t given me the time of day since we met. I just want to get to know you better. You are my business partner’s wife, after all.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. My husband—he—he’s the jealous sort.”

The actor lifted a hand and ran a finger down her cheek. “Maybe he should learn to share... Nate’s always been a smug bastard. Too much so for my taste.”

Her pulse pounded harder, her palms growing ice cold now. She darted a glance at the exit, blocked by Franco’s big body. Told herself to stay calm. But an image of Silvio manacling her wrist, kissing her, the crack of his hand snapping her head sideways, sent her heart slamming against her chest.

Franco was so much bigger than her.

The air in the tent seemed to dissolve. Her breath came faster, tighter, intensifying the cloudy feeling in her head.

“Please—” she murmured in a broken tone.

Franco dragged his thumb across the edge of her jaw. “Please what?”

Please let me go.

“You’d best be taking your hands off my wife.”

Nate’s voice, low and tight, cut through the air. Franco turned, revealing her husband silhouetted in the light, standing just inside the entrance to the tent. His gaze was trained on the actor, a quiet, white-hot fury on his face.

Franco eyed Nate. He was equally as tall as the actor, but less bulky, with more lean-packed muscle. Ferociously intimidating in the way he carried it. Franco registered it, too, apparently, for he stepped back, hands raised. “Easy, Brunswick. We were just talking.”

“Which explains why my wife looks petrified.” Nate walked to Mina and slid an arm around her. She leaned into him, her knees going weak.

“You try my patience, Franco.” Nate fixed his gaze on the actor. “Clean up your act or I will end this partnership, no matter how much I like Antonio.”

Franco scowled. “You have far too much invested to do that.”

“Watch me. Get lost, Messini. You ever come within ten feet of my wife again and I will take you apart.”

Franco’s belligerent gaze tangled with Nate’s. For a heart-stopping minute she wasn’t sure which way it was going to go. Then Franco turned on his heel and left.

Mina sagged with relief. Nate turned her around, keeping his arm banded around her waist. “What happened?”

She shook her head. “Nothing—he—I should never have allowed him to bring me here. He said he was going to introduce me to Sybil Atkinson, but when we arrived, there was no one here.”

His mouth flattened. “I told you not to mess with Franco or his crowd.”

“I wasn’t. I was avoiding him. Then Evangelina went off to talk to someone and he just swooped in.”

“What did he say to you?”

She frowned. “Something just seemed off in the way he was looking at me. I told him I wanted to go, but he wouldn’t let me... He started touching me. He said it wasn’t a crime to look at another man’s wife. That—” her chin dipped “—you were a smug bastard who should learn to share.”

Black heat shimmered in his eyes. “He said that?”

“Sì.” Her stomach clenched at the sudden stillness in his tall, lean body. “I’m sure it was all, what do you Americans call it? Bravado?” she said hurriedly. “That I was overreacting. I—I saw Silvio in my head. I went back to the night he hit me and I froze. I told myself to walk away, to come find you, but my legs wouldn’t work.”

The aggression in his gaze softened. “It’s common for a person put into a threatening situation to freeze. To shut down.” He shook his head. “It’s my fault. I should never have left you alone with this crowd.”

He wrapped his fingers around hers. “Let’s go.”

She followed him out of the tent. Balked when he headed toward the exit. “I don’t want to ruin your evening. I’ve already caused enough problems between you and Franco.”

“Franco and I already had issues. And you did not cause that scene. Franco did.” He put a hand to her back and propelled her through the crowd. “I was coming to find you to leave.”

The lights of Capri glimmered around them as they rode the glass elevator up to their penthouse suite. She started to feel silly as she studied Nate’s grim face. She had totally overreacted. Franco hadn’t really been a threat. He’d been trying to push Nate’s buttons. Hers. And she had let him.

Nate was probably wondering what in Dio’s name he’d signed on for with her.

“You okay?”

She sighed. “I feel like you’re always rescuing me. You must think I’m some kind of damsel in distress who can’t take care of herself.”

He shook his head. “This was my fault tonight, Mina.”

“No. It’s just—” She bit her lip. “I’m not normally like this.”

“What are you normally like?”

She lifted a shoulder. “Self-sufficient. Strong. I was eight when I was sent to that boarding school in France. I didn’t speak the language. I was brutally lonely. I learned to be a survivor.”

“You are,” he pointed out. “You could have allowed yourself to be a victim with Silvio. You could have married him and suffered a lifetime of abuse. But you didn’t. That took guts.”

She nodded. It’s just that she hated that person she’d been tonight. Hated everything being so out of her control. That she couldn’t seem to trust her instincts anymore.

“You’ve had your life turned upside down over the past forty-eight hours, Mina.” Nate rested his gaze on her face. “Cut yourself some slack. You need to honor your fear as well as put it behind you when you’re ready.”

He was right. She knew that.