Sweet Temptation by Cora Reilly

Her head shot up, her brows drawing together. “Excuse me?”
“Who are you talking to?”
Anxiety crossed her face, but I didn’t care if she was bothered by me
towering over her. “Who?” I growled.
“Your sister Mia.”
I took the phone and Giulia released it without a protest.
I apologize for my brother’s rudeness because I know he won’t ever do
it. I’d say it’s because he’s a man, but his dickheadedness has nothing to do
with the Y-chromosome.
Giulia stood. “I told you the truth.”
I scanned the previous messages to see what Giulia had told my sister, but
she’d only written that she still had to get used to me after Mia had asked if she
was all right.
Giulia shook her head then sighed. “Trust is the base of a marriage.”
“How would you know?” Was she really trying to tell me something about
relationships? “I think I know more about the workings of a marriage than you,
girl.”
Her expression flashed with hurt. “I wonder if Gaia would agree.” She
snapped her lips shut, her eyes growing wide.
Fury burst through me the same time a knock sounded. Swallowing my
anger, I headed for the door, glad for the distance this put between Giulia and
myself. I ripped open the door, feeling my pulse pound in my temples.
Mia’s smile fell when she spotted me. Her eyes darted to something behind
me. “Everything okay?” she whispered.
I opened the door wide. Behind Mia, Ilaria, Giulia’s mother, Aria, and other
women waited for the ceremonial retrieval of the sheets. “Go in. Grab the sheets.
I don’t have all morning.”
“Rude as usual,” Ilaria said as she walked past me. Mia hesitated, which was
just as well. I pulled her to the side. “I saw what you wrote my wife.”
Mia huffed. “Are you spying on her?”
“You will stay out of my marriage, Mia. I’ll only say this once. Remember
your place. And most of all, don’t talk to Giulia about Gaia, understood?”
She shook my grip off, then nodded. “Of course.”
Giulia smiled at the women who gave her compassionate looks. I walked
over to my young wife before one of the women, especially Mia, could involve
her in a nosy conversation.
Giulia touched my forearm lightly. “I’m sorry for mentioning your late wife,
Cassio. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Surprise filled me. Her eyes and expression were earnest.
I gave a curt nod and put my hand on her lower back. “Come on. Let’s head
down to the banquet room where breakfast will be served.”
“Shouldn’t we wait for them to be done?” She nodded toward the bedroom
door. The women’s voices were a low buzz of gossip.
“I don’t need to see this.”