Thin Lies (Donati Bloodlines #1) (12 page)

“Well,
yes, but—”

“You
must have known I entered the apartment earlier, went directly from my bathroom
to the bedroom, and never opened the elevator to let anyone in,” Emma
interrupted.

Her
anger bubbled up even faster than before. She knew it wasn’t the security’s
fault. They were just following orders. She was still pissed off like nothing
else.

“Yes,
we did notice that no one had entered,” the man said quietly.

“Then
you had to know it was just me walking around in my own goddamn apartment.”

“Yes,
miss, we did.”

“And
yet you still called me,” Emma muttered.

Mark
spluttered for a response before lamely saying, “I apologize.”

Emma
gritted her teeth, again reminding herself that it wasn’t this man’s fault. Her
anger didn’t necessarily need to be directed at him. “Please let Calisto Donati
know that I’m just wandering my halls and not trying to sneak out. I know you
either have to call him, or already did. No need to make the man jump out of
bed and get dressed for nothing.”

“I’ll
do that right now,” Mark said on the other end of the call.

“Thank
you.”

Emma
hung up the phone, leaned against the wall, and willed her annoyance to go
away. When that didn’t work, Emma grabbed the phone and pressed three digits.
The call rang through to security, and the same man who had called earlier
picked up.

“Miss
Sorrento, hello. I apologize again for earlier. What can I do for you?”

“Put
me through to Calisto Donati’s penthouse suite.”

“Uh
… well, we don’t really do that, Miss.”

Emma
scoffed. “I’m not sure that should make a difference to me, considering you
give him a call every time I move from one room to another. You already told me
you would call him. He must be awake. Unless he’s got a visitor and I’m
interrupting him, I want you to put my call through to his suite.
Now
.”

“Yes,
miss. Hold for a moment.”

A
click resounded in Emma’s ear a second before the call began to ring again. On the
fourth ring, Calisto picked up.

“Donati
speaking,” he said.

Emma
ignored the way Calisto’s timber deepened even more over the phone. She hated
how her body wanted to react to this man like he might be able to satisfy her
if she just gave into the urges thrumming through her blood.

“Calisto,
it’s Emma. I just wanted to let you know I was wandering my place and decided
to grab a snack because I couldn’t sleep. I’m sorry if the security woke you up
over nothing.”

Calisto
laughed. “It’s fine, Emmy. I wasn’t sleeping, anyway.”

Damn.

Emma
had asked the security if Calisto had a guest and the man didn’t answer. Was
that why Calisto wasn’t sleeping? A ball of jealousy burst in Emma’s gut. She
refused to pay it any mind.

“I
didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“You’re
not,” Calisto replied quickly. “I couldn’t sleep, either. After watching the
shadows on the wall, I jumped into a cold shower to see if that would help.”

A
cold shower?

Weren’t
those only good for when a person needed to wake up or if a man needed to get
his … Emma shook her head, wanting to get as far away from those thoughts as
possible.

Emma
cleared her throat. “Oh. Well, I just wanted to let you know.”

“No
problem,” Calisto replied easily.

“I’ll
let you get back to whatever. Good night, Calisto.”

“Wait
a second.”

Emma
held the phone tighter. She wanted to end the call instead of talking more. Adding
to the little issue that she was attracted to Calisto, and curious about him,
was not a good idea.

“Yeah?”
she asked.

“Since
we’re both up with nothing to do, and I have a movie starting, do you want to
come over and watch it? It’s action, not some chick flick.”

Yes
.

Emma
clamped her mouth shut to keep from shouting the word.

“It’s
just a movie,” Calisto added when Emma stayed quiet. “You won’t get in too much
trouble for a movie, I promise. Let’s just say the security of this hotel are a
bit more partial to me than my uncle. I’m the one paying them the most for
information, if you get my drift.”

“Just
a movie?”

“Sure.
Car bombs, a bit of blood, and lots of guns. Unless that’s not your thing and
you prefer a sappy romance. If that’s the case, I rescind my invitation.”

“I
like action movies,” she said quietly.

“Do
you have popcorn?”

“Who
doesn’t?”

“Bring
it,” Calisto said. “Press five-oh-four into the elevator. I’ll let you in.”

Before
Emma could respond, Calisto hung up. Emma stared at the phone in her hand for
longer than she wanted to admit. Putting the phone back on the hook, she wasn’t
sure what to do. A single night of innocent movie watching wasn’t wrong. She
wasn’t doing anything bad.

Calisto
offered, not her.

Emma
grabbed her cookies, a bag of popcorn out of the cupboard, and her peppermint
tea. Once she was inside the elevator, she pushed the numbers Calisto had told
her, and waited. The elevator didn’t move, confirming what Emma already knew.
Calisto’s penthouse was in fact situated directly across from hers.

The
elevator door opened to a suite that matched Emma’s in layout, but not in
design. The earthy colors on the walls and the leather benches in the short
entry hallway gave off a warm feeling while hers was white, bright, and sterile
looking.

“Down
here,” Calisto yelled.

Emma
followed his voice. Each step she took helped to take away what hesitance
remained. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to spend time with Calisto.

She
did.

That
was the problem.

Spending
time with him might feed her interest. It could lead her into something she
couldn’t handle. It might make something come of nothing, and then where would
she be?

Fucked.

That’s
where.

Emma
kept walking until she was in a black and white designed kitchen with stainless
steel appliances. Calisto stood leaning against the island with a phone pressed
to his ear, a coffee in his one hand, and nothing but sleep pants hanging low
on his hips.

Her
gaze couldn’t be stopped as she took inventory of a bare-footed, naked-chested
Calisto Donati. A light dusting of dark hair was sprinkled across his muscular
chest. His railroad path of abs led straight down to the hard cut V of his
groin. The sleep pants Calisto wore hugged his hips, but still rested low enough
to showcase the trail of dark hair that traveled from below his navel and
disappeared below cotton. Not only was the man tall, dark, and handsome, but he
had a body that looked as if it had been chiselled from stone.

Emma’s
mouth went dry.

Jesus.

This
was a bad idea.

“Yes,
obviously I know she’s left the penthouse. She’s in my fucking suite,” Calisto
barked into the phone. “Seems you’re really dropping the ball tonight if you
can’t even figure out the girl is just walking from one room to the next.”

Calisto
hung up the phone and put it on the counter. Then, he flashed Emma a sinful
smile that was enough to make her gut clench and her cheeks get hot.

Bad
all over.

“Ready
for a movie?” he asked.

Emma
was going to ask him if he would put some clothes on. She knew it was the right
thing to do. Hugging her peppermint tea close to her chest, and grabbing the
cookies and popcorn tighter, she decided not to say a thing. As long as she
didn’t act on her thoughts, she was doing nothing wrong.

“Yeah,
sure.”

Calisto

“That’s
not even possible,” Emma said, laughing. “The least they could do is make it
believable.”

A
small sports car on the movie swerved in and out under an eighteen-wheeler as
the hero of the flick attempted to retrieve his kidnapped girlfriend whilst in
the middle of a high-speed chase. Calisto chuckled at the absurdity of it all. Emma
had a point. The scene wasn’t exactly realistic, considering the hero was also
shooting a gun out of the driver’s window while he did the dangerous maneuvers.
Earlier in the movie, the man didn’t even know how to handle a weapon.

“It’s
the action and drama of it all,” he explained.

“Still
a little over the top.”

Calisto
conceded to her point. “Fine, but you’re ruining the movie for me, so be
quiet.”

Emma
winked, grabbed a handful of popcorn, and pretended like Calisto hadn’t said a
thing. She had set herself up on the other end of the couch, as far away from
him as she could get. She had taken the blanket from the back of the couch,
used it to cover up with, and tucked her legs up close to her chest. She had
been acting strange since she first came in, not saying much and staying a few
feet away from him at all times. She wouldn’t meet his gaze when she did talk.
It wasn’t like the Emma he knew.

Calisto
couldn’t help but wonder if there was something wrong with Emma. The tension in
her voice when she had called him earlier prompted Calisto to ask her over for
the movie, and nothing else. No, absolutely
nothing
else.

Definitely
not the dream starring Emma on her knees, the one that woke him up with his
cock aching, hot, and hard in his palm. He’d woken, stroking himself in his
sleep over the cotton pants he wore.

Again.

Because
it wasn’t the first fucking time.

The
visual of Emma below him with her pink lips open and her eyes on him, ready to
beg, had been downright sinful. Calisto had quickly gotten into a cold shower,
needing to relieve the tension and cool the fuck down.

He’d
just jumped out of the shower when security called the first time to say there
was movement throughout Emma’s penthouse. The fucking fools from security knew
that no one had entered Emma’s place, so they had no business calling her just
to “check up,” as they said. Calisto was sure that was ninety percent of her
somber, strange mood. No one wanted to be reminded they were constantly being
watched.

“You
all right?” Calisto asked.

Emma
didn’t look away from the television. “Yeah. Why?”

“You’re
quiet.”

“It
might surprise you to learn this, since you don’t actually know me and all, but
I’m not a very loud person, Calisto. I like being by myself more than I enjoy
company, and I prefer the quietness of night to the loudness of the daytime.
Just because you found a few pictures of me online enjoying the nightlife
doesn’t mean I’m not more comfortable by myself. I can enjoy both things for
different reasons. Appearances are deceiving. Don’t judge a book by its cover
and all that.”

“Huh.”
Calisto grinned. “Imagine that.”

Emma
glanced over at him, her green eyes lighting up with mirth. “What’s so funny?”

“I
like being alone and I prefer the dark, too.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

They
had more in common than Calisto first thought. They were simple things, to be
sure, but those were the best kinds of interests to share with someone else.
Someone who a person could be alone in a room with and not need to fill the
silence. Someone who understood that sometimes a person just needed space to
think.

Those
kinds of people were rare.

“Thank
you,” Emma said softly.

Calisto
watched the television, but kept one eye on Emma. “What for,
dolcezza
?”

A
tiny, but still sad, smile curved Emma’s lips. “For inviting me over. I was
going to ask you in for coffee earlier, but it didn’t seem appropriate.”

“I
would have come in, had you asked me.”

Emma
sighed. “Exactly.”

Calisto
didn’t have the first clue what she meant. He chose not to press her for an
explanation. Emma turned back to the movie without another word. She sunk lower
under the blanket like she needed it for some kind of protection or something.

He
had news for her.

Calisto
would have to be a fool not to see how beautiful and vibrant Emma Sorrento was,
but he wasn’t a stupid man. Emma was spoken for—not yet fully claimed, but
taken all the same. She was off-limits in a major way. Calisto wasn’t dumb
enough to get caught into that game.

His
cock thought differently.

His
brain, however, was on point.

Emma
was a no-go zone.

Men
who thought with their cocks got exactly what they deserved. Calisto wouldn’t
be one of them.

“We
might as well make nice,” Calisto said after a moment.

He
could practically feel Emma’s gaze burning into him. Sure enough, when he
glanced to the side, he found her watching him under her thick lashes. The
devil on his shoulder urged him to snag the blanket and pull it off so he could
see the tank top and cotton shorts she wore, but Calisto beat that bastard
down.

“And
why is that?” Emma asked.

“In
a week, we’ll be family. Better to make nice with family than to avoid them. It
makes for awkward dinners and holidays if you don’t care for anyone.”

Emma’s
teeth caught her bottom lip. Calisto eyed the plump, wet flesh. The tip of his
index finger itched with the urge to reach up and free Emma’s lip from her
abuse. Somehow, he decided against it.

Too
intimate.

Not
appropriate.

He
shouldn’t care at all, let alone be thinking of things like that.

Thankfully,
Emma released her lip from the bite. “I thought you don’t like Affonso.”  

Calisto
shrugged. “I don’t. Not in a friendly or familial sort of way. I admire him as
a boss, of course, but little else. The one reason he gets my respect at all in
that regard is because of my raising. I was taught to honor and protect Cosa
Nostra, no matter what. I chose this life, and so I live with what it means.”

“But
you don’t want to.”

“I
beg your pardon?”

Emma
cocked a brow like she was taking him in for a second time. “Your words imply
that on a personal level, you have little to no respect or admiration for your
uncle. On a professional level, you give him what he deserves because of his
title and nothing more. To me, that says you don’t actually want to do any of
it, but you do it because you have to.”

Smart
girl.

Calisto
went for a deflection. “Didn’t your father ever teach you to stay out of the
affairs of men?”

“Sure,
but that doesn’t mean I always listen. Plus, I came from George Sorrento. He
had to know I was going to be a little bit like him in some way. Where do you
think my curiosity comes from?”

“Curiosity
kills.”

“That
line is old, Calisto. Get a new one.”

Calisto
laughed loudly, unable to hold it in. “Nice.”

Emma
smiled sweetly, but it managed to look entirely evil at the same time. “I try.”

“Fine,
I’ll give you that. You’re mostly right. I respect my uncle in business and
famiglia
only because I have to, not because I want to or think he actually deserves
it.”

“Would
you tell me something else?”

“That
depends on what you ask, Emma.”

Emma
tightened the blanket around her frame again.

“You
do know that I won’t rip the blanket off and defile you, right?” Calisto asked.
“I have a bit of control left in me, despite the rumors.”

“What
rumors are those?”

“There’s
a few.”

“Indulge
me,” Emma said.

Indulging
her was the entire issue wrapped up with a sexy little bow. The more Calisto
fed into conversation that opened his personal life up to Emma, the more she
would know about him, and the closer they might feel.

Those
were dangerous waters.

Calisto
maintained a healthy distance from everyone in his life—from his family, to
those he considered friends, to even his doctor, for Christ’s sake. Keeping
people at arm’s length allowed him objectivity to their lives. He didn’t get
attached. There were very little, if any, emotions involved. That way, he
wouldn’t have to fight with moral dilemmas or personal bias, should something
happen. And keeping people away allowed Calisto the peace of mind that no one
could hurt him.

Affonso
did that—made Calisto like that.

It
was easier.

Deflect
her,
his mind demanded.

“I
thought you had a question to ask,” Calisto said.

Emma
nodded. “I do. I’ll get to it in a second. Indulge me on the rumors about you
first, Cal. I bet they’re far more interesting.”

Calisto
ran his fingers through his hair, trying to soothe some of the tension creeping
over his shoulders. “People like to talk when they don’t know much about a
person.”

“Like
they’re trying to fill in the blanks.”

“Just
like that,” he confirmed.

“And
what do people say about you?”

“Nothing
unusual. I’m good-looking, so I must have a handful of women on the side.
Normal nonsense.”

Emma
picked at her fingernails. “Do you date a lot?”

“No.”

“Let
me rephrase. Do you have a lot of women you run around with?”

“I
don’t fuck anything with a pussy,” Calisto said, knowing damn well how crude he
sounded. “I’m not a saint, and I certainly like a good lay when I find a woman
worthy enough to make the effort, but I don’t make a game out of it. I don’t
have a list of names I like to add to.”

“But
people talk about you like it is a game for you.”

Calisto
hummed noncommittedly. “You could say that. They see me out with a woman,
dancing with someone at a club, or—heaven forbid—I bring someone to dinner, and
suddenly the rumors flare to life all over again. I don’t have the time or give
a damn enough to correct people. If they want to talk about me, they can go to
it. I have better things to amuse myself with.”

Emma
frowned. “You’re twenty-seven.”

“What
does that have to do with anything?”

“You’re
saying that you have had no serious relationships at all with any women?”

Calisto
blew out a heavy breath. “You’re awfully nosy for a quiet girl, Emmy.”

“The
word you used was ‘curious,’ actually.”

“Same
difference.” Calisto reached for his beer on the end-table and took a drink.
Then he put it back and said, “I’ve had five relationships over the last
decade. None that were anything important or would go anywhere. Mostly the
relationships came about in my younger twenties, and then I decided that it
wasn’t the right time to look for something like a wife.”

“Why
not?”

“Because
I was being pressured by someone else’s wants, not my own.”

Emma
leaned forward, letting the blanket pool to her waist. “So … you’ve never been
in love?”

Calisto
barked out a laugh. “I’m not even sure that exists. But no. I was close to
marrying someone once, but it went nowhere fast.”

“Do
tell.”

“This
is starting to feel like a therapy session.”

“We’re
getting to know each other, Calisto. Nothing more.”

“Right,”
he muttered heavily. “Last year, a few months before my mother died, I was introduced
to the niece of a boss from a fellow family in New York. She was nice
enough—pretty, knew how to behave, and she was exactly what Affonso thought
would be good for me where a wife was concerned. That’s probably why he brought
her to my attention. I didn’t really love her, I probably never would have, but
I trusted her enough to think she would be an appropriate partner for what I
needed. I wasn’t even attracted to her, really, but I didn’t need any of that
to have a wife. I simply needed an Italian woman in good standing with
la
famiglia
and the church.”