Page 138 of The Strength Of A Woman

“She won’t. As I said before, she won’t leave my side. Not for a doctor. Not for a friend of yours. Not for her family. I’ll get her ready for the wedding. She is my leverage. Without her, there is no deal. You’ll get her when she says I do. Not a moment earlier.”

Varela looks at Giorgio.

They both make my skin crawl.

“Did you know about this?” he asks Giorgio, who seems lost for words.

The idea that these two had talked about whether Leilani was a virgin makes me want to crush their skulls.

Varela moves his eyes to Sylvia.

“What about you?”

Sharp disrespect beams in his voice.

She says nothing, so he turns his focus to me.

“How come no one in her house knew she was still a virgin?” he asks me.

“She fooled me, too. I was just as surprised.”

My words ring true because they are.

Varela sucks in a long breath before he speaks again.

“All right. Your requests are accepted, but I’ll pick the venue.”

“Do that. Make sure it’s a nice one,” I say with a hint of humor in my voice, which is borderline sarcasm.

The line is so thin that he can’t make up his mind whether I took a shot at him or not.

“It was nice doing business with you,” I say, rising.

His eyes follow me.

“Wait, aren’t you staying at the party?” Varela mutters.

“We have things to do tomorrow morning. Besides, have you seen those men outside? I can’t have their eyes on her.”

With that, I tilt my chin in a clipped goodbye, help Leilani out of her chair, and, under the stunned stares of the three people at the table, I walk her out of the room.

The trip to our cars seems shorter as we avoid the first floor, go around the house, and reach our rides in record time.

A sigh of relief leaves everyone’s lips as we pull away from the lit house in Taormina.

As we move away, I finally look at Leilani, who hasn’t said a word all this time, and I gently touch her hand.

“Are you all right?”

She nods, eyes sparkling with emotion.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.”

“Leilani?”

She finally pulls out of her stillness, leans closer to me, her hand on my arm as she whispers in my ear.