When She Falls (The Fallen, #3)(10)

“Do you need any help with anything?”

“Not really. The planner’s on top of it. But you need to try on your dress to make sure it fits. It’s in my room back at the main house.” She stands up and offers me a hand. “Let’s do it now before we forget. The tailor needs time to make adjustments.”

I follow her out of the bedroom and down the stairs. When we pass by the kitchen, a tempting smell makes my steps slow.

“God, that’s heavenly. Did someone make bread?”

Vale sniffs. “Smells like it.”

I drop her hand and take a few steps to peer through the arched entryway.

On the counter is a basket filled with those delicious-looking buns Mamma wouldn’t let me eat.

“You coming?” Vale calls out.

“Yeah.” After a moment’s hesitation, I snatch one, break off a piece, and shove it in my mouth.

It’s still warm. It’s so damn good I barely feel any guilt over breaking my pre-wedding diet. Whichever staff member decided to drop these off is officially my favorite person.

We leave the guest house and make our way over to the main villa. The air is warm and humid, and the slight breeze carries the scent of the waves that crash over the big rocks at the edge of the property. The heat penetrates my skin. My hip still aches from when I fell, but I do my best not to show it.

As we walk along the stone path between the houses, I spy a few red hummingbirds buzzing close to the branches of a nearby tree. One of them spots a flower and dips its long beak inside.

It’s lovely here. I wish we could stay for longer than a week.

I’m about to voice that thought as we step through the side door that leads directly into the living room, but my words dry up when I see the man spread out on the couch.

Ras. He’s horizontal, one tanned arm folded beneath his head, the other holding his phone. He’s typing something, a slight line between his brows.

My gaze skates over his flexed biceps. He was wearing a dress shirt at lunch, but he’s changed into a fitted black T-shirt with a small logo stitched in the corner.

“I thought you were going to Revolvr?” Vale asks. Revolvr is one of Damiano’s clubs on the island.

Ras looks up, his gaze immediately locking on me. “Yeah, I’m about to go. Just had to take care of some things. What are you two doing?”

“Gemma needs to try on her dress to see if it fits.”

He sits up, still staring at me. “If you want my opinion, I’m available.” A smirk plays on his lips, but there’s something darker than usual behind it. A challenge. Like he’s waiting for me to figure something out.

I look away.

Whatever it is, I don’t care.

And he can shove his opinions up his ass. I’ve got enough of those to deal with as is. “I think we’ll survive,” I retort, keeping my gaze away from him as I move toward the stairs.

“Is Ras going to be around all week?” I ask once we’re inside Vale and Dem’s bedroom.

“Probably,” she says, disappearing inside the walk-in closet.

“Great,” I mutter to myself.

She comes out a few moments later with a white garment bag and hands it to me. “Why do you dislike him so much? I get you met him in less-than-ideal circumstances, but I thought you would have moved past that by now.”

Less than ideal circumstances? Ras accosted me in an empty change room and manhandled me with far more force than he should have used. He scared the shit out of me. I literally thought I was about to die. And he’s never even apologized for it.

He treats it like a funny joke.

I take the dress into the bathroom, not wanting to risk Vale seeing the bruise that’s most likely forming on my hip. “I don’t trust him.”

“He’s never been anything but loyal to Damiano,” Vale calls out.

Hanging the bag on a hook, I tug on the zipper. He might be loyal to Damiano, but what does that have to do with me?

The scene I witnessed the last time I was here flashes inside my mind, the memory of it as fresh as if it happened yesterday. I overheard Damiano and Ras talking in the office. Well, more like Damiano was listening to Ras run his mouth about me and my family. He joked I had a few screws loose, which didn’t wound me, but what he said next has stayed with me ever since.

“You don’t need to keep your word on that counterfeits deal, Dem. Garzolo is an asshole. Once we’ve gotten what we wanted from him, we should cut him off. It’ll be fun to watch him scramble.”

That told me everything I needed to know about him. Ras is a snake. His word means nothing. It’s a good thing my brother-in-law is different. I heard him rebuff his underboss and say he’d given his word.

To which Ras scoffed.

Even now, the memory makes me angry. He was ready to throw my family under the bus just to have a laugh.

I want nothing to do with him.

Quickly, I slip the dress on and come back out. “He’s rude.”

Vale arches a brow. “Rude? When has he ever been rude to you?”

“Constantly. He always has this mocking smile on his face when he speaks to me.”

Vale comes up behind me and starts buttoning up the dozen or so buttons at the back. “I think you’re reading too much into it. Ras can be rough around the edges, but he means well.”