By Virtue I Fall (Sins of the Fathers #3)(7)

Samuel gave me a look before he turned to Leonas. “Sounds good. Maybe a creature of the lake will devour you.”

Anna met my gaze in challenge. “We could go skinny-dipping.”

I almost said go ahead. She’d probably get a heart-attack seeing all that nakedness with her virtuous eyes, but so far I’d avoided seeing her in any state of undress and I wanted to keep it that way. I finished my beer. “Clothes stay on, and you two won’t behave like bickering toddlers.”

“I’m not a kid, Sonny,” Anna muttered.

I wished my father hadn’t called me Sonny by accident around her. She’d never stop annoying me with the hated nickname.

Leonas got up from his chair and undressed to his boxer shorts. “I’m going. You keep on chit-chatting.”

He ran down the path to the lower deck and catapulted himself into the black water with an ass-bomb.

Samuel followed shortly after.

Anna was still watching me with a daring smile. She didn’t take her eyes off me when she got up and began to unbutton the summer dress she was wearing. I leaned back, trying to keep my expression cool. She wanted to get a reaction out of me. If she thought her little striptease would get a rise out of me, she was mistaken. The last button popped open and she parted her dress only to let it glide down her shoulders slowly. I simply stared back at her face. I wasn’t a teenage boy who’d blush and snicker because I saw her in her underwear. Sure, she looked like a woman, a good-looking woman, but it took more than that to get a reaction from me.

Her eyes flashed with anger at my lack of reaction before she dashed toward the lake and dove in.

Shaking my head, I got up and tugged my shirt out of my jeans. “I’ll ask for a fucking pay raise once I’m back in Chicago.”

Emma giggled as if she thought it was a goddamn joke. Did my face look like I was fucking joking?

Ignoring her and Danilo, I stalked down to the lower deck, following Anna’s and Leonas’s laughter.

I jumped in headfirst. I needed to cool off for various reasons and was glad for the silence beneath the water’s surface for once. When I emerged after almost a minute, laughter and shrieks drifted back to me. I floated on my back while making sure to keep an eye on my two troublemakers.

My moment of peace was short-lived when Anna began swimming toward me.

“Do you ever just have fun?” Anna asked, hovering beside me.

“Yes. When I’m not working.”

Anna began floating beside me, revealing way too much of her body. I cast my eyes up to the sky. “You mean when you don’t have to be around me.”

I didn’t say anything. Her body floated closer to me and our arms brushed, and I snapped. “I’m not your friend, Anna. I’m your bodyguard. Even if you can’t act professional to save your damn life, I have to.”

Anna’s expression turned frosty but she didn’t get the chance for a comeback because Sofia began screeching. I jerked upright in the water, scanning the area as I grabbed Anna’s wrist. She, too, had stopped floating and swam beside me.

Of course, it turned out to be a fucking seaweed that had wrapped around Sofia’s leg. Anna smiled at me. For once not provoking. “You immediately grabbed me to protect me.”

“That’s my job.”

She nodded but still gave me that strange smile. I was glad when she swam over to Sofia to have a girl’s talk.

I wasn’t in the mood for swimming anymore, so I made my way over to the ladder. By then Sofia had climbed out and walked back up to the house, leaving only Anna at the deck. “You should head to bed. I don’t want to have to take care of you when you have a cold,” I muttered.

Anna rolled her eyes. “I was going to head to the lodge anyway.”

She grabbed the ladder.

“Let me go first,” I ordered. I didn’t want to have her ass right above my head while she climbed out. Anna released the rail with a frown and made room so I could climb up first. When I was up on the deck and turned back to the water, Anna gave me a knowing smile. “I really enjoyed the view.”

“Get out.” I motioned at Leonas. “You too,” Leonas grumbled but swam toward us.

Anna grabbed the rail and climbed out. Immediately goose bumps flashed across her skin. It was fucking cold. I headed back to the upper deck where we’d left the towels and grabbed three then headed back toward Anna who was already halfway up the deck. I dropped two towels then unfolded one and held it out to Anna. She allowed me to wrap it around her shoulders and angled her body toward me as she peered up at me with a soft smile. “Thanks, Santino.”

I released her shoulders quickly and nodded as I stepped back. I wished Dad hadn’t taught me to be a gentleman. Most of the time, I managed to refrain from acting like one. Anna didn’t move, only looked at me, still snuggled in that towel.

I dragged my eyes away from her, picked up the other towels and thrust one of them at Leonas’s head.

“Hey!” he protested, then narrowed his eyes at me. “Why don’t you rub me warm with a towel?”

“I didn’t rub anyone, so stop talking shit,” I growled.

Leonas stalked past me, towel-drying his hair with a snort.

Anna too finally began to walk toward the lodge. I followed close behind her, drying my hair. When she stopped abruptly and turned, I couldn’t stop anymore and bumped into her. Luckily she had the towel wrapped around herself.