He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not getting any younger, Siena, and you might start thinking about marriage and babies. Come to think of it, Elijah isn’t married, and he’s not getting any younger. He’s quite good-looking.” He winked at her.

She bit down on her lower lip to try to keep from blushing. Just the mere mention of Elijah’s name set her heart pounding and her stomach whooshing a slow somersault. He was good-looking. Hot. Gorgeous. And way out of her league. She wasn’t going to tell her grandfather that.

“Stop being a matchmaker. You’ll get your babies in due time, I promise.” Maybe sooner than he wanted if her body didn’t stop with the meltdown-frantic-for-sex-now routine.

She’d taken to looking at her grandfather’s bodyguards. And his number one man, Paolo, the man her grandfather dreamed of having her marry. Paolo watched her all the time. He always had. His gaze burned through her. He was good-looking and always very polite to her, but she knew he was a hound dog. He went through women, and word was, he wasn’t very nice about it. She’d heard rumors from some of the maids and the cook that he ruled his women with an iron fist. She wasn’t hooking up with him, even though she knew he was more than willing.

“I’m not getting any younger,” he repeated, patting her hand. “Be a good girl and deliver the wine for me. Give Elijah my best. Tell him not to be such a stranger and to drop by once in a while to see an old man.”

“I will, Nonnino,” she murmured and kissed the top of his head.

The hair on the back of her neck stood up and her stomach tightened. She knew without turning her head that Paolo Riso had stepped into the room. He was all roped muscle and fluid grace, and for such a big man he moved in complete silence. She knew he was very intelligent, and her grandfather relied heavily on him. She had always gotten along with him, even liked him when she was younger, but the last few years she’d visited home, he made her very uncomfortable.

She turned her head and forced a smile. His eyes were on her. Gleaming. Watching. Hooded. Holding secrets. Secrets she was certain involved her—none of them good. He was very close to her grandfather, and her grandfather treated him as he might a son. She wanted to love him for that alone, but instead, each time she came back home, she found herself becoming more and more uneasy around him.