Chapter ninety four

94.

Mia’s mouth was dry as she tried to explain the sordid history with

Aldo Peretti. “I guess you should know I’d never even met Aldo until the

day of the wedding. I’d only met Stefania a couple of times at that point.”

Shane sat down in his chair, tugging her down to sit on his lap with his legs

pinning hers together. She couldn’t move. “I wasn’t thrilled to have a new

stepmother or stepbrother, but Vadim didn’t care about my input.”

“Your father strikes me as a selfish man.”

She had to bite her tongue to resist the urge to point out he shared traits

with her aloof father. “It didn’t take me long to warm to Stefania, but I

never liked Aldo. He made me…uncomfortable.”

“How old were you?” Shane took her hand, squeezing gently.

To her great surprise, she found the touch comforting. “Twelve. He was

nineteen, so he shouldn’t have had any interest in me, but he seemed to go

out of his way to try to engage me in conversation or spend time with me.”

She swallowed. “At first, I