“Can I trust you’ll stay here?” Cato asks. “I’ll retrieve the cookies.”
“Right here.” I pull out one of the hightop chairs at the giant counter in the massive kitchen. Carter climbs up into it.
“Keep an eye on her, C. She’s crafty. Think it runs in the family.”
“Got it, boss.” Carter gives him a thumbs-up. “He always says Dad is crafty,” he informs me. He leans in again and holds his hand up to his mouth.
I lean in to hear his secret.
“He really says crafty bastard.”
I snort a laugh.
“I think I like just crafty.” The little boy shrugs. “He’s gone now, so I don’t think he’ll be saying it anymore.”
“I lost my daddy, too.”
He turns to look up at me. “He’s gone. I can’t see him anymore until I go to heaven. That’s what Flavia says.”
“She might be right.” I brush my thumb along his cheek. “I knew your daddy.”
“You did?” His eyes light up.
“I did. He was my big brother. Did you know that makes me your aunt?”
He grabs the end of my hair. “An aunt? The kind that bite?”
“No.” I want to hug him so hard. “I’m your Aunt Apollonia.”
“Apollonia? Your hair is so long.” He plays with the ends of it.
“Did your daddy tell you about me?” Why didn't he tell me about him? He shouldn't be here. Cato sets a container of cookies between us. Carter lets go of my hair to grab one.
“He showed me a picture. Bell'angelo.” I see Cato watching us as he grabs us something to drink.
“Beautiful angel.” I smile thinking about it. It sounds sweet, but Carter always called me that because he said I was a goodie two shoes. I told him I had to be good enough for both of us. It was the only way I could get him into the afterlife with me. He’d tell me not to worry about it. He’d sneak in and see me on the other side.
Cato sits the milk in front of Carter. The boy gives him a giant smile before picking it up. He trusts Cato. I lean back in my chair and watch Carter. I can feel Cato watching me.
Things just got a whole lot more complicated, but I take comfort in the fact that I’m no longer alone in this world.
4
Cato
“Run along for your lessons. Diego doesn’t like to wait.” I ruffle Carter’s hair as he dashes out the back door.
“Lessons?” Apollonia stares after her nephew, and I can feel how badly she wants to follow him.
“Diego takes care of my vineyards. He’s teaching Carter how to do the same. Your nephew has quite the green thumb.”
She whirls on me, her eyes flashing. “You want to keep him here and use him the same way you used my brother.”
“I never forced Carter into my employ.” I keep my voice even.
“Oh? Do you think I’m stupid? Everyone here works for you. My parents worked for your father, and now you’re playing the same game with these peoples’ lives as your parents played with mine.”
“I don’t play games, little lioness.” I step toward her.
She doesn’t back down.
It makes my blood run hotter than the Tuscan sun. “The people who work for me do it because they believe in me, in my ability to keep them safe and happy, and their families well fed and comfortable.”
“Did you keep my brother safe?” she almost spits the words.
“I will always regret--”
“Save it.” She throws a hand up. “I don’t need another word from your lying mouth. You caught my brother in your web and look what happened to him. And now you’re trying to catch my nephew as well. I won’t let you. I have every right to that little boy. He’s coming with me.”
“No.” A simple word, one that Apollonia doesn’t seem to understand.
“He’s mine.” She steps to me, almost toe to toe, though she has to lean back to hold my gaze. “I’ll do whatever it takes to get him away from you.”
“I’ve raised that boy as my own. When his mother left and Carter was too mired in misery to care for the child, I sat with him at night, giving him bottles of warm milk and cradling him as he slept. He is as much mine as he was Carter’s, and you aren’t taking him from me.”
“No. He’s coming back to the States with me.”
“How is he going to do that when you can’t return to the States yourself?” I may add a touch of smugness to the question. Why do I enjoy riling her?
“What?” She blinks, as if thinking. “My purse. Where’s my purse?” She pushes past me, then stops and turns. “You took it.”
“Your passport? Yes, I did.”
“Give it back.” She fists her hands.
“My apologies, little lioness, but I feel it best that you remain here for a while, a guest of mine at this estate.”
“You bastard!” She flies at me, her fingernails ready to tear my eyes out.
I catch her wrists and push her back until she hits the tile wall, then I pin her hands above her head. “The next time you strike me, lioness, I can’t be certain I won’t retaliate.”
“Of course you’d hit a woman.” Disdain drips from her lips.
“I said retaliate, not hit.” I lean closer until our breaths mingle. “I would never hit you, never harm you. But I can always punish you. I can take from you.” I glance at her lips.
Her heart kicks up a notch, her pulse fluttering like a butterfly at the side of her throat. “I’ll scream.”
“Oh?” I press my knee between her legs and feel the heat building there. “I’m certain you will.”
Her breath hitches as I move my leg, massaging her sensitive skin with lazy strokes.
“Are you certain you want to fight me?” I ghost my lips across her neck and watch the goose bumps bloom along her beautiful skin.
“Get off me,” she growls, but it’s breathy and sexy and beyond sinful.
I graze her with my teeth. “Remember this, lioness. The next time you come for me with violence, I will retaliate far more deeply than this.” I nip at her, then pull away and release her.
My own heart pounds, my cock demanding I take what’s mine. And for a moment I consider tossing her to the floor and making her moan my name as I eat her cunt then fuck her raw.
“Don’t touch me.” Her voice quavers as she points a finger at me. “Don’t you ever fucking touch me. And that boy is mine. You will not use him as a pawn in your power play.” With that, she spins and marches out of the kitchen, her dark hair flying behind her as her hips sway with tantalizing ferocity.
Such a woman as her. One with fire in her belly and disaster in her eyes--a woman like her could end a man like me.
“Careful.” Flavia bustles in, pretending she hasn’t been lurking and listening just outside the door. “That one is wild. She bites.”
“So do I.” I stride out and return to my office even though every cell in my body demands I follow her to her room and give her exactly what she needs.
“Sir.” Santino hands me a file. “Everything you requested.”