Grabbing a napkin, attempting to wipe Mia’s face, I asked. “Man?”
“Mo! Eeeeese!”
Brando gave me a hard glance as he took my bowl, going for more pasta for Mia, and I returned it.
I didn’t tell him!my look shouted.
Neither did I,he seemed to grunt out.
“A boy!” Eunice smiled. “How wonderful!”
“Sì.” Luca nodded. “A man. It will be sons for my oldest son from now on. More Fausti men born to rule the world, ah?”
I’d sat down and put Mia on my lap, letting her feed herself the new bowl of pasta Brando had brought over. It could have been nothing, but I noticed he took a big bite before he’d given it to us. He was testing it to be sure that it was legit. Even with his father he was paranoid. I shoved the thought aside, though, still tensing at Luca’s words.
More Fausti men born to rule the world, ah?
Eunice melted when she looked at Luca. In her defense, it was hard not to. He had been kindness incarnate to her since their first meeting. He took special care to speak to her, occasionally taking her hand and asking her how she was. At one point or another, he vowed retribution to the man who had done this heinous thing to her—killing her husband. In many ways, I understood why men followed him, and most definitely why they feared him.
“Oh,” Eunice’s voice sounded dreamy. She looked at Brando. “I’m sure he’ll turn out to be a fine man, just like his father.”
Brando stood with his back against the counter, keeping his eyes on me, and atthishe tensed. It was hard for him to hear praise when it was aimed at him. Sometimes I had to remind him that I was his wife, and that a woman had to admit “soft” things to her husband, or she might burst from keeping them in—in the form of tears.
Eunice, bless her heart, sometimes sucker-punched him without having a clue. She’d loved Brando for as long as I could remember.
I cleared my throat, breaking the tension in the air, kissing Mia’s cheek. She fed me a bite of pasta and I made ayum!face at her before I thanked her. After this, she wanted to feed me more than she did herself.
About to bring up Luca’s cooking skills, I caught myself. He had said it was a secret. Then I realized that Brando had tasted it, so he had suspected Luca cooked it.
What else was there to say then?
Before I could stress too much, Brando spoke up, finally recovered from Eunice’s compliment.
“Would you like to speak in the office, Father?” he asked Luca in Italian.
“Ah.” Luca lifted his head. He had been pinching Mia’s cheeks. “I did not come here to speak to you. I could have done that earlier. I came here to speak with your wife.Privatamente.”
In private.
Brando crossed his arms, and his narrowed eyes became even more suspicious. “I’d rather be present,” he said in Italian. “My wife isn’t feeling well.”
“I took care of her,” his father said with ease. “Sickness does not bother me. Does it, Rosa?”
Ah hell.Why did he put me in the middle?Both men stared at me.
“Well…” I kissed Mia’s head and then my response rushed out. “He sat with me in the bathroom. He wouldn’t leave. He placed a cool washcloth on my neck. Then watched me brush. He said I was good.” This declaration was punctuated by the hot flush that rose in my cheeks. “At brushing my teeth, I mean!”
“I know how to speak to a woman.” Luca grinned. “Since I have a woman of my own, I will not steal yours.”
Try, Brando’s stern face seemed to challenge.Try to steal her.
Luca noticed, and his grin widened even further.
My husband wasn’t sold on the idea of me and his father having private time. The blood in my veins bombinated with his uncertainty.
Secretly, I wanted to speak to Luca in private too, so I was hoping Brando agreed.
Mia started to sing to herself, and with our hands together, we lifted them and let them fall, as though we were tapping an invisible drum, my wedding rings chiming softly against the table as I waited for one of them to break.
