“Do you understand?”Her gaze turned stern.
I slowly nodded.“Yes, thank you.”
She smiled.“Come on, let’s eat.”
The table was silent for a while as everyone dug into their food.But the tension that loomed thickly in the air made me know that it was only a matter of time before it exploded.
“We haven’t seen you around much, Damien.”Luciano laid a venomous emphasis on Damien’s name, keeping his collected mask intact.
“Oh, you know,” Damien cut through his meat gently, stuffing it into his mouth, “marriage makes you a busy man.I know you know what I mean.”
“Of course.”Luciano grinned.“I thought, for a second, that my father was starting to lose his hold over his dog.”
I froze.
“Don’t speak to your brother like that,” their dad cut in calmly.
“Adoptive brother.”Luciano smirked.
Adoptivebrother?
My eyes widened a fraction.Damien was adopted?I mean, it’d make so much sense because he bore no resemblance to his father.It didn’t explain it well, since some kids didn’t necessarily resemble their parents.But that would explain why Luciano was so mean toward Damien.It’d explain the friction between the brothers.
“It’s okay, Dad.”Damien knocked back the rest of his wine.“Why don’t you say one more word and see if I won’t slam your face into this table?”
“Oh, I dare you, Damien Romano.”
“I think it’s time for dessert,” Silvana announced with a fake smile.
“I agree,” Andrea and I chorused.
“Why don’t we head to the kitchen to fetch it and leave the men to finish their conversation?”she suggested.
We rose to our feet.I cast a fleeting glance in Damien’s direction, then slowly leaned in to kiss him.He deepened it, eliciting a moan from me.
“I look forward to getting you home and ripping this dress off your body tonight,” he murmured thickly to me.
The blush on my cheeks deepened.I thought it was the wine.
I turned around and followed Silvana to the kitchen.
She took off her kimono and tossed it on the counter.I watched her frown, yanking a drawer open and retrieving a bottle of bourbon from it.She took a long swig from it.
“Sorry.”She chuckled.“They just rile me up so much.”
I smiled, hopping on the countertop.
“Are they always like that?”I had to ask.
“What?Vicious as dogs?”She smirked.“Yes.As much as I think I’m used to it, they still get under my skin every damn time they’re in the same room.”
I sighed.“It’s suffocating.”
“Tell me about it.”Silvana rolled her eyes, taking another swig.A brief silence passed between us.“When you look at the trio, what do you see?”Her green eyes were as piercing as they were beautiful.
“I see...”I paused.“Two sons competing for a father’s love.”On the surface, it didn’t seem like that, but you had to look harder.
Luciano and Damien were both scared that they weren’t worthy of their father’s love, so in their twisted ways, they tried to cling to it while viciously attacking each other.
