Natalia turns and looks at him in puzzlement. “By whom?”
“Some angry French woman,” Joey says with a laugh.
“Mary,” Natalia says with a soft smile. “She was my nursemaid.”
I’m leaning against the doorframe watching, my hands still in my pockets. She looks over at me, her smile dropping and a blush rising to her cheeks.
Sisco and Joey turn to look at me and then back to her.
“Don’t mind him,” Joey says. “He’s the moody, mysterious one,” he mocks.
“He tries to be moody and mysterious but we all know that he’s just an asshole,” Sisco joins in, and both of my idiotic brothers laugh.
Natalia starts to smirk but uses her hand to cover it. I wish she wouldn’t do that. I like seeing her full lips turn up in a smile. I can imagine them wrapping around my . . .
“Ain’t that right, brother?” Sisco says.
I push off the wall and give him the middle finger before walking away.
“Little sister,” I say, rising from my chair. I catch Eva around the waist and spin her around.
“Dom!” She squeals with laughter as I set about tickling her. “Stop,” she screams, laughing harder. “I’m gonna pee!”
I stop tickling her and release her. “I’d better stop then, huh? We can’t have you peeing yourself.”
Her cheeks are flushed and she bends over and picks up her school bag, which she’d thrown down upon seeing me. She settles herself in the large chair by the fireplace, watching as I settle in the one opposite. It was barely four months ago that this was our father and her sitting here, ready to discuss their day. I’ve done everything within my power to keep this routine for her.
“Well?” I ask, my fingertips peaked under my chin. “How was the test?”
She rolls her eyes and makes a gagging sound. “Awful, but I don’t care.”
“You should always care. Your education is important. A woman with no intelligence has nothing to offer the world.”
“I might be a model,” she taunts.
“How about a scientist,” I suggest.
“How about a pop star?”
“A mathematician?”
“An actress?”
“You slay me, Eva,” I say with feigned upset. “Can you not at least pretend to that you intend to use your brain for something?”
She rolls her eyes again. “Fine. An archaeologist.”
I smirk at her. “A good choice. You’ll see the world if nothing else.”
“Who’s the girl upstairs?” she asks, her legs swinging back and forth on the armchair.
My mouth quirks. For everything she has been through, Eva has bounced back so well. And she never misses anything.
“She’s . . .” I pause, unsure how to phrase it without making Natalia sound cheap or me sound like a monster.
“Are you dating?”
I sigh. “Sort of.”
