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She stared at the plate, not touching her fork.
“Problem?”he asked, pausing mid-twirl of his own pasta.
Her head shot up.“No!No problem at all.”She snatched her fork, twirled some noodles, and blurted, “This smells divine.”
“Glad you like it.”He hid a grin and pushed the cheese closer again.“So tell me—what foods do you prefer?Don’t tell me your father banned everything fun.”
Her eyes flickered, something dark passing through them.He wanted to kick down every wall she had.“I suspect he denied your favorite foods?”
Her nod was curt.
“He really was a bastard,” he muttered.
“I went to boarding school,” she said, a little too brightly.“I got away from him then.”
“Good.So when you were there, what was your favorite meal?”He leaned an elbow on the counter, giving her a lazy half-smile.“Humor me.I’m only trying to get to know you.Married couples do that, you know—talk about food.”
Her lips twitched despite herself.
“Besides,” he added, “you’re helping me, Cata.Let me return the favor.”
She set her fork down carefully.“You’ve already helped me enormously by getting me away from my father and Matteo.”A smile broke free, small but genuine.“And…the video.It was pretty funny, wasn’t it?”
“Hilarious,” he said with a low chuckle.“Especially the part where Matteo’s face turned that special shade of purple.Priceless.”
Catarina laughed, the sound soft but real this time.
Sal leaned in, lowering his voice conspiratorially.“So, tell me, Cata—are you planning to blackmail Matteo with it?Or just save it for family movie night?”
Her eyes widened, then she laughed again, shaking her head.“I wasn’t planning to do anything with it.I just wanted proof that Matteo wasn’t a good…husband candidate.”
She shrugged, and he again noticed how thin she was.Maybe that was why she wasn’t eating.Oh, she’d swirled the pasta around like a nervous schoolgirl, but she hadn’t taken a real bite.
“Would that have worked?”he asked, pointing to her untouched plate.
“Probably not,” she sighed, twirling her fork again.“He most likely would’ve just laughed at the video.”
“He was pretty upset about our wedding yesterday.”
She grimaced.“My father is always upset about something.”
Finally, she slid the forkful of pasta into her mouth, closed her eyes, and let out a startled moan of pleasure.“Oh, this is good!”she said around the mouthful.“Really, really good.”
Sal grinned, more satisfied with that sound than he cared to admit.“Thank you,” he said, nodding.“What’s going to happen to Caruso now?”
She shrugged again, sprinkling a mountain of cheese over her pasta.“My father will most likely kill him.He has a whole team of goons ready to move into a newly vacant capo’s position.”She sighed as she twirled another bite.“He’s had five in the past six years.None of them last long.”She tilted her head.“How long has your second in command been with you?”
“Tony and I grew up together.He’s been at my side for more than twenty-five years.”He paused with his fork halfway to his mouth, studying her.“How old are you, anyway?”
“Twenty-five,” she said, stirring her noodles instead of eating them.“And I’ve been engaged to other men.”
He stopped cold, staring.“More engagements?”
She nodded, cheeks heating as she set her fork and spoon down.It was humiliating, the way her father had dangled her like a prize in front of his soldiers.Never a daughter.Always a bargaining chip.
“What a bastard,” Sal hissed.
She blinked in surprise at the heat in his voice, then clapped a hand over her mouth to smother her burst of laughter.
