Probably didn’t help she’d tried to take Zoey’s man.
Kalinda still wanted to punch her for that one.
But they all felt sorry for her too. Giuliana was getting a better picture of how their life may have been.
Pasquale was making faces, and she smiled inside, wondering if he was talking to his wolf too. It was small, but important at the same time.
“Hey,” she called.
He shook his head and gave her his attention again. “Yeah?”
“How about this? You teach me about being a scenter, and I’ll cover the blanks you may have with the politics of the world.”
“We seem to be making a lot of deals lately.”
“I’m learning you’re not all that you see too. I was taught to hate you based on your name. And I’m sure your pack never cared for the Morettis.”
He didn’t have to answer her; it was written clearly all over her face. Primo and his Capo Luigi had so much to answer for. Too late, as they’d already been removed from the face of the planet, but the hell they’d begun still left ripple effects through them all.
“There are … things I don’t want to speak about. Not yet.”
She could understand that too. Plenty of her life wasn’t ready to be an open book, and her allegiance was—and would always be—with Arturo and Dominic. “We’ll figure it out along the way.”
“I’m not good with this.”
“What? Talking?”
“Sharing.”
Pasquale sat on her couch and leaned back, tucking his hands behind his head. That was … sexy. To distract herself, Giuliana sat across from him, feet wide apart and elbows on her knees. Dominic called it her “power sit” right around the time she did it in a Louis Vuitton dress and heels. She didn’t care how it looked to others, how they didn’t view her as feminine. They needed to see her strength. That she was one of them and not an outsider.
Pasquale sat forward, mirroring her, and the effect was different. All his attention was on her—a single-minded focus she could envy. He placed one fist into the palm of his other hand and waited. In the silence of the room, they stared, two enemies on opposite sides who were forced together by their biology. At least that’s how she should have felt.
“Why do you do that?”
She cocked her head to the side. “Do what?”
“Act like a man.”
She scoffed. “I’m sure you realize I’m all woman.”
His heated gaze made her choke on her attempt at a joke. “Yes, I’m well aware.”
“Then what are you asking?”
“You can be decked out in priceless jewels and expensive clothing, yet you staunchly try to push away your femininity.”
“I do not.”
Of course, Giuliana ruined that argument by jutting her chin forward and glaring at him with all intents to punch him.
He was right; she just wasn’t going to talk to him about it. “You don’t share, so neither do I.”
“Let’s add to our deal.”
“What’s that?”
“You teach me about the world and yourself, and I’ll teach you about sniffing and myself too.”
