“He wants to get under my skin,” I tell her honestly. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
She rolls her eyes. “Says the one who’s never been kidnapped. Come on, Benny. We have dinner to make, and it might be my last supper, with my luck.”
Chapter 28
Fresh Sun on a Clean P*ssy
Bianca
“Ican feed myself.” I push Benny’s hand away.
“Try it,” he urges.
“No.”
“Bianca.”
“Salvatore,” I challenge. “Y’all might be cool with raisins in your food, but they don’t belong in mine.”
The spoon breaches my mouth. Lemon bursts through toasted breadcrumbs, pine nuts, and parsley with parmesan.
And these damn raisins.
His mouth lifts. “You done talking shit?”
“Nope.” I open for another bite.
Never have I ever eaten sardines with raisinsandanchovies stuffed together. Plot twist: It’s delicious.
Benny has been a stage-five clinger since we left the markets earlier. The hovering hasn’t stopped, not since he asked me six times if I was okay or when he let Hades and Ares follow me into my room. They take after their daddy by not letting me have a moment of peace. Imagine how hard it is peeing, let aloneshowering, inside a quaint bathroom with two freaking Cane Corsos.
I’m fine, but this helicopter hostage soothing isn’t helping Benny beat the allegations that something is wrong. While I’m not exactly a hostage since he’s now paying me, the fact remains he’s clinging. I want answers because I refuse to play Helen of Troy for anybody.
“How did you become a crime boss?” My question travels over the pesce spada alla siciliana he slides onto my plate. If his legitimate businesses and illegal activities don’t pan out, he has a future as a chef. Swordfish, olives, and capers could never with me.
“My uncle,” he says lowly, his focus on the dinner he made. “I joined shortly after my parents got killed.”
“How old were you?”
He keeps his eyes on mine when he says, “Eleven.”
My stomach somersaults. I was playing with90210dolls and still readingTheBaby-Sitters Clubbooks when I was eleven. Stories of kids around the way falling into gang life weren’t uncommon, but eleven is young.
“Did he…did your uncle force you into the life?”
“It was my choice. The Scilari formed in response to the Preda decades ago. They were in the middle of a war. Once my parents were gone, I wanted to keep my grandmother safe and kill every person involved in their murders.
“They owned a store in a Palermo market similar to the ones I took you to today. My father refused to pay protection money and organized with other business owners to go to the authorities.” The grip on Benny’s fork tightens. “It was an act of defiance that cost him and my mother their lives. Tino’s grandfather made an example of my parents.”
I rest a hand on his thigh. “I’m so sorry, Benny.”
Shoulder to shoulder, we sit in silence at the dining table on the covered balcony. The sun fades behind green hilltops, streaking the sky in orange and pink pastels.
“Did you ever get the people who took your family away?”
The chain around Benny’s neck waves in the candlelight. “I killed Tino’s grandfather when I was twelve. His father was at university abroad and put an end to the war as the new don.”
I frown. “So why is there still tension today?”
