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“You think she’ll share? " he asks in surprise, turning to look at me properly.
“One thing you need to learn, little brother,” I tease. “You catch more bees with honey than with vinegar. Did Ma never tell you that? Besides, I decided to take a leaf out of Róisín’s book and just ask.”
* * *
When I get back to my suite with a tray full of food, much more time has passed than I intended, and it’s mid-afternoon. Liam gets the door for me, since my hands are full, and tells me everything has been quiet while he’s been standing guard. I stand him down for the remainder of the afternoon since I’m not planning to leave my room again.
Maricela is getting out of the shower, which surprises me, since I thought she’d be pacing the floors by now, hammering at the door and demanding to be fed. I guess the lack of sleep she was subjected to really took it out of her.
She doesn’t come flying at me in a rage, which I’d half expected, and I’m glad to see her eyes look clear and she appears well rested.
“I brought you some lunch,” I say as I put the tray down on the bedside table.
“Oh my days, I could eat a horse,” she responds with a depth of happiness that throws me off completely.
I stuff my hands in my pockets, feeling all kinds of awkward, though I’d be hard pushed to say why. I cover it with humor. “No horses, I’m afraid. But there’s a nice broth and freshly baked bread rolls to start you off and a hearty cottage pie to follow and a brownie to finish up.”
Her eyes go wide. “You brought me a three-course meal?” she asks, and I hate that she’s surprised.
“For both of us,” I say instead as I lay out cutlery on the small, round window table in my lounge area and remove the domes off the soup.
Maricela looks at me like I’ve given her diamonds, and I know a moment of sadness that this woman is so easily pleased. Conversely, it only makes me like her more. But not for the first time, I wonder what she’s endured in her short life that she views something as simple as the basic human requirements like they’re a luxury.
She dives into it like she’s starved, and I guess she probably is. Another wave of guilt washes over me as she devours every drop and crumb of the first course, enough that I surprise myself with my next words. “Would you like a glass of wine to go with your main?”
Maricela blinks at me like maybe she didn’t hear right. Hell, I’m not sure I heard right myself, despite the offer coming out of my own mouth.
Still, I stand by the offer and rise from my chair to find an accompanying bottle of red. A nice Malbec. I hold it up for her to see instead of repeating the question, and she looks adorably bashful all of a sudden.
“Thank you,” she replies, shyly. “Just the one.”
I pour us both a glass and thankful that I manage to avoid making any more of an arse of myself by doing something even dumber, like proposing a toast. I’m not sure what all is going on here, but one thing I’m certain of is that this woman has thrown me for a loop. Callum’s not wrong there. I mean, I’ve known that all along, but I’m getting so I don’t want to keep denying it any longer.
We eat in silence to begin with, but it’s an amicable silence. Then, as it becomes obvious Maricela’s immediate hunger has been alleviated, we banter back and forth a little.
It’s all kind of surreal and I don’t know quite what to make of it. What the hell am I doing playing host to the woman I kidnapped?
I find I don’t have an answer to that.
But neither do I have any regrets.
Chapter Thirty-Two
MARICELA
After everything that’s occurred, Ciaran surprises me by bringing lunch. He surprises me again with the wine.
Is it sad this meal is the nicest I’ve ever shared with a man?
Yeah, I guess it probably is, but damn if I’m not going to enjoy it. I’d expected much worse after my escape attempt.
I’m feeling relaxed and mellow by the time we start on dessert. Enough to want to offer something in return.
“I don’t know if it’s helpful to you at all,” I begin, uncertainty making me hesitant. “But after Callum questioned me yesterday, I thought of something.”
Ciaran’s shoulders tense at the reference and he appears to make a deliberate effort to relax them again.
“I overheard a conversation not so long ago, between Vito and Mika. Mika was angry. Really angry. He told Vito he was reckless and a liability, that he was damaging the reputation of the Famiglia."
