I rose and went to dispose of the ice towel and wash my hands before rejoining her. She’d spread the napkin on her lap and uncovered the dishes holding two juicy Wagyu steaks and an assortment of vegetables.
At my approach, she turned with the potatoes dish in her hand and a question in her eyes. I nodded, calling myself allsorts of Neanderthal for how much I enjoyed her serving me. Then I shrugged. I was a red-blooded male with an enemy threat hanging over my head. It was right thatsomeprimal instincts came into play.
But I could be civilised enough to select a bottle of red wine, which she didn’t refuse this time, and pour two glasses.
She was a neat but ravenous little eater.
She didn’t pick at her food or complain about calories, which was hella refreshing. I wolfed down my steak in record time – Enrico’s protein shake had finished doing its job hours ago, and punching out coked-up meatheads took it out of a man.
I sat back and savoured my wine, enjoying the simple act of having Maddelena Mancinelli in my space and within touching distance, the latter of which I intended to do plenty more of.
‘Are you going to sit there and watch me eat?’ she asked.
‘Nah, I’m going to repeat the question you think you’ve evaded answering. What the fuck was that about tonight?’
She tensed, toyed with the stem of her glass, then sipped the wine. ‘I was tired.’
‘Bullshit. Your lying skills haven’t improved in the twenty-four hours since we last spoke, baby. Try again.’
Her glare was adorable. But it slowly morphed into something else. Something that made the exceptional steak I’d just consumed roil in my gut. ‘Did something happen? Someone upset you?’
The homicidal growl in my voice made her startle. Left her unguarded enough to tell me I was on the right track.
‘It’s fine?—’
‘Don’t fucking do that. Tell me.’
The alpha bark was intentional. It made it known I wasn’t fucking around. And it’d worked with enough people for me to be confident of its efficacy.
So no, I wasn’t surprised when she responded.
‘My uncle is using this’ – she waved a hand between us – ‘whatever this is, to his advantage.’
‘How?’ I snapped, already planning how to dismember Stefano Mancinelli the first chance I got if what she said didn’t sit well with me.
She licked her lips, and my cock throbbed impatiently. ‘He thinks it’s a good thing as long as it… destabilises you.’
I raised my brows, almost amused. ‘You mean as long as he thinks I’m pussy-whipped by your admittedly magnificent cunt, he’ll keep believing he has a chance of winning the championship?’
She winced but nodded. ‘Something like that.’
‘And if he thinks otherwise?’
A flash of misery darted across her beautiful face. ‘He’s already laying the groundwork to throw me under the bus in case the tide has turned against us.’
This was where I needed to keep my mouth shut, let the Mancinelli family destroy each other from the inside. It would make everything so much easier.
But seeing her distress wasn’t sitting right with me. Scratch that – it fuckinginfuriatedme, especially now I knew the truth. That they were Ivanovski’s willing or unwilling puppets.
‘The tide has turned,bedda, like it or not. But your uncle won’t be telling tales about you. Not if I have anything to say about it.’
Her eyes locked on mine. A little apprehensive. A little hopeful. ‘Tales? So you believe I didn’t have anything to do with the sabotage?’
I paused. Whatever this feeling growing inside of me was, I still had a duty to protect my family. She might well learn the truth on her own, but telling her what went down at the strip club wasn’t on the table.Yet.
‘Let’s just say I’ve learned more than I knew last night, and we’ll leave it there for now, yeah?’
Hope dimmed into frustration. She started to rise from the table. I caught her wrist and tugged, and she tumbled into my arms.
