“Ms. Caruso?” the waiter prompted.
Leo continued to hold my gaze. There was almost an unspoken dare in them. As if my choice of protein meant something more.
Refusing to break the stare, I replied, “Salmon.”
Rafe wrinkled his nose. “I should probably tell you now that I hate fish.”
“You do?”
He nodded as he cut into his steak. “I seriously can’t stand the smell. If you’d like our cook to prepare it, I can always grab dinner out on those nights.”
Glancing at my plate, I said, “I can send it back.”
Rafe shook his head with a smile. “While you might be kind enough–” He jabbed Leo in the ribs. “This jackass won’t.”
With a smirk, Leo shoved the salmon in his mouth. “Mmm, delicious.”
Rafe chuckled at Leo. “Ass.”
I turned my attention away from the Neretti brothers and listened in on Bianca’s conversation with our other cousin, Lucia. Despite the lack of hunger, I managed to clean my plate of protein, which I knew was important from reading an online pregnancy book on a burner phone.
When I reached for my water glass, I bumped Rafe’s hand, causing him to wince. “Are you okay?”
“It’s nothing.”
Leaning over, there was a clear band-aid on his hand. “Seriously, Rafe, what happened?”
“I drank too much last night, and I ended up needing an IV to flush it out.”
“Jesus,” I muttered.
“It’s nothing.”
Leo’s earlier comment about Rafe keeping the Scotch companies in business echoed through my mind. “I don’t want to sound like a nag, but I’m worried about you.”
“Please don’t waste your energy on me.”
Shaking my head, I countered, “You’re going to be my husband.”
“Don’t remind me,” he muttered.
At the sound of a chair screeching back, my gaze bounced from Rafe to where Leo was walking away. He headed into the crowd of tables.
Before I could see where he went, Father appeared. When he held out his hand to me, I fought to keep the salmon and vegetables down. “Tomorrow night, the bride and groom will have the first dance. Tonight, let us.”
Feeling the eyes of everyone on me, I gave Father a beaming smile before letting him ease me out of my chair. After walking around the bridal party table, we stepped out onto the dance floor.
As we swayed to the music, I peered over Father’s shoulder to the table I’d just abandoned. Rafe sat alone, staring into space with his lips turned down in a frown. I suppose he thought that with everyone’s attention on Father and me, he could let his mask slip.
My heart clenched at his expression. Seeing his visible pain coupled with the extent of his drinking devastated me. At the thought of everything I was going to do to him, I shuddered.
“That’s it. I can’t do this anymore.”
“Just keep dancing. It’ll be over soon,” Father said through gritted teeth.
“I’m talking about deceiving Rafe.”
Father’s smile froze in place. “Keep your fucking voice down,” he hissed.
