Then I finally turn and walk out into the evening, the sound of Olivia asking Rory if he thinks “date my mama” should go on my final grade following me all the way to my car.
Chapter Nine
Maverick
“Do you have a death wish?” I ask Foster. “You do realize they were about to kill you?”
“They need to lighten up,” he says, pouring himself a drink from my personal collection as if he’s not just narrowly escaped being murdered in my kitchen. “They can’t spend the rest of their lives walking around with those sourpuss faces.”
I get it.
My cousins are hard men. They hardly speak unless there’s something important to say, and even then, half the time, it comes out as a grunt or a death threat. Nico and Marco do not soften easily. Life made sure of that.
But still.
There’s teasing a man…and then there’s poking a starving wolf with a steak knife.
“What’d he do?” Stefano asks as he walks through the door, glancing from Foster to me. “Nico and Marco are boiling mad.”
Foster lifts his glass. “That seems dramatic.”
“You were tied to a kitchen table,” I point out.
“Temporarily.”
“With rope.”
“Good rope, too. I respect quality work.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose.
Stefano’s mouth twitches. “Why were you tied to our kitchen table, Foster?”
Foster takes a slow sip of my whiskey before answering. “Because your cousins have no sense of humor.”
“Foster,” I warn. “Those two were not wired to understand your jokes. You’re lucky I got back in time, or they’d have taken the knives to you.”
“I wasn’t worried. They would have cooled off eventually.”
“Nico was sharpening his blades next to your ear,” I remind him. “While his brother was marking your body for the slices.”
Foster looks down at the thick line above his right wrist and smiles.
“I might have this permanently tattooed.”
“Foster.”
“Fine,” he sighs. “I just ran a simple test to check if your internal security was operating at peak capacity. It was.”
Marco storms into the room in a blaze of Italian fury.
“Un semplice test?”he snaps, his voice sharp enough to cut glass.“Questo pazzo motociclista ha violato il nostro sistema, ha piantato informazioni false, e ci ha fatto credere che il nostro Don fosse stato preso mentre era fuori casa.”
“I’m sorry…what?” I ask, shocked.
“Ci hai dato una posizione falsa,”Marco continues, pointing at Foster.“Un percorso falso. Una minaccia falsa. Hai messo il suo nome, la sua macchina, il luogo in cui era stato visto con una donna e una bambina, e hai premuto invio come se fosse un gioco.”
My jaw tightens.
