“No. Bribed them.”
“Oh, does my father know about this?”
“No, I’ll tell him later. And I don’t mind paying for it out of my own pocket. Just the cost of doing business.”
I was in charge of the books so I knew my father hadn’t paid Wolfe much in the beginning, but his salary quickly rose after everything that went down with the Lombardis. The only person who made more than him now was Elio. I wasn’t sure how my brother would feel about that if he knew.
I let Wolfe finish his dinner because he was hungry and exhausted. I watched him have a few pieces of bread before he drank his wine.
“I’m not sure if you come over here to see me or eat my cooking.”
He smirked. “I’d grab takeout on the way. Or we’d go to my place and have the maid cook for us. But your cooking is definitely better than hers, better than anyone’s I’ve ever had.”
“Is that actually true, or do you just have sex goggles on?”
“Sex goggles?” he asked in amusement.
“You know, where everything I do seems great because you’re getting laid.”
His smirk continued. “I’d still love your cooking even if you were holding out on me. But not gonna lie, there’s probably some influence there. I definitely feel more attraction to your food since you’re the one who made it with your bare hands. I never had someone cook for me because they wanted to.”
I immediately thought of his mother and her occupation and the childhood he’d had because of it.
“So it’s definitely special.” He continued to eat, slicing his fork through the tender pieces of fish and the pasta that accompanied it. His bites slowed down like he wasn’t starving anymore, but he continued to eat like the hunger was still there.
The plate I’d made for myself was much smaller because I didn’t need nearly as much as he did. I felt him stare at me across the table as we finished our dinner. Conversation with him was easy, but the silence was even easier. We could just be in the same room together and our minds would still touch.
He wiped his plate clean, leaving only a streak of sauce.
“Dad had a meeting while you were gone.”
“Yeah?”
“He told us about the Skull King and Icarus.”
He held my stare without needing to blink, and he moved his elbows to the table as he leaned forward slightly.
“And now everyone is going to be coming for our business.”
He continued to stay quiet.
“Why didn’t you tell me this?”
He inhaled a slow breath, his chest rising as his lungs inflated. “Didn’t want to scare you.”
“Should I be scared?”
“I think things are about to change.”
My eyes dropped to the table.
“And I think it’s best if you stick to the wine and the canned tomatoes and leave everything else to us.”
I swallowed when I felt the fear sink into my flesh. Business had always operated with very few hiccups. Sometimes there were disputes, but because no one was looking for a fight, it was mostly calm. A couple verbal confrontations here and there, but that was it.
“I won’t let anything happen to you.”
My eyes moved back to his.
