Page 49 of Lucian

“Give her some credit. She didn’t even flinch at the size of this home. She adapts incredibly well to her situation, whatever it is.”

“You were watching when we came through the gate?” Lucian asked, surprised.

Antony laughed deeply. “First woman any of my sons willingly bring home? Of course I was, Lucian.”

“Yet you couldn’t greet me at the church?” Lucian asked.

“I was dealing with Gio.”

“Why lie? You didn’t want to be seen greeting me with a woman at my side publically. You haven’t even introduced yourself to her. That’s what it was, Dad.”

“No, I was dealing with Gio,” his father repeated strongly. “He made a comment—called the girl your principessa. And she very well might be, Lucian, but I can’t have others hearing that right now and spreading it through the Marcello family. I don’t want people assuming my sons’ personal lives are going to overtake their business lives. It’s dangerous, especially if other Mafiosi believe you’re closer to settling down in life than Dante is. Eyes will turn to you, son. They’ll be watching you, wanting to know if you’re going to make a move on your brother, or worse, me.”

“I don’t care. Let them. I don’t want to be a boss. I’m happy doing what I do, now.”

“I can’t, Lucian. You don’t have to be battling with your brother privately or publically for others to say you are. This is how problems start. Little issues turn to big wars. It isn’t just our Cosa Nostra we have to consider. I have done everything I could for years to keep our family under only our control. That is what is most important. Keeping our family as ours.”

“I understand, but she has nothing to do with any of that. Jordyn is just …” Words failed Lucian again.

“She’s what, someone you need to protect? Is that why you’ve attached yourself to her, because you feel you owe karma something for how it turned out for you and this is your way of paying it back?”

“No. That’s not it,” Lucian replied. “Nothing like that.”

“Explain it to me, then, because I am at a loss, son.”

“I told you, she’s important. I’m going to let it go wherever it goes. I think I’d find a lot of regret in not doing that for myself. I don’t live with regrets, so I’m not going to start having them with someone like her.”

“And you’re hoping it ends with you and her going together, sì?”

Lucian shrugged. “I won’t put explanations and feelings on things I don’t understand.”

“Can I trust her?” Antony asked, barely above a breath. “With our family, the Cosa Nostra, and my son, too?”

“I do,” Lucian replied.

“Dio. That’s good enough for me, then. I still have to properly meet her, though.”

• • •

Cecelia took the wooden spoon covered in a thick, red sauce, tasting it with the new ingredients. She gave the younger woman a nod in approval before turning to wash off the spoon.

“I’m impressed,” Cecelia said. “I wouldn’t have thought of those.”

Jordyn shrugged, continuing to stir in the mix of spices she’d chosen for the special pasta sauce Cecelia refused to give the secret ingredients for. “It’s like a go-to. If it’s really good from the start, these make it great. At least, that’s what I always found.”

“I’ve followed the exact recipe for years. I’ve never deviated from it.”

Briefly, Jordyn wondered if she overstepped her limits. A kitchen was a woman’s kingdom, especially an Italian woman’s kitchen. Cecelia obviously took great pride in her cooking and the massive meals she prepared for her family.

“I’m going to have to change the recipe now,” Cecelia added, grinning. “I don’t know how Antony’s grandmother would have felt about that, bless her soul, but oh well.”

Jordyn smiled. “Thanks. Does that mean I get the rest of the ingredient list?”

“Sorry, but no. Tradition is what it is, dear. Someday, I might be able to hand it over, but not today.”

“Someday?”

What did that mean?