Page 99 of Worth of Waste

“I’m the head of DeLuca family,” Ben practically snarled. “I make those kinds of calls. You know I’ve been looking for someone—”

“You don’t care about Lily, or what she wants. You would marry her off to the first asshole that offered you the best price, regardless of what he was like behind closed doors. If you think I’d let you do that to my sister, think again, Ben. It’s settled. You don’t get a say.”

Ben glared, his hand twitching at his side.

Had Dino been a younger man, had they been in a different place, he had no doubt his uncle would have struck him down to the ground right then.

Old habits were hard to change.

He knew he had poked a bear—he’d woken up a monster in his uncle.

It’d been a while since he really feared that monster.

He figured this time, by the time Ben reacted, it would already be too late.

Things were already in motion.

Dino had rolled the ball.

He just needed to keep it moving and the course would run out for Ben.

Eventually.

“You’ll regret making a fool of me like this,” Ben said coldly.

“I doubt it,” Dino replied.

His uncle stalked off, leaving him alone in the hallway. Well, it seemed he wasn’t entirely alone. At the other side, he could see his brother standing in the shadows.

Theo had watched the whole scene unfold.

Good.

Dino figured it was time his brother started filling in all those blanks they had left between one another throughout the years.

Karen

“HERE, let me help with those,” Dino said as he dropped his overnight bag in the corner of the kitchen.

Karen didn’t have time to refuse his offer, she really didn’t need help peeling the potatoes or cutting up the rest of the vegetables, but he was already behind her, his large hands slipping the items from her grasp and getting to work.

Dino’s lips skimmed the back of Karen’s neck before he kissed her right over the same spot. She smiled. Slowly but surely, he went to work peeling the potatoes and dropping them in the colander to be washed.

He barricaded her against the sink from behind, she realized.

Karen liked his closeness, and the surprise visit, so she didn’t say a thing, instead resting her head back on his large shoulder while he concentrated on his work.

“What are we cooking?” Dino asked.

“Stew.”

“A little hot for stew.”

“I need to go grocery shopping,” Karen explained. “I had the ingredients to make this.”

Dino chuckled. “Ah.”

“Since when do you visit on a Monday night?”