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“I survived.”
“Is he still alive?”
Dante inhaled and thought about his folks. When Allegra died, he turned his back on his father. What was the point of establishing a relationship with a man he didn’t respect? “Last I heard he was in a retirement home.”
“Last you heard?”
He shrugged his shoulders again, “How often do you talk to your parents? I saw your fr
idge. There were more pictures of Hannah than anyone else in your family.” He watched her throat bob up and down as she swallowed.
“That’s different.”
Their waiter came over and brandished them with a plate of red snapper ceviche on a homemade cracker. Ignacio had to be the best chef he’d ever met in his life; however, when he bit into the red sauce, his mouth burned with fire. Trying to play it cool, Dante reached for his water. “How so?” he asked over the glass of water.
A crinkle appeared at the corner of Harley’s eyes as she took a bite and shared the same heated sensation from the appetizer. “My folks are retired and living in Puerto Rico.”
The way she handled the heat with such cool and ease turned him on. Dante shifted in his seat and took another sip of water. “No phones there? How are you going to tell them about their beach house?”
“They know.”
“You talked to them?”
Harley shook her head. A curl slipped from her hair piled on top of her head. Would it be strange if he reached across and sank his fingers in? “I got an earful from my sister, Jennifer.”
“You frowned when you said her name.”
“We’re not close. She considers me the fuck-up in the family ever since I came into this world. My folks were ready to retire, both kids out of the house when I was born.”
“So, what is the age difference?”
Harley bit her bottom lip gently to think for a moment. “Let’s see, Jenny was twenty when I was born and Anthony nineteen.”
The picture on her refrigerator entered his mind. He’d thought her parents had looked older. “So your folks were older?”
“Eh, I didn’t make things easy and I was constantly reminded about what a little devil I was.” Her left shoulder shrugged, clearly an issue she’d worked out over time.
“I get it, your angel wings trying to come out of your shoulders?” He asked with a raised brow. “What was hard about having older siblings?”
“My brother, Anthony and his girlfriend, Felicia made life easier always pretending I was their kid. They’d counter every time Jenny tried to remind me of my devilishness.”
“Did anyone question it?”
She shook her head and gave a sly smile that sent his blood racing. Why did they come here in public to eat? All he wanted to do was clear the table and make love to her right here.
“And your sister? You guys never tried to work things out?”
“We were never close. She didn’t like me so I didn’t like her. And I told on her all the time.”
“You were a tattle tale?”
“Certain things would slip out. Growing up, our dad insisted Jenny live at home until she married, she snuck out a lot. Anthony used to bribe me with candy to keep quiet about things.”
“And Jenny didn’t?” Dante asked, enjoying the image of a bratty Harley. Even as she rolled her eyes toward the ceiling, he loved it. “So I guess I can understand how the two of you did not see eye to eye.”
“You’d think with our age difference, she’d get over it,” Harley shrugged. “I’ve accepted we’ll never be close. Definitely not as you and your sister, Allegra.”
Unlike the way Harley frowned at the sound of her sister’s name, Dante’s love for his sister rose in his throat. He gulped and smiled. “We were the best of friends, considering our age difference.”
