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It was heavy on her tongue and fell apart almost immediately. It was absolutely perfect. She glanced over her shoulder as Marco returned to the counter. She set her fork down a moment and cleared her throat. “I’m curious,” she murmured.
“About what?” he asked casually, leaning over the counter again.
“Do you make this stuff yourself?”
He nodded and ran his fingers through his thick, black hair. “Yes. Some of the recipes are Madame’s, but I do all the cooking.”
“How are you so good at this?”
He chuckled and popped a candy into his mouth before speaking. “I’m Italian. Italian families are ruled by food. I always cooked with my mother and so I picked up a few things.”
“But your specialty is baking?”
“I don’t really have a specialty. I help prepare most of the food that is served in the main house as well.”
“That’s a lot to do.”
“We manage well enough. We have our ways.” As he said those words his eyes flashed and when he spread his lips in a full grin she swore she saw a set of razor sharp teeth.
Marie blinked a few times until Marco’s gaze and smile returned to normal. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen something like this, but it still made her clear her throat and look away. The sight should have scared her, though it didn’t. She should have been far more shocked, but she just let it go. This was the only decent thing she had going on in her life right now. She wanted to enjoy it.
She finished the cake and brought the plate back up to Marco. “Thank you again. It was absolutely wonderful,” she said with a smile, brushing a stray curl out of her face.
Marco took the plate and set it aside, offering her another one of those breathtakingly charming smiles. “It’s was my pleasure, bella.”
“Bella?”
“It means beauty in Italian,” he said with a chuckle.
Her cheeks flushed a deep red and Marco just smiled, reaching out to take her hand and kissing the back of it tenderly. “I look forward to seeing you again, so don’t keep me waiting long.”
“Of course not,” she whispered breathlessly, her heart beating out of her chest.
She stepped away from him and started toward the door that led out to the warehouse, a grin spread from ear to ear. Bella. He’d called her beautiful. She couldn’t remember the last time some in her life called her beautiful. All those weird kids on the dating sites had called her ‘smoking’ and ‘hot’, but that didn’t have the same effect as beautiful.
Her cheeks heated up again, but she laughed and covered them with her hands, making her way to the main doors of the deceptively rundown ware house.
Maybe things weren’t so bad after all.
Chapter Fifteen
Marie approached the heavy, metal doors but before she could even raise her hand to knock, they parted slowly and she was allowed to wander inside. The building looked similar to the way she’d left it last, though she could now see various animals sitting in the laps of beautiful women, their eyes far more intelligent than any animal she’d seen before.
She was surprised when her eyes met the gaze of a large, powerful tiger. The impressive animal was curled up on one of the many cushions and she was almost shocked when she heard the loud, rumbling purr coming from its throat. She stopped short, just staring at the animal. It blinked lazily at her and then yawned, laying its massive head in the lap of a woman who gazed at it fondly.
“Don’t worry about him, dear.”
Marie jumped at the voice behind her, turning around quickly, a hand over her chest. Madame Osei chuckled and Marie sighed, relieved that it was only her. Even though Madame Osei assured her that she was safe while she was here, Marie couldn’t help but be nervous. What they were doing was illegal and as someone who’d avoided trouble with the law at all cost, Marie was still concerned with getting caught, even though she wasn’t technically doing anything wrong by being in the building.
“I didn’t mean to scare you, dear,” Madame said softly, taking Marie’s hand and patting it in a motherly way.
Marie smiled and cleared her throat. “I’m a very jumpy person. It’s going to happen from time to time, but it’s okay,” she assured.
Madame Osei chuckled and led Marie to one of piles of pillows and blankets that were scattered around, pulling her down to sit on them. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, it’s been a bit of a rough day and it felt like this was a good time to visit,” she explained.
“I understand completely.”
