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Chapter Fifteen
- Dante -
IWATCHED THEM SITTINGat the breakfast table together. Gabriel leaned back nonchalantly, facing her but in his characteristic style, one arm draped over the back of the bench. Noemi sat next to him; half turned so he could see the newspaper she held in her hands.
A crossword puzzle. They were doing a fucking crossword puzzle together. I tried to shut them out as I went about the business of making a pot of coffee, but every giggle, every whispered clue, every laugh-out-loud goofball answer Gabriel made up made my blood burn and my insides twist.
A fucking crossword puzzle. I could never do that shit with her. It was just another reminder of how we could never be. That kiss on the veranda two nights ago was a mistake.
Noemi was the one woman in all the world who set me on fire, could make me forget about who I really was, but I couldn’t forget who I was long enough to let go and sit down and do a damn puzzle with her. I couldn’t be that close to her and concentrate on words and letters. Even across the kitchen from her, I could smell her vanilla scent, could feel her eyes drift my way every now and then. Hell, I couldn’t even make a pot of coffee without obsessing over the fact that I wanted to shove my brother out of the way, slide my arm over the kitchen table, knock everything to the floor, and spread her out over the table, bare naked, legs open and waiting for me to fill her.
Barely holding back a snarl, I jammed the coffee pot into its holder and snapped the button to ‘brew’. I tried to tune them out. What the hell was she doing here anyway? Did nothing I said matter to her? She was determined to linger around the house, coming over every damn day. Lunch with Lilly and Ma yesterday. Coffee with Gabriel this morning.
Coffee with Gabriel. What the hell was that all about? I made myself busy, opening and closing cabinets, looking for my coffee mug. The same solid black mug I used every damn day. I finally found it in the first cabinet I had looked in. I slammed the cabinet door, noticing how the two of them went completely silent behind me. The whispers stopped.
I ignored them, filled my cup and left without a word to acknowledge her presence.
I sat in the overstuffed leather chair behind my desk and pulled out my laptop. I hovered over the security app, tempted to pull up the kitchen video feed. I tapped the edge of the keyboard with my pinky as my index finger hovered.
Fuck! This was what she did to me. This was how dangerous she was. Indecisiveness was never something I had to deal with. I gathered facts. I made decisions. I had to. I was an assassin for hire, but I’ve never killed an innocent man. I studied my victims. I knew them inside and out. By the time I was done with my investigation, I knew them better than their own mothers. I was judge, jury and executioner but with a price for my services. I couldn’t afford to have regrets, so I needed to know that the people I murdered deserved what was coming to them. Having a conscience didn’t fit in with my lifestyle.
Yet, there I was, afraid to look at a fucking video.
I was about to tap the icon when someone knocked on the door. It was too strong of a knock to be Lilly or Ma, or even Noemi if she was foolish enough to try to visit me. That left one person.
I sucked in an irritated breath. “Come in.”
Gabriel entered my office, closing the door behind him.
He sat in the chair across from my desk and stretched out his legs. “Ma has her appointment at ten-thirty. You coming with us?”
I already knew my answer to that. She was my mother. I knew my limits where she was concerned. “No. Fill me in when you get back.”
He didn’t question my decision.
“We’re meeting Noemi for lunch when we’re done. Lilly said she has something she wants to show me, so I have no idea what time we’ll be back.”
“I don’t need a play by play of your afternoon.” I leaned back and stared at him.
Gabriel shrugged. “Since Noemi was joining us, I thought you’d want to know.”
While I loved him, I hated how much he knew me. “I don’t care what she does,” I denied.
“No. You just care who she does it with.”
I wanted to wipe the satisfied smirk off his face. It was time to get one back at my kid brother. Fucking crossword puzzles...
“I’d never get in the way of you and your girl.”
Gabriel sat forward. “My girl? What the hell are you talking about?”
“You’ve got a thing for Noemi.” I wondered about it since her return. Now, I’d get my answer.
“Noemi? Sure, I have a thing for her. But notthatkind of thing. She’s a great girl, but she’s like having another sister around. You know. One that doesn’t annoy the shit out of you.”
“I’ve seen the two of you together.” I poked some more.
“You’ve seen us be friends. We’re friends, Dante. The same way we were friends before she left. Like I said, she’s a great girl and if she ever gave me the come on, sure, I’d probably take advantage of it with little regret. But I’m not her type.”
