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Laz puts his water glass down hard and savagely cuts into a piece of cauliflower with the edge of his fork. “Mia’s marrying that piece of shit over my dead body.”
A thrill goes through me at how angry and possessive he sounds. Rieta must pick up on it too as she watches him with a slight frown on her face. I distract her by pouring her more wine.
“Thank you, Mia. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to get married, either. You’re so young, and it doesn’t seem like a good match for you. Do you even like him?”
Laz raises his head quickly to stare at me.
I feel a flush creep up my neck. Be more subtle, Laz.
And he already knows the answer to that question.
“God, no. He gave me the creeps.”
“Then that settles it,” Rieta says with a little nod. “I’ll talk to Mom and tell her it’s not happening.”
After that, Laz starts to relax.
When the meal is over, I help Rieta take the dirty dishes to the kitchen, box up the leftovers, and scrape the plates into the bin. I lose myself in the memory of Laz laughing at Rieta’s stories about the two of us getting up to mischief when we were kids. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed myself at a family dinner so much.
And it’s with Laz. Despite all the sneaking around, despite the fact that what we’re doing with each other is sordid and wrong on so many levels, I can’t help but feel like I’m in the right place for the first time in my life.
As Rieta rinses the serving spoons, she asks, “What’s up with Laz? He’s been staring at you all night.”
“What do you mean what’s up with Laz?” Even before the words are out of my mouth I can hear how defensive I sound. I feel myself start to blush and I whirl away from my sister.
“Just what I said. Mia, why have you turned around?”
I reach for a dirty plate, panic slamming through me. I thought that if anyone questioned me about the tension between me and Laz, I would play it cool. Shrug it off and pretend not to know what they were talking about. I practiced it so many times in the shower, but now that it’s really happening, my palms are sweating, and my heart is pounding.
To my surprise, Rieta gives my shoulder an affectionate punch. “Mia Viviana Bianchi. You’ve got a crush on Laz.”
I turn to face her, clutching the dirty plate like a shield. “No—I don’t—I—”
Rieta waves me off and turns back to the sink. “Don’t worry about it. You have to live with him, and it must be very strange and intense. And I get it. He’s young and pretty sexy, and when he loosens up he’s fun to be around. More like a big brother than a stepfather, right?”
I shove the dirty plate into the dishwasher. I don’t know what to say to that, so I reach for a half-full water glass, intending to empty it into the sink. Water sloshes over my hand and onto the floor. My foot skids on the wet patch and the glass starts to slip from my fingers.
“Oh sh—”
A large hand appears out of nowhere, catching the glass before it can hit the tile floor and shatter. Laz moved so fast across the room that it’s like he has superpowers. He’s grabbed me before I can fall, too, and he sets the glass down on the counter before helping me straighten up.
“Careful, Bambi.” He strokes his hands through my hair, gazing down at my face in a way that makes my heart zoom madly around my rib cage. Dimly, I’m aware that Rieta is staring at us.
“I hope you didn’t hurt yourself. Are you okay?”
I nod, still gazing up at him like a deer caught in headlights.
He tweaks my nose and in an even softer tone, he says, “Good girl.”
Then he releases me and steps back. In a normal voice he announces to Rieta, “I’ll say goodnight. Thank you for dinner.”
“You’re leaving?” I ask, as he heads into the hall and pulls on his jacket.
“Yep. You stay and have fun. Call me when you’re done here, and I’ll walk back and get you.”
“You don’t need to—”
“I said I’ll come back and get you.” Laz gives me a final lingering look before opening the front door and seeing himself out.
