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Xander cleared his throat as the two of us stepped into the room, and I shot him a disappointed look. I could’ve listened to that conversation all day.
Aiden stepped away from the wall, as Dominic turned. For a second, the two of them had been so close together, and Aiden smoothed his lapels, straightening himself out from a disarrayed state. A pleased glow lit my chest—Dominic had pushed Aiden around on my behalf—and I made sure it didn’t show on my face.
“The chef has the evening off, so we’ll have to make do.” Aiden swept his arm toward the table. He looked handsome and unruffled, no matter what violence may have been involved in the earlier conversation. “I cooked.”
“This is how he apologizes,” Dominic said from behind Aiden. “Don’t hold your breath expecting an actual acknowledgment of wrongdoing.”
Aiden scoffed, then turned that dark green gaze on me. “Feel free to apologize to me for responding to mysaving your lifeby immediately stealing from one of my friends.”
“I don’t apologize either,” I said. “I might kill someone for a person, though. If I really feel badly.”
“I don’t want anyone dead that I’m not willing to kill myself,” Aiden promised. He moved to a chair and pulled it back, then looked at me with a cocked eyebrow. “You do know basic manners?”
“It’s your manners that I doubt, Aiden Crude,” I returned, sliding into the chair with grace. I knew how to turn on that subtle polish. Decorum had been one of the things Belladonnas had to learn so we could position ourselves to fit into any environment. “You haven’t been a very good host.”
“You haven’t been a very good guest,” Aiden returned. “And you’re all late to dinner.”
Dominic and Xander were taking the silver lids off several dishes. The scent of rich tomato sauce hung in the air, and my stomach grumbled in response.
Aiden had made lasagna, which was so mouthwatering that I could almost considered forgiving him.
“Since Aiden isn’t going to admit how much he needs you to be agood guest,”Dominic said abruptly, “I think we need to have an honest discussion of the stakes here. For Selena, too.”
“The stakes for Selena are that if she doesn’t suit her role, she knows too much, and I’ll have to slit her throat and dump her in the river.” Aiden offered me a smile that I definitely wasn’t going to return.
“Knock it off,” Dominic warned. “We need to be able to trust her, and you threatening to murder her isn’t helping.”
“We can’t trust her,” Aiden said bluntly. “She’ll kill all three of us and run at the first opportunity.”
Xander shook his head. “No, she won’t.”
“And you’re judging this on what?” Aiden asking wearily.
The interplay between the three of them was fascinating. They weren’t brothers, but they were so close.
“I painted her,” Xander said.
“Ah,” Aiden said, as if he was not surprised by this answer but would have loved a different one.
I wasn’t eager to get into a discussion of just how Xander had painted me—or to recall the sexual desire that it had sparked—so I asked, “Explain to me why Iwantto be your fake fiancée. Besides the wholedelaying my murderpart.”
Xander gave Aiden an encouraging look. Dominic gave Aiden a threatening look.
Aiden held out an arm to me. “Come sit in my lap and I’ll tell you everything.”
“I doubt that very much.” But I understood he wanted me to be comfortable faking a relationship with him—as I hadn’t been last night—so I tossed my napkin onto my seat as I rose.
I walked over to Aiden then hesitated, but he was already slipping an arm around my waist and drawing me onto his lap. I straddled one of his muscular legs, feeling ready to bolt at any moment, as he drew me against his hard chest.
“Before you can say anything else that makes me contemplate killing you,” he murmured, then picked up a clean fork and speared a piece of his cheesecake that he held toward my lips.
“I’m capable of using a fork on my own,” I said.
“I know,” he said pleasantly.
I sighed and parted my lips. The smooth, sweet flavor of the cheesecake melted on my tongue.
He was the world’s biggest asshole—after his father—but he was a damned good cook.
