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“We don’t drink coffee around here either,” Bastian added. “It’s like we’re pregnant, too.”
“Try living at Fort Marshall,” Cole cut in. “We can’t have steak or burgers without Grace running out of the dining room.”
“I’m sure your dad loves that,” Bastian shot back. “I bet he can’t wait for you to move out.”
“We’re looking for somewhere to live in Devil’s Creek,” Cole told him. “I haven’t had much luck.”
“Pick a house,” Bastian said with a devious expression. “We’ll find a way to get it for you.”
I didn’t even want to know what that meant. The Salvatores had ties to organized crime families. They would probably threaten the homeowners to get us our dream home.
Cole didn’t seem bothered by their methods and bobbed his head. “I’ll let you know if I find something.”
Damian, Marcello, and Luca waited for us on the veranda outback. They sat around a large circular table and drank the amber liquid in their highball glasses. Engaged in a heated conversation, the three went back and forth, speaking in Italian.
Their conversation ceased when they heard our footsteps, and heads snapped toward us. I used to think they were the scariest people I’d ever met. Well, the Salvatore brothers were still pretty damn intimidating. But they were not so bad over the past few months of getting to know Bastian and his brothers.
Luca still hadn’t grown on me. He always had an attitude and didn’t seem friendly to anyone, not even Cole. I had come to realize that was his personality. He spoke to people like he was more intelligent and better. Everyone in his life had just gotten used to it and didn’t bother to put him in his place.
Bastian sat on Alex’s right with his hand on her thigh while Damian slid his arm across her neck. Damian kissed Sofia’s head and then kissed Alex on the lips.
Marcello smiled at me. I waved since he was the nicest of the brothers. He returned my gesture while Damian nodded.
Luca stared at me.
“What are you drinking, Marshall?” Luca asked Cole.
“Macallan, neat.”
Luca poured a glass from the bottle in front of him and slid it across the table. I sat beside Cole, who drank from the glass and moved his arm behind me, resting his fingers on my shoulder.
Then Luca snapped his fingers, and a woman appeared at his side. “Bring my wife and Mrs. Marshall ginger ale. No ice.”
Luca was such a control freak. But no one ever seemed to second-guess him. And he was right about what I had been drinking lately. In the middle of the night, I woke Cole up to get me a warm ginger ale to help with my stomach.
I was sipping from the glass a minute later and taking in the breeze blowing off the bay. We had the perfect view from their backyard, the same as Cole, but the Salvatore Estate was at the dead center of Founders Way.
Luca snapped his fingers at Marcello. “Go upstairs and grab my phone. I left it on my desk. The Sicilians are calling within the hour.”
Marcello narrowed his eyes at him. “Are your legs broken?”
Before Luca could respond, Alex tilted her head back and laughed. “Luca, stop ordering your brother around like a servant.”
He put his elbow on the table and looked over at her. “Iamthe boss of this family.”
“You’re not my boss,” she said with a sweet smile.
He lowered his voice, but it only sounded more menacing. “Keep talking back, and I’ll bend you over this table and spank your ass.”
Alex tapped her nails against her glass, eyeing up Luca. “We have guests.” She winked. “But maybe later.”
He shook his head and sank back in his chair, tipping the glass to his lips.
“Cherry,” Bastian groaned beside her. “Don’t poke the dragon. He’s not in a good mood.”
“Clearly,” Alex deadpanned.
“My mood is not a topic for conversation,” Luca said harshly.
