Page 36 of Savage Proposal

“Being addicted to caffeine is better than being addicted to speed,” he said so casually that I almost missed it.

I glanced at him. “Speed?”

Elio hummed. “Call it my rebellious youth,” he said. “Shit was easy to get with a Vitali last name, and I’ve always been loud and talkative, so it was even easier to hide.”

I kept waiting to be shocked that he so casually admitted to being a former addict, but in the kind of lifestyle I imagined he lived, it actually made a lot of sense. “What made you stop?” Because if I had to do half of the shit that he did, I didn’t think I’d be able to.

“Enzo,” he said easily. “He wanted me to be more than a drug runner, and I couldn’t be what he needed if I was always strung out.”

That was admirable, actually. “Does Amalia know about it?”

“Of course. Everyone does. People talk, you know?”

I chuckled at the idea of the scary Cosa Nostra being filled with gossiping old biddies. “Caffeine is much better,” I said after a moment, and Elio hummed in agreement.

It was the extent of our conversation, but as we pulled up to the café—and Elio, like Lorenzo, parked right in front without a care in the world—I felt a little more settled. I knew more about him than the brute that I was first introduced to.

It wasn’t much, but it helped.

Gemma was still working when we walked into the café. Her eyes lit up when she saw me. “You said you would text me next time,” she scolded as she came around the counter.

“Sorry,” I said as she threw her arms around my neck. She smelled like coffee and pastries, and my throat was suddenly squeezing shut. I blinked back the tears that burned at the back of my eyes. “We just happened to be on this side of the city.”

Her eyes drifted to Elio. “‘We,’ huh?” she asked. The corner of her mouth curled upward. “Is this your boyfriend, Isabella?”

I laughed a little too hard at that and Gemma looked at me like I had grown a second head. I forced myself to stop. “This is Elio,” I said.

Elio smiled at her, and while it seemed totally natural, I knew that it wasn’t his real smile. He was painting on a persona right in front of my eyes. “Isabella and I work at the same company.”

Gemma’s eyes lit up. “Oh, you’re a nurse too?”

He shook his head. “I do security.”

“An urgi-care needs security?”

“I’m working for that family now, remember?” I asked.

“Oh, right,” she said with a nod. “You’re some kind of home-health aide to some rich dude.”

“Right.” I gestured to Elio. “He works security for the same family. We were on an errand in the city when I begged him to stop here for a bit.”

The lies spun so quickly that I had to admit I was impressed with myself. But I hated it too. My father had spent most of my life lying to me in one form or fashion, and for a long time, I believed him because Ihadto think he was getting better. That he would clean himself up enough to put our family back together. I knew better now, obviously, but all of his lies had left a bitter taste in my mouth. The fact that I was able to weave this false reality for Gemma so easily made my stomach turn.

“Well, let me get you guys some coffee, and then I can go on my break and join you for a bit,” Gemma offered.

Once she had our orders, Elio settled at a table that was far enough away that we had the semblance of privacy. “He’s reallycute,” Gemma said, pitching her voice low in case her words carried.

“He’s married.”

She rolled her eyes. “A legal document doesn’t make him less attractive.”

Yes, it does, I thought. Or, maybe, it was walking in on him beating someone nearly to death. That had definitely made him less attractive to me. “I’m friends with his wife,” I said. “He’s basically furniture.”

I heard Elio scoff, and I did my absolute best not to look his way. I was with my sister, and I was bound and determined to enjoy the time I had with her. “What about the guy who brought you here last time? Who was he?”

“You saw Lorenzo?”

“Hot, kind of scary guy in the expensive car? Yeah, I saw him. Does he work with you too?”

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