Page 36 of Bought By the Mafia

“Why do you care? I thought you and Allison were catching up like old pals.”

“Are you going to answer your question?”

She sighed and said, “I’m on my way back, not that I should tell you.”

“Good.” I ended the call. I shouldn’t be excited by the news, but I was. The place felt lonely without her, as much as I hated to admit it. Another thing I didn’t want to admit was my eagerness to see her back in my home. It was odd, this hate I had for her. It made me want to throttle and make love to her simultaneously.

She was lying when she said she was on her way. It was evening when she came back. By then I had gone from anxious to angry, to anxious to angry again.

“Where were you?” I asked when she returned.

She rolled her eyes in a way that made me wanted to shake away her insolence and kiss her until she was moaning my name. “Not this again.”

“What did I say? I only asked a question.”

“Am I going to get a Guantanamo level interrogation every time I come back a little late? If you’re so worried about where I was, why don’t you ask your man?”

She was right. Somehow, I ended up being more aggressive than I had originally planned on, making me look like the obsessed husband I despised. Thing is, she looked weary and the hem of her jeans were tipped with dust. I genuinely wanted to know what she had been up to all day, but asking any more wouldn’t come out well, so I dropped the subject.

“I was preparing dinner,” I said.

She raised her eyebrows and her gaze went to the kitchen towel on my shoulder as if noticing it for the first time. She scoffed. “You? Cooking.”

“It’s a reconciliatory dinner.”

“Oh. That’s new. Did Allison put you up to it?”

It was something I had been thinking about after Allison left. Her presence jolted me to the realization that I was tiring of the constant fighting and bickering Simona and I were engaging in. It made us mistrust one another, and if we were going to be in this marriage thing for longer than three months, trust was important.

“Allison left soon after you did. And that’s another reason for the dinner.”

“I have no interest in discussing your old flames with you, Giovanni.”

“I don’t mean it like that. Can you at least agree to the dinner? It’s mushroom risotto. Your favorite.”

Her eyes narrowed. “How did you know that?”

“Contrary to popular opinion, I actually listened when you told me what your favorite food was.”

“Flinging my words back at me. Nice tactic.”

I raised my hands in mock surrender. “It’s not. Genuine honesty coming from yours truly.”

She seemed to mull it over in her head and then her shoulders slumped and she said, “Fine. I need to take a shower first. I’ll be down in a few.”

“Good.”

I had Brita help me set up a candlelit dinner outside on the terrace. It was a beautiful warm summer night with the backdrop of the city skyline. When Simona came out, she looked around at the setup with slight amusement. “If had known it was going to be grand, I would have worn a dress.” I quickly placed the risotto dish on the table and glanced at her. She had removed her jeans and was wearing cute shorts that showed off her shapely legs and a top that clung to her breasts.

“You’ll do,” I said, “Take a seat. Dinner is served.”

I went to my chair, and she sank into the only other chair. The candles made her face glow, inducing an angelic vibe to her. Her beauty was striking. It caught one off guard, even one who had seen her multiple times like me. I might have stared for too long because she tilted her head slightly and furrowed her brow. I shook my head and scrambled for something to say. “You look better in simple shorts and a tank top, than dolled up and in heels, by the way.”

“Thanks, I’ll remember to wear this at our next charity fundraiser event.”

“That would definitely grab attention,” I said.

“And you’d like that, wouldn’t you? Me getting laughed off for being both a clown and a whore.”

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