Page 27 of Poison and Wine
With that, I closed the door and started down the stairs. When I climbed into the waiting car, I threw a wary look back at the house. “Don’t tell me you’re already missing your fiancée,” Seamus teased.
“It’s more about leaving her unprotected.”
He chuckled. “Considering there’s five men guarding the grounds and three in the house, I’d hardly consider her alone.”
“But can we truly trust those men?”
“They’re being compensated nicely for their time.”
“What’s stopping them from taking even more money from the Neretti’s? I’m sure word has reached them by now of Caterina’s abduction.”
He clapped my back reassuringly. “Because all of the men on the outside are ours.”
My brows popped in surprise. “When did you fly them in?”
“This morning. They relieved the Sicilians who were on duty last night.”
“You think of everything, don’t you?”
He flashed me a grin. “That’s why I’m your unofficial right hand man.”
“And I’m sure as hell glad to have you.”
The meeting went well. Aligning ourselves with the Malgeri and Scavo families would ensure our safety while in Sicily as well as continued support stateside. In turn, we would ensure our connections in Boston helped their new ventures on the East Coast.
It was almost six when we returned to the house. I would be lying if I said I hadn’t spent most of the day thinking about Caterina. I’d messaged several times with the head of the contingent guarding the house. After the third text, he’d started sending me hourly updates of what Caterina was doing. Surprisingly, she had left her room. She’d taken a long walk outside before coming back in to chat up Nera, the cook. She’d spent time in the library as well as watching television. She’d also requested and been denied a trip to the local church.
As we came through the backdoor into the kitchen, surprise filled me at the sight of Caterina at the stove, rather than Nera. Guido, a bodyguard in his early fifties, stood beside her. My brows quirked at the sight of him wearing oven mitts and carrying a large dish. “Buonasera,” he said pleasantly.
“Good evening to you, too.” My gaze bounced over to take in an appreciative look at Caterina. She was a vision in a casual, yet form-fitting red dress. When I’d instructed Nera to purchase some clothes for Caterina, I never imagined she would pick something out like that. Caterina’s hair was swept into a ponytail that fell down her back. She must not have been a fan of the shoes I’d provided because she was barefoot.
When she turned around to glare at me, a sly smile curved on my lips. “I suppose I should say buonasera, una fidanzata.”
She rolled her eyes at me calling her my fiancée. She then said something in Italian to Guido. It must’ve been to tell him to set the dish down on the counter close to me. As he obliged, a delicious aroma filled my nose. Motioning to the dish, I asked, “What’s that?”
“I got bored with reading and the television, so I decided to cook some lasagna,” Caterina replied.
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at her. “We just happened to have the ingredients lying around?”
She shook her head. “No. Nera went to the market in town for me. Since she wasn’t going to be needed, I gave her the evening off.”
Dare dipped his head over the cooling dish and inhaled noisily. When he turned back to us, his eyes rolled back in ecstasy. “That smells fucking amazing.”
Caterina smiled shyly. “I wasn’t sure you all would like it, but I didn’t know how to make any Irish food.”
Licking his lips suggestively, Dare replied, “We’ve been known to sample a little Italian.”
She rolled her eyes at his innuendo. “You’re disgusting.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I countered, “Did someone watch you cook?”
“You know as well as I do that your men are all over this house.”
“That’s not what I meant, Kitten.” Closing the distance between us, I loomed over her. “I want to know if someone was watching your hands as you prepared this very generous offering for us.”
Her eyes bulged when she got my meaning. “You think I tried to poison you?”
I shrugged. “Since you can’t take us out physically, it would make sense.”