Page 28 of Poison and Wine
Smacking her hands against my chest, Caterina countered, “Newsflash, idiota. Not everything is about you and your brothers.”
“Is that right?”
“For your information, I needed a little comfort food, and lasagna fits the bill for me.”
Glancing between us, Dare argued, “I’m sure it’s fine, Callum.”
“Aye, so you’re willing to be the tester?”
“You know I’d never pass up an opportunity to prove you’re full of shite,” he countered with a smirk.
After swiping a spoon out of a drawer, he scooped out a bite. As steam rose off of it, he blew a few cooling breaths over it. With one fleeting look at me, he thrust the spoon into his mouth. I dared a glance at Caterina whose expression was unreadable.
Suddenly his eyes bulged as the spoon clattered to the floor. Gasping in a breath, he staggered around the kitchen before collapsing. While I rolled my eyes at his theatrics, Caterina shrieked in terror before her hand flew to her mouth.
After a few seconds, Dare popped back up with a cheeky grin. “It’s fucking delicious.”
For a moment, all Caterina could do was stare in wide-eyed, wide-mouthed horror. But then slowly her shoulders started to rise and fall. When a laugh burst from her lips, it caused me and Dare to jump. “How could you scare me like that, you jerk!”
Dare laughed. “Easy with the insults there.”
Caterina threw her head back and giggled in response. She fucking giggled at my brother. As I glanced at the two of them, a foreign feeling criss crossed through my chest. I hadn’t felt it before. But the longer I stood there, the more I realized it was some form of jealousy.
I didn’t like it one fucking bit that Dare had been able to illicit such a positive reaction from her. That he was the one who had made her dark eyes light up. That she had given him a smile—a genuine one at that. She had yet to give me one kind expression.
Rolling my shoulders, I tried ridding myself of the feeling. In the end, I don’t know why I really gave a shite. Caterina was to be my wife, not his. Not to mention the fact, Dare had been charming ladies long before his balls dropped, so the fact he could garner that reaction from Caterina shouldn’t have been surprising. Normally, I didn’t give a shit about his interactions with women, but I sure as hell did with Caterina.
As Dare started to spoon out another bite, Caterina swatted his hand away. “Wait for us to sit down.”
“But it’s so fucking good.”
Once again, she gave him a beautiful smile. “Patience.”
“Fine,” Dare grumbled.
After an eternity, Caterina finally turned her attention back to me. “Will you take the non-poisonous lasagna into the dining room while I grab the salad?”
I opened my mouth to argue that I wasn’t a fucking domestic, I bit my tongue instead. After accusing her of trying to kill me, the least I could do was take a dish out of the kitchen.
When I walked into the dining room, I found the table had been set with plates, glasses, and utensils along with a pitcher of water and a bottle of wine. Apparently while we were gone, Caterina had made herself at home.
After putting the lasagna in the middle of the table, I remarked, “You’re fitting into your new role well.”
“That’s kind of you to think I do a good job of playing a kidnapping victim,” she shot back with a sickeningly sweet smile.
Curling my upper lip, I replied, “That’s not what I meant.”
With doe-eyes, she asked, “What role were you speaking of?”
“A proper wife.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I see Irish men aren’t so different to Italians when it comes to adhering to traditional gender roles.”
“If that means I expect you to cook and keep our home, then yes, we are alike.”
Caterina swept her hands to her full hips. “My mother is a capo’s wife, and she was never expected to cook and clean. I assumed since you’re the Irish equivalent of that, I could expect the same.”
“Well, you assumed wrong. My mother made sure there were three meals on the table for my father as well as keeping his home spotless.”