As Lili approaches, I hold out a hand. She quickly comes to my side and takes it, gripping it tightly and standing so close, it’s as if she wants to hide under my dress.
Quinn strolls to a stop a few feet away and looks at Lili from under his lashes.
Then he looks at Gianni.
Then at me.
His smile comes on slow and hot.
“Mr. Caruso,” he drawls, still looking at me. “Thank you for allowing Lili and me a moment to speak privately.”
He’s calling her Lili? Nobody calls her that but her family!
The nerve of this beast.
Gianni is so excited by the change in the Irishman’s manner that he’s practically shitting himself. “Of course! I trust everything went well?”
The Irishman lets him hang on his anxiety for a moment before nodding.
Shit.
Gianni exhales an audible breath of relief. Then he claps his hands together, making Lili jump. “Excellent!”
“If I may have a word with you, however. Alone.”
“Certainly!”
In his rush to get Lili and me out the door, Gianni gives us both a shove. He regrets it when I growl at him, but not enough to dampen his excitement.
“Go. Go!” he hisses, waving us out. The moment we cross the threshold, he slams the door behind us, rattling the picture frames on the walls.
Kieran looks at my livid face and chuckles.
“I’ll give ye lasses a wee bit of space. There’s a painting of the baby Jesus round the corner that I’m dyin’ to have a gander at.” Whistling, he strolls away down the hall.
As soon as he’s out of sight, I turn to Lili, give her a hug, and start apologizing.
“Are you okay, tesoro? I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I should’ve prepared you better for this moment. If only I’d known he was coming, we could’ve talked first. I could’ve given you some support—”
“I’m fine,” she interrupts, pulling away. “It wasn’t that bad, I promise.”
I look at her in disbelief. “I know you’re only saying that so I don’t worry.”
“No, I’m not. He was actually nice.”
I almost topple sideways and fall to the floor. “Nice?”
She shrugs.
“Well, what did he say to you?”
“He asked me about my hobbies, what kind of music I like, my favorite food. Stuff like that. Oh, and college. He seemed really interested in what I wanted to study. When I told him criminal law, he laughed.”
“He mocked you!” I say, heated.
“I don’t think so. He said he liked the irony of it. He said he thought I’d make a good attorney.”
Someone is going to have to assist me with getting my jaw off the floor.
“If he was so nice, why did you skitter over to me like a scared baby mouse?”
She pauses. “I mean…have you seen him? The guy’s totally intimidating. Like big and…I don’t know…all that. I thought I might get pregnant just sitting next to him.”
Horrified, I make the sign of the cross on my chest. “Don’t even say that word out loud.”
“I know you have it handled, anyway. You have the final word about this, right?”
“Right.”
“And it’s obvious you hate him and you’re not going to let Papa marry me off to him, right?”
“Right.”
“So why are you so worked up?”
That is a very, very good question.
“I’m…not.” I smooth a hand over my hair and smile at her reassuringly.
She rolls her eyes. “Zia, please. You’re foaming at the mouth.”
Dismissing that, I lower my voice and say, “Did you take care of the situation in the wardrobe?”
Lili’s cheeks flush. She glances down and nods, smiling a secret little smile.
“How did you get him out?”
“The dumbwaiter.”
I gasp. “You wedged that poor boy into the dumbwaiter? Did you break all his joints first?”
The flush in her cheeks deepens, and so does her smile. “He says it’s worth it.”
I say sarcastically, “I bet he does.” Then something else occurs to me. “Oh, no. This isn’t the first time, is it?”
She glances up at me and makes a face.
“Never mind, I don’t want to know. Just promise me it’s the last time.”
When she hesitates, I say vehemently, “Lili, you cannot allow him back into this house. Your father will hang his stuffed head on the trophy wall in his study.”
“I know,” she whispers, her smile dying.
“Who is he, anyway?”
“Timo’s son.”
I have to think for a moment. “Timo? The gardener?”
“The pool man. Juan Pablo helps his dad clean the pool sometimes. That’s how we met.” Her secret smile reappears. “I was lying out getting sun in my yellow bikini.”
Dear God. The daughter of a Mafia don is having an affair with the Latino pool boy.
We’re a telenovela.
I’m about to interrogate her about birth control when the door to Gianni’s study opens. The Irishman and Gianni walk out.
“Thank you again for the visit,” Gianni says, avoiding my eyes. “It was a pleasure.”
“The pleasure was mine.”
The Irishman stops in front of me and Lili. Formal and serious, he says to her, “I appreciate meeting you, Lili. Thank you for speaking with me.”
She inches closer to my side. “You’re welcome. And thank you, too.”
The Irishman nods, then turns his gaze to me. His hazel eyes start to burn.
“And Reyna,” he says, his voice so soft it gives me a shiver. “It’s been…interesting meeting you.” He extends his hand.
I look at it. A crocodile’s toothy open snout would seem more inviting.
But I slide my hand into his and meet his gaze unflinchingly, because queens aren’t afraid of dumb reptiles.
Or spiders either.
“Goodbye, Mr. Quinn. And safe travels. The roads around here can get dangerous after dark.”
I know he received the threat when he smiles.
He holds my hand and my gaze for a beat, then turns abruptly to Gianni. “I’ll show myself out.”
“Oh, no, I’ll walk with you!” Gianni protests. But it falls on deaf ears because the Irishman is already striding away, his shoulders squared and his chin up, as cocky as a bullfighter.
When he disappears around the corner, I say flatly, “I don’t approve. The marriage is off.”
Sounding triumphant, Gianni says, “Unfortunately, sorellina, that’s impossible.”
Beside me, Lili stiffens.
My voice turns sharp. “What are you talking about?”
“The contract has already been signed. We did it just now…and set the wedding date as well. Lili and Mr. Quinn will be married next month.”
Lili cries out in horror and slaps her hands over her mouth.
Infuriated, I step toward my brother. “You said I’d have final approval! You promised me I could choose!”
His lips curve upward at the edges. “You’re not the only one in this family who’s a good liar.”
Then he turns on his heel and locks himself in his office, leaving Lili and me alone in the hallway, her anguished wails echoing off the walls.