“The entire upper floor is their home,” Elie whispered in Brielle’s ear. “With the family gathering so often, they might need the floor below as well.”
Brielle couldn’t help but laugh. “Especially when all of them start having children. Then again, he might just buy a lake house. Taviano already has one somewhere out there, and so does Vittorio. Nicoletta says she loves the house Taviano found near the lake.” She wanted to bite her tongue. When she was nervous, she talked too much.
“Many of the older properties are beautiful. They’ve been in the same families for generations,” he told her. “Dario discovered a working lavender farm and snapped it up.”
She stopped right in the middle of the great room, ignoring the cream-colored couches and matching armchairs and the grand piano. “Dario has a working lavender farm? He actually sells lavender? Are you kidding me?”
“It’s a legitimate business. I’m not saying he doesn’t ship dead bodies out with the lavender. The fragrance helps cover the smell.”
Both hands on her hips, she glared up at his expressionless face. “Ha ha, very funny. I can’t imagine Dario Bosco, badass crime lord, selling lavender for a living. If his enemies only knew, he might lose his bad boy image for good.”
“I had to tell you. Once I found out his lips had been on yours, I didn’t want you thinking he was a badass anymore. He has a reputation with the ladies.”
“Mmm.” Brielle tried on her dreamiest look. “I only remember his lips in a dream.”
Elie’s brows came together. “Is that so? In a dream?”
“I hovered above us and watched him. He appeared a little distracted. Not fully focused the way you are when your lips are on mine,” she clarified.
Brielle decided she might have gone a little too far in teasing him when he got a wholly wicked smirk on his face. Elie was the master of evil planning. He had more ways to tease her sexually than she could ever conceive of. At least he didn’t have any of his toys with him. That would have been horrible in a room filled with Ferraros she didn’t know very well. It also would have been secretly thrilling if she believed she could have gotten away with it without anyone suspecting—which she doubted. The Ferraros were too perceptive.
It didn’t take much for her to be aroused. She’d been too long without Elie. Now she was thinking about sex. Wondering what he was going to do. Or say. He would do something and he’d make her wait. Her heart accelerated. He always made her feel alive. When she was nervous, he turned her entire focus on him.
“Elie, be serious, does Dario actually run a lavender farm?”
He grinned at her, sweeping his arm around her waist and heading through the great room toward the sound of laughter. Clearly, he knew exactly where he was going. “Yes, he does. I think he really runs it himself, too. He wouldn’t admit it, if you came right out and asked, he’d probably give you his ‘fuck you’ look, or his ‘shut up or you’re dead’ look, but Val believes he runs it himself. He has a manager, but he oversees it. Dario doesn’t let much out of his hands.”
Brielle didn’t have time to admire the elegant features of Stefano and Francesca’s home. The large dining area opened straight into the kitchen so it was one huge room. She recognized Taviano at the stove stirring what appeared to be spaghetti sauce in a commercial-size pot, while Emmanuelle was chopping vegetables at the center island. Both whirled around as Elie and Brielle entered.
“Oh, good, Brielle,” Emmanuelle greeted her. “Francesca and Stefano had to step out for a few minutes. She forgot the baby had a checkup. They’ll be right back, but the dinner is not going to be ready in time. She was going to whip up some dessert, which is not the forte of either of us. Nicoletta is having some kind of meeting with buyers or sellers for Lucia’s Treasures and will be late, so no help there.”
Elie looked outraged. He caught Brielle’s elbow. “Are you seriously suggesting my wife, who, let me remind you, was shot six times less than two weeks ago, should help with the cooking the first time she comes to dinner?”
“Well . . .” Taviano paused for a moment. “Yeah. She’s family. Brielle, you’re tough, right? What’s a few bullets? You can whip up one of your desserts Elie’s always bragging about while you’re sitting down, can’t you? Elie can hand you anything you need. If we don’t have it up here, they’ll have it downstairs in the kitchens.” He grinned at Elie, entirely unrepentant.