He’d dodged death at her hand once. That didn’t mean he would again.
Beside her, Josef puffed with pride as he watched his fellow Fontes make their selections. “I’ve always thought you can learn a lot about a person by their favorite flavor.”
“Oh?” Alessa said.
“I usually choose vanilla.” He looked at her expectantly.
“Because vanilla is…” Boring felt like the wrong answer.
He smiled as if offering her the solution to a puzzle. “Subtle, but complex.”
“Of course.” Alessa called out a request for dark chocolate and raspberry and waited for Josef to take a bowl from an alarmed-looking gelato scooper and hand it to her. “Tell me more.” She’d never really had a chance to speak with him one-on-one, and if the topic of frozen desserts was her best chance to get him to open up, so be it.
“Most people act like vanilla lacks flavor, but it’s actually quite nuanced. The notes vary depending on where you source the beans and how you prepare them before blending.” Josef smiled at his bowl, which was still half full, and thanks to his gift, showed no sign of melting. “I know I’m a man of few words, but I like to think that I, too, am more complex than people assume.”
Alessa nodded pensively. “What does mine say about me?”
Josef flushed. “I couldn’t presume, Finestra.”
Alessa sighed. “Nina, then. Stracciatella? Let me guess, sweet but inconsistent?”
Josef blinked, befuddled. “I know her too well. It wouldn’t be fair.”
“You can’t propose a gelato theory of personality, and then hold out on me, Josef.” She eyed Dante across the room, but while Josef might be the stuffiest boy she’d ever met, even he would notice her pathetic curiosity if she wasn’t careful. She settled on a safer option. “What did Kamaria get?”
“Half mint and half cafe latte, but she orders something different every time she comes into the shop.”
Alessa thought. “Hmm. Let me try. I’d say she craves excitement and adventure, and she hates being bored.”
Josef’s eyes twinkled. “I concur.”
“This is fun. Do Kaleb.”
“Strawberries and cream. I haven’t figured him out yet.”
“You and me both. Pink. And sweet.” Alessa shrugged. “Yeah, I’ve got nothing.”
They let the subject drop for a bit, each absorbed in their dessert.
“Limone,” Josef said, out of nowhere.
“Excuse me?”
“That’s what Signor Dante chose. If you were wondering. You may not have been.”
“I wasn’t.” Methinks I doth protest too much. “What does limone say about a person? A sour disposition?”
Josef looked mildly offended. “Lemon is not sour, it’s tart. Not the same at all. The culinary section of the paper called our limone a ‘near-perfect blend of tart and sweet: appealing, layered, and complex. The heart of Saverio in every scoop. A classic.’ Our family has spent years perfecting it. It’s our most beloved flavor.”
Alessa licked a bit of gelato off her spoon. “Of course. The perfect flavor. My mistake.”
Dante eyed them as if he knew he was the topic of conversation.
With an obnoxiously cheerful grin, Alessa spooned another scoop into her mouth and promptly got her first taste of the dark chocolate, which entirely ruined the effect. Her eyes slipped closed to fully appreciate the melding of hedonistic chocolate and fruity tartness melting on her tongue.
When she returned to the mortal plane, Josef had moved on to analyzing Saida, and Dante was jabbing at his limone as though it had offended him.
* * *
“Quit stalling,” Dante said. Elbows propped on his knees, he watched Alessa pace.
She’d put it off as long as she could, chewing each bite of dinner as slowly as possible.
“We almost died yesterday,” she said, yawning dramatically. “Doesn’t that warrant an early bedtime?”
Dante glared at her through his lashes. “That was your excuse last night. Are we doing this or not?”
She’d already left him unconscious once. A second touch might be too much.
“I’ve changed my mind,” she said. “This was a terrible idea.”
“If we wait for a better one, we’ll all be dead. Look, as someone older than you—”
“Pfft. Not by much, if at all. Do you even know how old I am?”
He dragged out the question like it was sucking years from his life. “How old are you?”