Page 128 of Crave Me

I took another bite of my risotto. So fucking good. They’d paired it with ricotta meatballs and arugula. And they’d even made tiramisu for dessert.

It was one hell of a meal.

And not just concerning the food itself.

We were actually all together sitting around the dining room table that we rarely used. We’d needed the space of the eight-seater mahogany table to accommodate our guests.

Skylar was on my other side next to Bastian and beside him was Damien. It had been a really long time since we’d sat down with him, the last time being during the height of The Jackals takedowns long before Sky had come along.

A couple of seats over from Damien was Luke who Cas had wanted here. He was usually run off his feet overseeing King security operations so he rarely sat down with us, but Cas had wanted him here along with Dante. After all, the guy had been like a father figure to him and his rock since he’d had to take the reins of the empire as a teenager. He hadn’t said much, just digging into his food and loving it, while smiling happily out at Cas and Dante as he watched them bond. Part of it was likely him relieved that we finally knew what Dante had been hiding now, but the other was him clearly being happy that Cas had another living parental figure who’d come out of the woodwork.

Unlike with my parents, Cas had been so close to Jameson and Laura King. He’d thought with their deaths that he’d lost that forever, but now he had Dante. Sort of like a second chance. In a way. Dante was very different to Caspian’s parents. He was actually much more like Caspian, I’d seen their similarities before we’d even known about the whole paternity thing in not just their clothing choices, but the way they saw things, made decisions, strategized, their outlook on the world and business.

It was uncanny.

Cas reached out and clasped my hand on the tabletop, drawing me from my thoughts, and I tuned back into his conversation with Dante, while Bastian, Sky, and Damien talked about visiting Haywire when this war was over and done with. Jeez, that was gonna be a security nightmare for Cas now that Seblyar were out there in the media and press darlings. Once the media got word about them being back here together, it was gonna cause another frenzy. At least it was positive attention now and both of them were on much more solid ground to be able to handle it this time around.

“What’s that?” I asked Cas as I found him looking at me expectantly, and I had no idea why.

“Dante was asking about your fondness for cooking.”

I smiled. “And you told him about my kitchen mishaps?”

“I was leaving it up to you.”

I took a sip from my orange juice, then told Dante, “I like prepping and shit, but Bastian and Caspian won’t let me do it.”

“And why is that?” Cas teased.

I rolled my eyes. “Apparently, I’m dangerous in the kitchen.”

“Apparently?” Bastian called over, picking up on parts of the conversation.

“I recall Bastian telling me about a certain peeling incident?” Sky teased, nudging me playfully and making me chuckle.

Fuck, I’d missed this banter, the levity.

“Can you believe this shit?” I asked Dante.

He waved his hand with a fancy flourish. “Pay it no mind. I can teach you.”

“That’s a tall order,” Caspian warned him.

“I’m an exceedingly patient man.”

“Yeah, I’m getting that,” I said.

The guy had waited a quarter of a fucking century before starting a relationship with his son to make damn sure he wouldn’t harm him or poison him because of who and what he was.

Dante smiled and clasped Caspian’s shoulder.

Cas beamed out at him and laid his hand there. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“As am I.”

I smiled between them, then told Dante, “I’d like that actually.”

He arched an eyebrow.

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