Page 52 of Spice and Revenge

“We’ll set the table,” Blanco mutters as Hilda practically drags him out of the kitchen.

Drumming her false nails against the countertop, Aurora beams at me.

“So, what do I do?”

It almost strikes me how pretty she is, but considering that good looks run in the family, I’m not shocked. A certain Vitale man has been haunting my thoughts since the first day I set my eyes on him.

“We’ve done all the hard work, so all you have to do is fill the belly of the sardines with the stuffing in that bowl,” I say, and they both nod.

They wash their hands in the sink behind them before getting straight to work.

“What do you think about age gap relationships?” Aurora suddenly asks.

“Please, don’t tell me you have an older men fetish,” Fabio groans beside her, earning him a jab in the waist.

I chuckle. “That’s a very random question. Um…”

The first, and only, man that crosses my mind is Leo. From my findings, Leo will be turning thirty in a few months, and I am twenty-three. While a seven-year difference isn’t exactly considered bad when it comes to age gaps, I feel I might be qualified to answer Aurora’s question.

“It depends on a lot of factors,” I say, fishing out a large oven pan from a cabinet above me.

“Power dynamics, communication and compatibility, and emotional maturity,” I say, then narrow my eyes. “That someone is much older doesn’t mean they’re smarter.”

That makes her laugh.

“We are done,” Fabio announces.

I take in the filled sardines. It’s not as neatly done as the ones Blanco and Hilda filled, but it’s good for a set it first-timers.

“You both did well,” I commend before taking charge of the rest of the cooking process.

I arrange the sardines on the pan, and with a drizzle of olive oil, I gently place them in the oven.

“Leo won’t like the idea of you dating someone much older,” Fabio smirks at his sister.

She rolls her eyes. “He can’t do anything about it.”

They seem close to Leo, which makes me wonder how they suddenly came to accept him after their father died.

“I might agree with Fabio on this one,” I say. “I’m sure Don is very protective of you.”

It feels weird calling him that after I’ve moaned his name several times.

“Leo isn’t that bad. Sure, he used to be overprotective and overbearing when he first took over, but he’s not a bad guy. He’ll let me date whoever I want to date,” Aurora huffs.

“When he first took over?” I ask, feigning ignorance.

Talking to the twins might be a good shot at getting some info about Leo and the Vitale family.

The twins share a look before Aurora finally sighs.

“Well, Leo has a different mother from the rest of us,” she starts. “We don’t know much about the story, but what we know is that our father was ruthless to Leo. We were still kids and, well, he had enemies, so he wanted his first son to learn everything about the business and family, in case anything happened to him.”

I digest the information carefully, and Fabio quickly resumes from where Aurora stopped.

“From what we know, Dad wasn’t a good man, and he definitely wasn’t a good father to Leo. He was ruthless in his training, punishing Leo for any little mistake he made. The way he treated Leo was so different from how he treated us. When Dad died and Leo took over, we all hated him. We weren’t exactly close to him, and we thought he would punish us for how our father treated him, but he didn’t.”

I ignore the way my heart softens at the information I’ve just received. Leo had every reason to exert his revenge on his half-siblings, yet he didn’t. It makes me wonder if he’s as ruthless as everyone paints him to be.

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