Page 90 of Lawbreaker

“Stop being jumpy. How about a cappuccino and a panino?”

“A panini?” she corrected.

He made a face. “Panino is singular. Panini is plural. Both mean a sandwich.”

“Oh!” She learned operas in Italian by rote memorization. Her ability with languages was another sticking point. She had trouble with even the most basic grammar. She studied hard, but her mind wasn’t tuned to foreign tongues.

“So. You learned some new Italian. We’ll get coffee and a sandwich. Singular. Not plural.”

She laughed with pure delight. He was so much fun to be with. She adored him and hoped it didn’t show. He liked her in bed, but he was no different away from it. She was head over heels, but Tony was used to women, and he didn’t react the same way Odalie did. He was fond of her, of course, but what she wanted was something wilder, deeper, eternal. She felt that way. He didn’t.

There was a song about love. It expressed the certainty that you couldn’t make somebody love you. As she stared into Tony’s dark eyes, she felt an emptiness that all earth’s oceans couldn’t fill.

“Now you look all sad,” he chided.

“I’m just hungry,” she said lightly. It was true. She was hungry for something other than food, however. “And I’d love a sandwich, singular, with a coffee.” She grinned.

He turned her around and they started back down the path.

“I’d love to go to the park in warm weather,” she said. “And maybe feed the ducks.”

He sipped cappuccino. “We’ll put that on the agenda,” he said easily.

Her heart jumped and she smiled. That sounded hopeful. Summer was a long way away. He was looking forward. It gave her hope.

“Not too long until Christmas,” he mused. “What would you like Santa to bring you? Diamonds? Pearls? A Ferrari?”

She stared at him and just smiled. “I already have diamonds and pearls and a very fast red Jaguar.” She cocked her head and studied him. “I’d like more days like this with you. That’s all.” She ducked her head and sipped coffee so that he wouldn’t see that she really wasn’t teasing.

He chuckled. “Okay,” he replied. He was trying not to look as pleased as he was. Her feelings for him were blatant. They made him feel as if he could conquer the world.

She peered at him over her cup. He looked...different somehow. Younger. More carefree. Gone was the somber, antagonistic man she’d known for so long.

She grinned. “Okay, then.”

“You never answered me about the rest of the weekend,” he said. “Opera? Ballet? Broadway?”

“You choose,” she said. “I love all those things.” She made a face. “Broadway, not so much, though. Really, I’m not big on musicals.”

His eyebrows arched. “You’re serious?”

She nodded.

“Why?”

She made a face. “It’s frivolous music.”

He burst out laughing.

“Well, it is.” She defended herself. “Opera is exquisite. It’s like angels singing. But Broadway is...” She shrugged.

“Frivolous music,” he repeated, and his dark eyes flashed with humor. “I’ll have to remember that.”

“While we’re out, we need a few things to make supper,” she said.

He smiled slowly. He loved working in the kitchen with her. “Okay.”

She sighed as she finished her coffee. “You’re so much fun to be with,” she said without looking at him.

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