Page 15 of Chasing Danger

None of that uncertainty showed on my face.

“Of course, I’m going to have to change my plans. A romantic restaurant wouldn’t be appropriate, but it can’t be that hard to find some family friendly activities in this city.”

Oliver didn’t immediately reply, staring at me with his eyes so wide the whites were visible all the way around the iris.

“But... I mean, why? You barely know me. Why would you bother going so far?”

Why indeed?

I was asking myself the same question.

Throwing one arm over the back of my chair, I adopted a nonchalant pose. “It’s because I want to get to know you. And if this is the only way to do that, then so be it.”

So many different emotions played across Oliver’s face I couldn’t keep track of them.

“If you’re sure, then... Rowan doesn’t actually get out of the house much. He’d love to spend a day out. So, I guess, okay.” The emotion he finally ended on turned out to be a wary sort of excitement. “All right. Yes. If you’re sure this is what you want, then it’s a date.”

We spent a little more time discussing days and times, agreeing on when exactly to meet. I hadn’t decided what we were going to do yet, but I asked Oliver about his brother’s interests. The boy, Rowan, seemed fairly typical for a fifteen-year-old. He liked action movies, especially ones with monsters and explosions.

I wasn’t sure what to do with this information yet, but it at least gave me something to start with.

Eventually, Oliver could no longer ignore his responsibilities and returned to the front counter, leaving me at the table to contemplate what I’d just agreed to.

My plan for the day had been to charm Oliver into my bed. It was meant to be quick, and probably temporary. Instead, it looked like I was going to have to commit a lot more time and effort than I expected.

I automatically watched Oliver as the man set about re-stocking the cups behind the counter, admiring the sure way he moved.

More effort, but worth it.

The coffee machine made a weird noise and Oliver started lecturing it like it was a misbehaving child.

Yes. Definitely worth it.

The bell over the front door dinged as a new guest stepped into the shop. I was so lost in my thoughts that it didn’t immediately occur to me what the sound meant. A moment later, as I heard footsteps approaching, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end.

Eva and Gavriil had been specifically instructed to keep everyone away from the shop so I wouldn’t be disturbed. There were very few people my bodyguards would have allowed through that door, and none of them would be here for a good reason.

Keeping all emotion off my face, I listened closer to the approaching footsteps. High heels clicked against the linoleum floor, and I immediately knew who I was dealing with.

“Caprice,” I said as the woman sat down across from me at the table.

That was it. No greeting passed my lips. There was nothing I could say that would be both polite and truthful.

Sharp red nails tapped against the faux wood tabletop as she stared at me.

“D’Angelo. You were harder to find than I expected. Baltimore isn’t your usual territory.”

Caprice Vidales, head of the Vidales family, led one of the other most powerful Italian Mafia families on this continent. Still nowhere near as powerful as the Mariano family, she and I had been thorns in each other’s sides for years. The woman had hersights set on one day overtaking the Mariano family, but she wouldn’t be able to do it alone.

First she tried to get someone from her family married to Alex Mariano, but that had been almost immediately shot down.

Her second plan was for her and I to combine our families so that we could take down the Mariano family together. Her idea was to combine our families through marriage, with her in charge, of course. That hadn’t gone as well as she hoped, and she’d never forgiven me.

In the grand scheme of things, I could almost understand her frustration. A few decades ago when homosexuality wasn’t as accepted, her plans would have probably worked. Alex and I both would have needed to marry women for the sake of public image, and a woman from her family would have been an ideal choice.

Gay men were really proving to be an insurmountable obstacle for her. One she could have overcome easily if she’d thought to offer a man from her family for marriage. Either Alex or I might have actually accepted that deal, but either there weren’t any men in her immediate family that she trusted enough for such a role, or the idea never occurred to her.

I smiled in her general direction, showing too many teeth for the expression to be genuine. “So, what are you doing here? Come to thank me in person for my gift?”

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