Page 60 of Twisted Knight

“I’m sorry!” She wiped at the tears under her eyes. “You can’t be serious?”

I shrugged, taking a sip of my tea.

“Oh, India, no!” She put her cup down and rounded the counter to wrap her arms around me.

“Dom is crazy about you! We can see that. Luca and I can't stop talking behind your back about it.”

I should have been annoyed at being the source of the couple's gossip, but I wanted to know what she saw; I needed her to give me hope that I was more than a temporary crush.

“Is he?”

“You can’t see it? Really?”

I let out a sigh. I did, sometimes I really did, but then he never really made a commitment to me. “I don’t know.”

Cassie shook her head. “He took you around in New York right?”

“He did…” I trailed off, not sure where she was going with that.

“Okay, I know it’s different from other men, but with the life they lead, they take relationships very seriously because as you can imagine, attachments can be seen as a weakness.”

“Okay?” I was no expert of this whole Mafia life, but I could imagine that the more people you loved, the more open to retaliation you were.

“When Dom took you out, showing you around, he made a commitment to you.”

I frowned. “It was just a couple of dates and a trip to a museum.”

She shrugged, going back around the counter for her tea. “Maybe it is to you; maybe it is to a normal dating situation, but it’s not like that in our lives. Everything is well thought out and considered. Dom would not have taken you out in public, showing a potential weakness to the world for no reason, especially knowing you are part of my family.” She shook her head. “He made a commitment to you there, maybe not verbally, but I can assure you he did.”

I nodded, taking a sip of the tea. “Okay, it’s just all different, you know.”

“It takes some time to adapt, I agree.” She smiled. “I’ve been here for almost two years, and it's still weird sometimes.” She cleared her throat. “Do you think you could adapt to this life?”

I couldn’t help but smile a little at that; she was just as smooth as an elephant in a China store. “Are you fishing for information?”

She shrugged. “I’m just curious.”

“I would appreciate it if this information stayed between us.”

“I won’t say anything to Dom,” she added quickly, but I didn't miss she didn’t mention Luca.

“I think that for the right person, I won’t have any issue, no.”

“Okay…”

I rolled my eyes. “Cassie, I’m serious, don—”

I was interrupted by a screaming infant coming full blast from the monitor.

“Ah, I’m sorry. It seems my daughter changed her mind about her feeding. Plus, you have to be ready for your new patient, right?”

I looked at the clock and nodded. I only had ten minutes left to connect and get ready.

Cassie sighed as we went up the stairs. “I swear that kid is already a diva; how is that even possible?”

I laughed. “Based on how her father is treating her? I’ll be ready for years of princess attitude.”

“She’s so going to be a daddy’s girl.” She groaned but the comment lacked heat; she clearly didn't mind.

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