Page 84 of Sin & Secrets

“You scared someone’s gonna come in here and make better eggs than you?”

I take my time plating up the food in order to formulate my response. It’s a simple meal, but I garnish it with salt, pepper, and fresh parsley.

“These days, I have a little more to lose, I suppose,” I say as I hand her a plate.

She takes it with her good hand and turns off the faucet in order to join me at the breakfast bench.

“This looks lovely,” she replies as she stares down at the food before her.

“Thank you…”

“What are we, Rocco?” The words explode out of her so quickly, I think even she’s taken aback by her abruptness.

I blink back. “I assume ‘hungry’ isn’t the answer you’re looking for?”

“I thought this was just…you said you just wanted something physical.” She bites her lip. “But last night…it didn’t feel just physical anymore. And I basically confessed to you, then you kissed me even though you said you wouldn’t do that and…”

“Cas.” I smile at her flustered words. “Are you asking me out?”

My words have their desired effect. Cas immediately covers her red face with her hands. “Not when you say it like that!”

I can’t help the booming laugh that escapes me as I try to carefully pry her hands from her face. “Cassandra Bellini, I adore you. I would very much like to be your boyfriend.”

She grimaces. “Ugh. That sounds so juvenile.”

“Partners then?”

“Pass.”

“Lovers.”

“How about I just call you Rocco?” she suggests as she tucks into her food.

I pretend to think about it. “I prefer ‘boss’, but I’ll take it.”

“Is Teo your lover, too? He’s the only one I’ve ever heard call you that.”

“You see? Lover isn’t so bad, is it?”

She rolls her eyes at me. “I take it you listened to the audio from last night.”

I blink at her in confusion. “What?”

“You used my surname just now. I don’t think I ever told you it before,” she gives me a funny look. “It was always ‘Cassandra’ this or ‘Angioletta’that.”

Right. Because Danny only told me her name was Bellini last night. But what does that have to do with the audio she took from her confrontation with Lazzaro?

“What do you think?” she asks. “Lazzaro was high as all hell, right?”

“I…”

I’m saved an answer by Teo storming into the room. “Why the hell haven’t you been picking up your damn phone?”

He freezes when he spots the two of us, and I become acutely aware that I’m not wearing a shirt.

“Morning, Vitale,” I greet him carefully as his eyebrows shoot up.

If he was suffering under any delusion about the nature of Cas and I’s relationship, he wasn’t any longer.

---