Page 71 of In My Blood
“That’s because Iamconfused,” I admitted. “I haven’t been told what to do by anyone other than my employers since I was a kid. But ever since I came here, I keep just agreeing to these random orders. It’s weird and not at all like me.”
“It’s because some part of you is tired of making all of the decisions. You want some control taken from you, and the guys in this house, especially Dante and Dario, will happily do that. Rafe too, and even Arran to some extent, though he’s a lot more laid back than the others. The fact you’ve given in to them so easily, just means that you have at least some trust in them to take care of you, and I think that’s important for you right now. You’re wary, but coming to trust the guys will help you settle here with us,” Cal explained patiently.
“Where do you fit in this scale of bossiness?” I asked.
“I’m pretty laid back, like my brother, but I can be bossy when I need to be, like when someone I care about needs help or to be taken care of.”
“How old are you, Cal?” I asked. Looking at him he seemed younger than me, but he couldn’t be. The way he spoke, the things he said – I knew he had to be older.
“Almost twenty-one. I’m almost halfway through my degree at uni.”
“You study medicine, right?” I asked, and he nodded. “You must be really intelligent. That’s not an easy career path to choose, is it?”
“It’s a long career path,” he told me. “But it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do, ever since I broke my leg when I was seven and saw the doctors in action in the accident and emergency department, at the hospital. They looked like superheroes to me, and as I’ve got older, I still see them like that, in a way. I can’t think of a better thing to do with my life than to try and save other lives.”
“I agree. I know if anything happened to me, I’d be relieved to have a kind, friendly, and caring doctor like you turn up to fix me up and comfort me.”
“Well, if I actually achieve my dream, you’ll always have me there when you need me if anything happens, not that anyone, especially Dante, will ever let anything happen,” he joked.
“Life happens, Cal, and unfortunately it’s not always happy or good. You never know. Always good to have medical advice on hand,” I shrugged.
“For now you have Dante’s wisdom, and I’m sure, at this moment, he’ll be watching the camera in here and growling because you’re not drinking any water. Better get on that.”
“Jesus. Why do I feel like I’m going to be looking for a way to disable those cameras before the week’s out?”
CHAPTER 19
CARA
I was half asleep, peacefully settled against Cal’s shoulder when Terza loudly called through the house for us all to come and eat, later that evening. I’d spent the entire afternoon with Cal. We’d started watching a boxset on Netflix and just relaxed casually in the living room together. It had been laid back and easy. That was how I had started to doze off and ended up leaning against him as my pillow. I had just felt relaxed, and my fatigue had caught up with me.
I knew Dante had been in a few times, because I had heard him quietly interrogating Cal about how much water I had drunk and what I ate for lunch, but I hadn’t fully roused, soothed just to know the giant was close by.
Arran had slipped into the room just a short while before, and I had heard the low hum of the conversation between him and his brother. I wasn’t really paying attention to what they talked about, but I loved the sound of Arran’s voice, and the nuances of his Glaswegian accent. Clearly, he hadn’t lost it in the time he had lived in London, like Cal had, because it came through strongly, but there was something so calming about it to me. Maybe it was because it was just such an integral part of the man. I wasn’t sure, but I did know that it did funny things to me when he deeply rolled his ‘R’s’ or called me ‘lass’ as he oftendid. When he purred my name, rolling the ‘R’ so deeply, it had me clenching my thighs together each and every time. It was odd and not like me at all, but also kind of thrilling.
“Come on, sleepy head. Dante will only come to track you down if you’re not there for dinner,” Cal told me as I moaned at the thought of having to move from where I was so settled and comfortable. It had been so long since I got to just sit around and be lazy.
“Aye. It seems our Dante has made ye his latest obsession, lass. Yer’ll nae get away wi’ anythin’ under his stalker like watch on ye,” Arran chuckled as he rose from the armchair he’d been sat in and held a hand out to me in offering.
“Obsession? Stalker? Not setting me at ease with words like that, Arran,” I pointed out. With a groan I sat up and slapped my hand into his, then grunted in pain as he pulled me to my feet.
“Ribs?” Cal asked, getting to his feet too. He looked to me with concern, but I waved him off.
“They’re getting better. I just got stiff from sitting for so long.”
“I’ll get you a hot water bottle after dinner. Maybe some heat will help,” Cal offered.
“Ice would be better, but thanks. It might be worth a try,” I agreed.
When we walked into the dining room Rafe and Dio were already sat down at the enormous circular table. I had a suspicion Rafe had deliberately chosen the table that shape so there was no head seat. Growing up, Marcello had insisted we all eat our evening meals together in the lavish dining room, andevery night he would sit at the head of that table, lording over his family with the same brutal terror he ruled his men with. Each and every one of those meals had been torture for all of us.
My Mum hated it because she had to sit still, drink steadily, and act like a human being for the duration. Rafe was often berated by Marcello for never being good enough at anything he ever did, throughout. And Gia and I sat in terror, eating politely, as we were expected to, and never daring to make a peep in fear of turning Marcello’s rage on us.
“There you are,Gioia. Sit down. Can I grab you something to drink?” Rafe offered as we walked in. It was the first time I had sat in there. We’d eaten every other meal I had been a part of in the kitchen. I had been a little nervous about any formal kind of meal, but it seemed there wasn’t much formal in that moment. Rafe and Dio had bottles of beer on the table in front of them. Terza had just piled the plates in the centre of the table, and beside them were a mountain of cutlery. Somewhere in the background a radio station was playing loud enough to travel through, and everyone was just relaxed.
“Where should I sit?” I asked, looking to Rafe for the answer.
“Anywhere. We don’t stand on ceremony here, sweetheart. I like to keep things as casual as I can. Most of us spend our days having to put up a stuffy front at the office. We like to just relax when we get home,” he assured me.
