Page 24 of Till Death Do Us Part

My feet started to move toward her when Cassio fell in line with me. He held his daughter’s hand while she licked her sucker, barely keeping up but not caring because she was occupied. Cassio’s wife had died, and he was raising Adelasia on his own.

I stopped walking, and he did too.

“Is that Miss Illinois? Dr. Corvo’s daughter?” Cassio narrowed his eyes. “That’s not Jack she’s talking to.”

Cassio had always reminded me of the Maggios. They had strong genes. Sometimes I wondered if he was my father’s son. Even though my old man loved my mom, he had plenty of affairs over the years. But Cassio’s old man was also part of the life, and it would have been a death sentence if anyone had ever found out my old man was fooling around with Cassio’s mom. It was one of our laws, not to mess with another made man’s woman, and it was taken seriously.

I tossed Cassio my keys. He caught them with one hand.

“Where are you going?”

“To take care of business.” I nodded toward Roma, who still had her phone in a death grip. While I walked over to them, I sent a text to Celso, giving him orders to bring Roma’s Fiat 500 to the market.

Her eyes registered surprise, then relief when she noticed me. I set my hand on her neck, squeezing. Her muscles were tight, but after I touched her, she relaxed and breathed out. It pleased me that she trusted me.

Maybe pleased was the wrong word. It felt too good. I was like an adrenaline junkie always craving to be near her. It was a hunt I wasn’t used to, but I was already addicted.

Restaurant Guy stopped what he was saying about fresh seasonal vegetables. A moment passed where no one said anything, and then Roma must have realized he was waiting for an introduction.

She gave him my name as John. She told me his name was Gael and that he worked at The Herbivore. Other than Roma being intimidated by his hair, there was nothing threatening about him. But he must have gotten a different sense about me. He took off right after I showed up, claiming he was meeting someone. Didn’t want to be late.

We stood there for a second before Roma turned to face me. A blast of light hit her in the eyes, making the milk-chocolate color shimmer. She slid her sunglasses down over her eyes and pursed her lips.

“What are you doing here?”

“You’re sorry I came?”

She hesitated for a second. “If I say yes, I’d be lying.”

“Do you trust me, Roma?”

“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “But that’s not why I’m happy you’re here. I could have dealt with Gael and his curls.”

A breeze swept by, rustling her hair. I removed a piece from her cheek, letting my finger linger against her skin. She put her hand over mine.

“Admit that you missed me.” My voice came out lower and rougher than expected, like it was grating against sandpaper.

The pulse in her neck hammered against my hand.

“I missmycar, Felice.”

“You’re a terrible liar.”

“I know,” she whispered, squeezing my hand. “But I do want my car back. What about the deal? You can teach me how to drive.”

“Your skills are beyond help.”

She smiled, and there was some mischief in her eyes. “I catch on quick. Or are you not a capable enough teacher?”

Before I could succumb to the urge to take her home, teaching her all I fucking knew, I took her hand and then hung her bag over my shoulder. “What are we shopping for?”

She stammered for a second, probably at the change of direction in conversation, and finally said, “Flowers.”

I led her to a tent full of bouquets. Her eyes scanned a few before she turned to me.

“Do we have a deal or not?” When I hesitated to answer, she blew out a sharp breath. “Why do you care about my driving anyway? You’re acting like a T-rex guarding its bone.”

Yeah, that about summed it up.

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