Page 106 of Sins of the Son

And the truth about your involvement in this mess.

I would move her there and post a guard. At least that way, she wouldn’t be able to cause any more harm until I could figure out what to do with her. Divorce was not an option. Obviously, neither were criminal charges. As Cavalieris, we preferred to handle these things within the family.

She swung on me, hands on her hips. “And if I refuse?”

The corner of my mouth lifted. “Go ahead. Refuse. And you’ll see the dark side of all that Cavalieri money you so enjoy spending.”

CHAPTER 37

MILANA

The villa kitchen was filled with laughter and warmth.

It had been a few days since my fall and the haunted look was still in Cesare’s eyes. It didn’t help that my night terrors had returned, but every night he was there to hold me and chase the monsters away. With each passing day they became less intense. He was my knight in shining armor, except his weapons were bright bedroom lights and passionate sex.

The men were still working on searching for my second attacker, but so far had come up empty-handed.

So tonight we were all gathered in the kitchen to have a meal together, if only for a few hours, to forget about the wolves at the door.

Thankfully, Renata had chosen not to join us.

We had seen little of her lately. Enzo had moved her to the cottage the day after my fall. Amara and I had braced ourselves for her being brought into the villa since the men seemed determined to keep us all close by and under protective guard, but I guessed she preferred the cottage. I was going to write her a note thanking her for the flowers and apologizing for ruining them, to at least be nice, but Cesare adamantly insisted I should rest and said he would pass along my message instead.

The men were all acting strangely about Renata, but then again, it couldn’t be pleasant having her nearby all the time. I was pretty sure that not even Enzo, her own husband, liked her. Not that I blamed him one bit.

Rosa cupped her cheeks and exclaimed in despair, “You don’t crush the eggs. You crack the eggs! Crack them! Look at all the shells! Mamma mia! Who taught you how to cook?”

Gabriella wiggled her ring-clad fingers in front of Rosa. “Do these look like the hands of a woman who does housework?”

Rosa waved her hands. “Out! Out! Out of my kitchen! Shoo!”

Gabriella grabbed her wineglass and moved around the kitchen island to where I was sitting on a padded bench along the kitchen table, since everyone was under strict orders from Cesare to not let me help cook. She sat down and sidled up next to me.

I put my head on her shoulder and said low enough so Amara and Rosa couldn’t hear, “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

Gabriella smirked. “Of course, darling. I’m not an idiot. I know how to crack a damn egg.”

We clinked wineglasses as we watched Amara and Rosa dump out the bowl of ruined eggs.

Rosa cracked fresh eggs as Amara used her fist to create a well in the center of her mixture of flour and salt. Rosa carefully poured the eggs into the well as Amara kneaded the mixture into a smooth dough, then transferred it into a bowl and covered it.

Next, they started on the filling for the ravioli di ricotta. They were using Amara’s mother’s recipe. Just as they were finished mixing the ricotta cheese, chopped spinach, parmesan cheese, salt, and black pepper together, Barone walked in.

He crossed straight to Amara and wrapped his arms around her middle from behind. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Smells wonderful.”

She laughed. “We haven’t started cooking anything yet.”

He nuzzled her neck. “I wasn’t talking about the food.”

Amara glanced up and around the room as her cheeks turned pink. It was nice seeing my best friend so happy and content. I was glad she didn’t listen to my panicked rant about leaving Barone, the day after I slept with Cesare.

She and Barone were clearly madly in love and meant for one another.

I caught Cesare’s intense gaze the moment he entered the kitchen. He looked at me as if I were the only person in the entire world.

It was thrilling and just a bit overwhelming… but I was getting used to it.

The moment he got close enough, he swept me up into his arms and onto his lap. He took the wineglass from my grasp and took a sip. “Hey, that was mine!”

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