Page 7 of Tease

I hid a smile so he wouldn’t know I was teasing him. He kept looking at me as we walked along the hallway to the kitchen like he was trying to work me out.

When we got to the kitchen, he’d already laid the table. We didn’t have a separate dining room. Arlo had made me a rice bowl with steamed vegetables and tofu in a sticky sauce.Mamáhad made every effort to accommodate the fact I didn’t like meat or fish, so she must have told Arlo about my vegetarianism.

I reluctantly released his hand so I could sit at the table. He rubbed his fingers together as he moved around the table to his place.

“Th-th-thank y-you,” I told him as I picked up my fork.

“You’re very welcome.”

His smile gave me even more butterflies. I’d stopped questioning why he had such an effect on me a long time ago, just accepted I liked this man far too much for my own good.

“D-d-do you like cooking?”

He nodded as he dug into his bowl.

“I do. I’ve lived alone for a long time, but my sister comes over a lot. Lissa gets fed up with cooking forPapáall the time.”

I chewed the mouthful I had, enjoying the flavours on my tongue. Arlo’s mother wasn’t in the picture. His parents got divorced not long after I was born. She’d left the kids in his care while she went jet-setting all over the world, according toMamá. I never asked Arlo about her. Didn’t want to pry.

“If this is an example of w-w-what you make, I d-d-don’t blame her.”

“You like it?”

I nodded before sticking another load of rice and vegetables in my mouth. He smiled as he continued to eat. We lapsed into silence, each of us enjoying our food. I pushed my bowl back when I was done and took a sip of the water he’d left out for me, leaning back in my chair.

“H-h-have there b-b-b-been more th-th-threats?”

Arlo shook his head, frowning down into his bowl.

“Not against your family, no.”

“Zayn?”

He raised his eyes to me.

“I can’t talk about that with you, Rina.”

“H-h-he’s okay though?”

His eyes softened.

“Yes.”

I wasn’t super close to my cousins, but I always tried to keep up with what was happening in our family. My sisters didn’t care about the mafia. I did. It affected us. Didn’t matter if my father had tried to keep us out of it. The Villettis were a mafia family. We were a part of it, regardless of how involved we were.

“You worry about him?”

I nodded, twisting my mouth around. I didn’t talk to anyone about my concerns regarding my cousins. Especially in light of their father’s death and how it had changed everything. Maybe I could talk to him about it. After all, he was a huge part of Zayn’s life.

“H-h-he’s head of the family now. A l-l-lot rests on his s-s-shoulders.”

Arlo cocked his head to the side.

“It does, but he has me to rely on.”

“Y-y-you’re here though.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m not still at his beck and call.”

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