Page 19 of The Viper

“Why here?” I glance around at the other diners, hoping I’m not being obvious as I try and encourage Dominic to leave.

“I only had a coffee from here, and I enjoyed it.”

“There are plenty of other places for you to eat, you don’t need to come here. Or, you don’t need to be here when I am.”

“And what would the fun of that be?”

I lean down with one hand on the back of his chair, and the other on the table. “Can you please leave?” His steely auburn eyes cut through me. A shiver of anger vibrates deep inside, and even though I should be frightened, I’m not. In truth, I’m aroused as if I have an inner darkness that sparks to life with one look from his hooded eyes.

“I won’t leave,” his tone is dark and obdurate.

Shit. I stand and shrug. “Do whatever you want,” I say as I step backward. “I have work to do.” What the hell is wrong with me? This man found a way into my apartment, and I know he has the ability to make me easily disappear without a trace.

Ugh. I have a feeling I’m stuck with Dominic Sacco and his controlling ways. “What time do you finish work?”

“Why do I have a feeling you already know the answer?”

A small grin tugs at his lips. Marco coughs once, and when I look at him, he lowers his head and stares at his phone. “There’s a family dinner tonight. I’ll have Marco pick you up at eight.”

“A family dinner? That’s nice.” My mouth turns down and I shake my head. “I’m not going.”

“Your sister will be there.”

“Eliza,” I whisper. I haven’t seen or heard from her in days. “She’s going to be there?” I ask, waiting for his nod of confirmation.

“She will be.”

“Okay,” I reply without a moment of hesitation. “I want to go.”

“Marco will pick you up at eight.”

“I’ll be ready.” I beam at him, relieved that I’m going to finally see my sister. “Thank you,” I say. “I appreciate you thinking of me.”

Dominic arches a brow, then turns back to his tablet.

I walk away with mixed emotions. I can’t wait to see my sister tonight, but at the same time, I hate how I have to be invited to these Sacco family dinner things in order to see her.

It’s okay, I tell myself. It doesn’t matter how I see her. The fact is, I’m finally going to be able to talk to her.

There’s a lightness to my step as I clean and wipe down three more tables. Once I’ve taken the dirty dishes out to the kitchen, I make my way back to the coffee machine. Finn is finishing up with a coffee when he says, “He’s the same guy from the other day.”

“Yeah, he is.”

“He’s staring at you.” I turn to see Dominic’s hard eyes on me. “Who is he?”

“He’s no one, don’t worry about him.” The words leave my mouth, but I don’t even convince myself. “Anyway, do you want to stay on the coffee machine, or do you want to be out there?”

“I’ll stay on the machine.”

“Okay.” The kitchen bell dings, and I walk back to grab the food from the pass-through. I look at the table the food is going to and roll my eyes. “Of course,” I mutter, taking in a sharp breath and walking to Dominic’s table. “Burger and fries?” I ask as I stand at their table. Dominic flicks his gaze over to Marco. “Fried chicken?” I ask with humor as I place the plate in front of Dominic.

“Are you laughing?”

“I didn’t take you for a fried chicken kind of guy. More like a red meat lover.” I look between the two. “Enjoy your lunch,” I say as I step backward.

“If you had a decent pasta dish I would’ve ordered that,” Dominic challenges, halting my getaway.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Why does everything he say irritate me as much as it does? I should let it go and say nothing, but it’s like he’s purposely trying to get a rise out of me. The worst thing is he’s successfully managing to do just that.

---