Free Blood & Marriage (Dark Mafia Romance) by Miss Merikan

wordless question. Of
course Vincenzo wanted some, so I obediently gave him a glass before
transferring my gaze to the father and son.
    Santo gave a nod so I poured him a glass as well, wary of
not having our fingers touch when I passed it to him.
    Federico glanced over all the delicacies on the table. “I
suppose Santo should try some, because he might not make it for the wedding.”
    The handle of the pitcher slipped through my grasp, but I
managed not to spill anything, by holding up the bottom with my other hand. My
heart thudded, but I smiled as if it hadn’t bothered me at all. “Really? That’s
such a shame. It’s his first cousin’s wedding, and one only marries once.”
    Vincenzo snorted, but I ignored him, focusing on Federico,
even though something inside me was already screaming at Santo. He had promised
to get me the dress, and as far as I knew, he still didn’t have it. And on top
of that, the sense of security he’d provided me with for the past week had
helped me a lot, and I couldn’t imagine him not being there for the main event.
    “My thoughts exactly,” Santo said and bit into a fruit tart.
“The job could have waited.”
    Federico glared at him. “If I say it can’t, then it can’t .”
    Vincenzo laughed out loud and patted Santo’s back. “Oh, man!
Tight leash there on our little boy Santo, huh?”
    Santo looked as if he wanted to bite off his cousin’s hand,
but Vincenzo didn’t seem to notice, stretching his whole body as he glanced toward
the open doors. One of the women working on the decorations was staring back at
him, leaning down to showcase her impressive breasts.
    And there I had been asking myself what kind of woman would
be interested in Vincenzo. One that hadn’t heard him talk yet. I was relieved
when he excused himself, leaving me with Federico and Santo, whose lips were
going pale from being kept tightly shut.
    I couldn’t believe his own father would humiliate him like
this in front of other people. My hand went to the chili tart I’d wanted to
sample earlier, and I picked it up in its little bed of folded paper.
    “Would you like to sample this one?” I asked Federico
pleasantly. “I was wondering if it would be to my father’s taste,” I said, as
if I really needed a middle-aged man’s opinion on food. But that was exactly
what would make him have it.
    Federico made a face but I pleaded with him playfully, and
unless he wanted to be rude and break social conventions, he’d eat it. Santo
wouldn’t look into my eyes, brooding as if he were Heathcliff.
    “All right, but only a bit,” Federico said in the end and
bit into the tart as I crossed my fingers for it to be as spicy as Calabrian
chilies could be. He took two bites and nothing happened, but by the third, his
eyes glossed over slightly.
    “And, what do you think?” I asked innocently, as if I were
dumb enough not to realize the topping of the tart might not have been to
everyone’s taste.
    Federico picked up Vincenzo’s glass and took a swig.
“They’re excellent,” he said, already bright red in the cheeks, and gestured at
Santo. “I’ll talk to you later. There’s something I need to attend to.”
    “Oh, but please pop by later!” I had to bite the inside of
my lip to not laugh.
    Santo gave his father a quick wave, frowning at half of the
tart Federico left behind.
    I wiggled my eyebrows at him. “Calabrian chili,” I
whispered.
    And there it was. I managed to squeeze a smile out of Santo,
even if tiny. My heart soared at the sight no matter how attractive I found him
when he had that serious face going on.
    He glanced around the hall and slid closer when he decided
the coast was clear. “Naughty girl.” Santo pinched the back of my thigh through
the tulle.
    I licked my lips, glancing toward the decorators, but the
heat of his body was already making me want to step closer. There was this...
chemistry between us that I couldn’t deny no matter how irrational it was to
follow the