When I come back out, he's standing at the window. I admire his ass for a moment, perfectly sculpted against the light of the New York skyline. I still want my snuggles, so I know I have to lure him back to the bed.
As I come up behind him, he says, "You have a great view here."
I shrug and wrap my arms around his waist. I love the way his muscles tighten at my touch. I look out the window at the lights and pause. It's been a long time since I've actually taken the time to look out the window. "There's too much light pollution here. I can't see any stars from here."
Dante tilts his head. "I hardly notice the lack of stars, but then again you must not be from New York."
“Not originally,” I reply. I think of my mother and find that I'm sad. She would have liked Dante. He's not the type of man she would have picked for me, but then this life isn't the one she wanted for me either.
He watches me for a moment, waiting for me to tell him more about myself. I don't like talking about the time before I was in New York. That was a different life.
“We should probably get back to the restaurant. Our families are waiting for us. I'm sure they'll be glad to know we've agreed to their marriage plans.”
Dante laughs, the sound rich and heavy. “Oh, I'm sure they're all going to be thrilled. Do you mind if we don't tell them about the part where I chased you off?”
“Deal. See, we're already doing this marriage between families thing like we're pros.”
He chuckles and together we both get dressed. I quickly fix my makeup and together we head back to the restaurant to meet our families and announce that we're going to join the families.
Chapter 10
I wake up the next morning at ten am, exhausted.
Dinner went well. Dante and I had spent most of it quietly eating our food while my uncle and his father discussed terms. Our mothers didn't say much, but that wasn't strange. While the women in our families were powerful, they deferred to the men in public.
After dinner, Dante and I came back to my place. There had been no taming Dante's seemingly insatiable appetite last night. Now he lays there, snoring softly on my bed. He looks adorable, which was probably his intention. I could deal with waking up to this every morning...
I start up my coffee maker and hear a sound like a Nintendo game go off in my room. That's weird, I think. I don't even have a TV in there. I'm halfway back to the room when I hear Dante talking.
"Yes. Yes. I know. I'll be right in," he says, talking into what had to be a cell phone. He hangs up and tosses the phone on the bed just as I step in the doorway. Blue eyes look up at me. "Business. The word is out about combining our families.”
“Before you go, do you know anything about forced escorts on the north side of town?” I ask him.
He frowns and shakes his head. “My family isn't in the escorts. We dropped it a couple of years ago as it wasn't earning out. Why?”
Relief trickles through me that what happened to Sara doesn't have anything to do with Dante.
“A friend of mine had some trouble on the edge of our territories,” I tell him.
His frown deepens. “I'll make sure I look into it.”
"Do you want any coffee before you go?" I ask, already feeling a little domesticated by him. Next thing I know, I'll be baking cookies and pot roasts. It surprises me that I'm not dreading the idea.
He shakes his head. "No, I should get going as quickly as possible." He quickly throws his clothes on and smooths his hair. I watch him, soaking in his easy movements. He checks his pockets one last time to make sure he has everything before kissing my cheek. "See you later?"
I smile. "Count on it."
With that, he's gone, clearly in a hurry. The apartment is quiet without him. I lay back down on the bed, hoping to recover some energy before tackling the day.
I sit up with a start and quickly dial a number on my corded phone. I have to tell Ethan what happened last night before he tells Aunt Sophia.
"This is Ethan," a gruff voice I recognize answers at the second ring.
"It's Cara. I need to tell you about last night." I wait for a response, but he doesn't say anything so I just continue. "I met Dante the other day accidentally. He goes to the bar near my place. That's how he knew where to find me. He thought it was a joke that it was me there. That's why he was mad.”
It's a lie, but it has enough of the truth that it will stand strong.
“That's it?” Ethan asks. “No more problems?”