Oh no.
“Y-You would?” the blonde stammered, still stunned.
“Oh yes,” Nadia said, picking up Leo’s plate.
Oh shit. Not only had that been Dante’s thought, but it was clearly the thought that went through Amo and Leo’s minds, too.
Dante had half a mind to tell her no and attempt to calm her down, but he had seen enough women in his lifetime with the same determination in Nadia’s eyes to know to stay out of it, especially when a woman had had a little bit too much to drink.
Leo gave his father a concerned look. “Should you do some—”
“Hell no,” Amo stopped him. “They were foul to do that to the fish. Plus”—he got up excitedly, like he was about to go watch a show—“I gotta see this.”
“Yep, we better go follow,” Dante agreed, telling himself he was only going to make sure it went okay, not because he was eager to see it play out.
Leo stood up just as quickly. “Sounds good.”
The men swiftly caught up to Nadia, who walked like she was on a death march with those creepy-ass fish in both hands. All they could see was the back of her as she used her foot to kick open the kitchen doors with a thud.
“Where is it?” was all they could hear as they waited for the swinging door to not slap them in the face.
“Where is wha—” the chef’s booming voice echoed in the kitchen then suddenly disappeared when he spun around. When he saw who it was, his tone came out kinder. “I’m sorry. Is there a problem with the fish?” he asked, noticing them back on his steel counter.
“Yes,” Nadia confirmed the fucking obvious. “It still has eyes.”
Amo blew a raspberry from his sudden laughter while Leo and he fought to look out of the right side of the kitchen door window. Dante had to laugh himself while he looked into the left.
“My lionfish is a delicacy,” the chef explained offensively, looking at the plates. “You didn’t even try it.”
“No, we did not,” Nadia said, moving to the fridge while Lila stood frozen. “Now, where is it?”
“Where is what?” the chef asked, appearing more offended by the second that she was going through his kitchen.
She didn’t lose focus from her rummaging through the fridge. “The food the staff eats.”
The chef held up a finger, like she had just said the most offensive thing to have ever been spoken in existence. “We eat what I prepare.”
“I can’t see!” Amo cried, fighting for Leo to move over.
Leo elbowed him in the stomach. “Well, I only got one eye, fucker, and your big-ass head is in the way.”
Rolling his eyes, Dante grabbed the back of Amo’s neck, moving him closer so his soldier could look through his window with him. It had solved his problem of being able to hear what was happening inside the kitchen, but the downside was his face was now plastered against Amo’s so they could see out of the small window with one eye each.
Coming up empty with the fridge, Nadia took a deep breath. She faced the chef, and her frustrations disappeared when she tried a different approach. “Listen, you make wonderful food. Truly, you do … but I got two kids here who really just want some chicken tenders or something like that.”
“I am not a ki—Ow!” Amo huffed, holding his ribs where Dante had just elbowed him.
Nadia’s sweet voice could melt butter now. “Please, I’m sure you have something they would like.”
Maybe I should go in.
Dante could only see the back of the chef, and he wasn’t sure how he was going to react to even Nadia’s sweet tone. About to swing the door open, he stopped when Lila finally spoke up.
“I’ll show you.” Lila stepped forward in defeat. “Max and I have a stash in here.”
The chef’s jaw dropped to the floor. “Excuse me?”
“Sorry.” Lila winced, heading to the walk-in freezer. She went in then came out with a big box that had been shoved into the corner that was labeled as sauerkraut.
You could see that Nadia no longer wanted to be in there when the chef went through the box and pulled out frozen nuggets and pizza.
“So, you’ve been eating this?” the chef asked then suddenly gasped, “Have you two even been eating the dishes I’ve prepared for you?”
Lila winced again. “No, we’ve been tossing them in the bin when you weren’t looking. Then we sneak in here in the middle of night to make us something to eat from the box.”
It was like you could see the puzzle clicking into place on the chef’s face. He had seen the signs, but he couldn’t possibly believe anyone wouldn’t like his food.
“Oh, mon dieu!” the chef cried, throwing the towel that was on his shoulder up into the air. He sputtered off some more words in French, but Dante, Leo, and Amo were too busy jumping out of the way as the chef flew open the kitchen doors.