10. Foodgate
TEN
FOODGATE
E ach one of them sat around the table, eyeing each other as they waited to see what Lila was going to put in front of them for dinner.
Nadia was certain Amo had made the sign of the cross, kissing his fingertips in a silent prayer for the food to be good.
When the salads showed up with another weird dressing combination, she went to take a sip of her rum runner to calm herself.
She didn’t know why it was bothering her so much, but she was certain it was because it didn’t bother Dante.
All the unbearable man had to do was walk into the kitchen and tell his chef to prepare something different.
Sure, Leo and Amo weren’t starving, but Nadia understood what it was like to get fed food you didn’t like, and that was probably why it bugged her so much.
A lot of her foster parents, the bad ones, either made her go without eating or never cared to ask what kind of foods she had liked; sometimes even forcing her to eat foods they knew she hated.
However, since she and Dante had spoken about it, she supposed she should give him a chance to fix it. Still, anger ate at her while she watched the two boys eat the bottom of their salads, so she sat there, taking her frustrations out on her drink as she sipped it dry.
Seeing Lila head toward them with plates, Nadia started her own prayer.
So help me, God, if this food is disg—
One look at the dishes that was being put down before them had every single one of their mouths dropping, including Dante’s.
“Whole fried lionfish!” Lila announced proudly, on the chef’s behalf.
Nadia was pretty fucking certain her food should not be staring back at her as the thing in front of her looked like a dead carcass served on a plate.
Not even the lemon cut into a crown that the chef had placed on the terrifying fish made it appear a delight to eat.
It only increased its jarring appearance.
Something in Amo had clearly broken, as he whispered, “I can’t do it.”
Oh, honey, neither can I.
She was giving Dante one final fucking chance, but he appeared to still be speechless as he continued to stare at the water monster.
Fuck it …
Dante stared at the frightening fish that looked like it had jumped straight from the ocean floor and onto his plate after being barbequed on the way up.
Honest to God, he had never seen anything like it in his life.
Of course, he had seen whole fried fish before, but certainly not like this.
Lionfish had a different effect to see it …
well, whole. This fish either needed to stay deep, deep, deep down in the ocean where it belonged, or it needed to be served like fucking fish sticks. There was simply no in-between.
It was only when he heard a thump that he lost eye contact with the nightmarish fish.
Nadia had abruptly stood, causing her chair to fall backward at the movement.
“Lila, I’m sorry, but we will not be eating this tonight.”
Everyone looked at her, stunned; the blonde woman even more so.
“Y-You won’t—”
“No,” she said with certainty, picking up the deadly plate. “Now, please help me take these back to the kitchen. I’d like to talk with the chef.”
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.
Thankfully, he had been well past offended, so the chef didn’t pay any attention to the three as he left for his room. They quickly went back to looking through the window.
Nadia stood there awkwardly, practically waiting for the ground to swallow her whole. Not knowing what to say, only a long, “So …” came out of her mouth.
“Would you like nuggets or pizza for dinner?” Lila asked, like nothing had happened.
“Pizza sounds great,” Nadia said thankfully, with a smile, like the awkwardness had suddenly left the room. “Would you like some help?”
“Oh no,” Lila told her. “I’ll just heat them up really quick and bring them out when they’re done.”
Nadia didn’t need to be told twice, grateful to leave the kitchen, as if it were the scene of a crime and she had been the murderer. “Okay, thanks!”
“Shit,” Dante grumbled, letting his feet fly back to where he had come from.
“Run,” Amo said with a harsh whisper, grabbing Leo’s arm to get him moving.
It might’ve been bad that he had left his son behind, but it wasn’t like Nadia would have killed Leo for watching. Him, on the other hand, he wasn’t so sure … And whether she would kill Amo, he doubted he could get so lucky.
Even though he might have been the oldest, he still beat them back to the table but was slightly out of breath.
He and a now exasperated Amo and Leo retook their seats, as if they had been sitting there all along.
What was that?
Swinging the kitchen doors open, she swore she not only heard but saw something flash a ways up.
Thinking it must’ve been the chef, whom she had just embarrassed to death, she couldn’t believe she had just singlehandedly started a foodgate on the yacht.
She suspected there had to be some kind of food, other than what the chef was preparing, but she hadn’t expected it to come out like that .
She thought she had been planted into a fucking telenovela when Lila had walked out with that box.
Now, Nadia just hoped that any of the food they might eat for the rest of the weekend wouldn’t have spit in it, thanks to her. She wouldn’t blame anyone for it, because she probably deserved it.
Walking back to the table, she tried her best to keep a straight face, as if nothing had happened.
“How does pizza sound, guys …?” Nadia trailed off the moment she saw their faces. “You saw that, didn’t you …”
The men shook their heads vigorously. They might’ve been smart enough to stay silent, but their ragged breathing had clearly given them away.
“Max!” Nadia called out, hoping he was near.
“Yes, Ms. Brooks,” the bartender answered, as if he was Batman.
Well, there was one similarity between Batman and Max … she hoped he would be able to save the fucking day.
“We’re gonna need another round.”