Chapter Eight Callum
Since Seamus felt we shouldn’t squander our time in Sicily, he’d set up a meeting an hour outside of Catania for us to meet with two smaller families looking for American allies. Before we headed out, I stopped to see Caterina. I found her curled into a fetal position staring at the wall. At least her breakfast tray was half eaten.
With an exasperated sigh, I stalked over to the bed. When I sat down next to her, she didn’t bother scooting away from me. Instead, she just continued staring straight ahead. “My brothers and I have to attend a meeting out of town, and we’ll be gone until dinner time.”
At the mention of being deprived of our presence, Caterina’s expression brightened. Of course, I quickly doused her hope when I said, “But don’t worry. There will be men posted throughout the house and grounds.”
She huffed out t breath. “I should’ve imagined as much. I’m surprised they’re not instructed to stand in the bathroom while I shower.”
“The only reason you’re allowed that privacy is because I’m the only man who will ever see you naked, Kitten.”
“You’re such a gentleman.”
Ignoring her jibe, I added, “As for today, my men have strict orders not to let you leave the grounds, but you are allowed to go downstairs or outside for a walk if you’d like.”
“How generous of you to extend the confines of my prison,” she remarked. It didn’t escape my knowledge that her lashes were encrusted with tears.
“It’s only a prison of your making, Kitten.”
“Just leave me,” she sniffled.
I reached my hand out to place it on her shoulder but then thought better of myself. Instead, I rose off the bed. Giving comfort wasn’t something that came naturally to a man like me.While I loved my mother and my sister and showed them affection, it never seemed to correlate to the women I was with. The moment they showed any flicker of negative emotions I showed them the door.
“I’ll see you this evening,” I called from the doorway.
“I’d say be careful, but your demise only benefits me.”
“Aye, with the claws, Kitten. Your words wound me only with how not Christian they are.” When she whirled around in the bed to glare at me, I winked. “I’ll be sure to say a prayer for you.”
With that, I closed the door and started down the stairs. When I climbed into the waiting car, I threw a wary look back at the house. “Don’t tell me you’re already missing your fiancée,” Seamus teased.
“It’s more about leaving her unprotected.”
He chuckled. “Considering there’s five men guarding the grounds and three in the house, I’d hardly consider her alone.”
“But can we truly trust those men?”
“They’re being compensated nicely for their time.”
“What’s stopping them from taking even more money from the Neretti’s? I’m sure word has reached them by now of Caterina’s abduction.”
He clapped my back reassuringly. “Because all of the men on the outside are ours.”
My brows popped in surprise. “When did you fly them in?”
“This morning. They relieved the Sicilians who were on duty last night.”
“You think of everything, don’t you?”
He flashed me a grin. “That’s why I’m your unofficial right hand man.”
“And I’m sure as hell glad to have you.”
The meeting went well. Aligning ourselves with the Malgeri and Scavo families would ensure our safety while in Sicily as well as continued support stateside. In turn, we would ensure our connections in Boston helped their new ventures on the East Coast.
It was almost six when we returned to the house. I would be lying if I said I hadn’t spent most of the day thinking about Caterina. I’d messaged several times with the head of the contingent guarding the house. After the third text, he’d started sending me hourly updates of what Caterina was doing. Surprisingly, she had left her room. She’d taken a long walk outside before coming back in to chat up Nera, the cook. She’d spent time in the library as well as watching television. She’d also requested and been denied a trip to the local church.
As we came through the backdoor into the kitchen, surprise filled me at the sight of Caterina at the stove, rather than Nera. Guido, a bodyguard in his early fifties, stood beside her. My brows quirked at the sight of him wearing oven mitts and carrying a large dish. “Buonasera,” he said pleasantly.
“Good evening to you, too.” My gaze bounced over to take in an appreciative look at Caterina. She was a vision in a casual, yet form-fitting red dress. When I’d instructed Nera to purchase some clothes for Caterina, I never imagined she would pick something out like that. Caterina’s hair was swept into a ponytail that fell down her back. She must not have been a fan of the shoes I’d provided because she was barefoot.
When she turned around to glare at me, a sly smile curved on my lips. “I suppose I should say buonasera, una fidanzata.”
She rolled her eyes at me calling her my fiancée. She then said something in Italian to Guido. It must’ve been to tell him to set the dish down on the counter close to me. As he obliged, a delicious aroma filled my nose. Motioning to the dish, I asked, “What’s that?”
“I got bored with reading and the television, so I decided to cook some lasagna,” Caterina replied.
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at her. “We just happened to have the ingredients lying around?”
She shook her head. “No. Nera went to the market in town for me. Since she wasn’t going to be needed, I gave her the evening off.”
Dare dipped his head over the cooling dish and inhaled noisily. When he turned back to us, his eyes rolled back in ecstasy. “That smells fucking amazing.”
Caterina smiled shyly. “I wasn’t sure you all would like it, but I didn’t know how to make any Irish food.”
Licking his lips suggestively, Dare replied, “We’ve been known to sample a little Italian.”
She rolled her eyes at his innuendo. “You’re disgusting.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I countered, “Did someone watch you cook?”
“You know as well as I do that your men are all over this house.”
“That’s not what I meant, Kitten.” Closing the distance between us, I loomed over her. “I want to know if someone was watching your hands as you prepared this very generous offering for us.”
Her eyes bulged when she got my meaning. “You think I tried to poison you?”
I shrugged. “Since you can’t take us out physically, it would make sense.”
Smacking her hands against my chest, Caterina countered, “Newsflash, idiota. Not everything is about you and your brothers.”
“Is that right?”
“For your information, I needed a little comfort food, and lasagna fits the bill for me.”
Glancing between us, Dare argued, “I’m sure it’s fine, Callum.”
“Aye, so you’re willing to be the tester?”
“You know I’d never pass up an opportunity to prove you’re full of shite,” he countered with a smirk.
After swiping a spoon out of a drawer, he scooped out a bite. As steam rose off of it, he blew a few cooling breaths over it. With one fleeting look at me, he thrust the spoon into his mouth. I dared a glance at Caterina whose expression was unreadable.
Suddenly his eyes bulged as the spoon clattered to the floor. Gasping in a breath, he staggered around the kitchen before collapsing. While I rolled my eyes at his theatrics, Caterina shrieked in terror before her hand flew to her mouth.
After a few seconds, Dare popped back up with a cheeky grin. “It’s fucking delicious.”
For a moment, all Caterina could do was stare in wide-eyed, wide-mouthed horror. But then slowly her shoulders started to rise and fall. When a laugh burst from her lips, it caused me and Dare to jump. “How could you scare me like that, you jerk!”
Dare laughed. “Easy with the insults there.”
Caterina threw her head back and giggled in response. She fucking giggled at my brother. As I glanced at the two of them, a foreign feeling criss crossed through my chest. I hadn’t felt it before. But the longer I stood there, the more I realized it was some form of jealousy.
I didn’t like it one fucking bit that Dare had been able to illicit such a positive reaction from her. That he was the one who had made her dark eyes light up. That she had given him a smile—a genuine one at that. She had yet to give me one kind expression.
Rolling my shoulders, I tried ridding myself of the feeling. In the end, I don’t know why I really gave a shite. Caterina was to be my wife, not his. Not to mention the fact, Dare had been charming ladies long before his balls dropped, so the fact he could garner that reaction from Caterina shouldn’t have been surprising. Normally, I didn’t give a shit about his interactions with women, but I sure as hell did with Caterina.
As Dare started to spoon out another bite, Caterina swatted his hand away. “Wait for us to sit down.”
“But it’s so fucking good.”
Once again, she gave him a beautiful smile. “Patience.”
“Fine,” Dare grumbled.
After an eternity, Caterina finally turned her attention back to me. “Will you take the non-poisonous lasagna into the dining room while I grab the salad?”
I opened my mouth to argue that I wasn’t a fucking domestic, I bit my tongue instead. After accusing her of trying to kill me, the least I could do was take a dish out of the kitchen.
When I walked into the dining room, I found the table had been set with plates, glasses, and utensils along with a pitcher of water and a bottle of wine. Apparently while we were gone, Caterina had made herself at home.
After putting the lasagna in the middle of the table, I remarked, “You’re fitting into your new role well.”
“That’s kind of you to think I do a good job of playing a kidnapping victim,” she shot back with a sickeningly sweet smile.
Curling my upper lip, I replied, “That’s not what I meant.”
With doe-eyes, she asked, “What role were you speaking of?”
“A proper wife.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I see Irish men aren’t so different to Italians when it comes to adhering to traditional gender roles.”
“If that means I expect you to cook and keep our home, then yes, we are alike.”
Caterina swept her hands to her full hips. “My mother is a capo’s wife, and she was never expected to cook and clean. I assumed since you’re the Irish equivalent of that, I could expect the same.”
“Well, you assumed wrong. My mother made sure there were three meals on the table for my father as well as keeping his home spotless.”
“Like she had much of a choice,” Dare quipped under his breath.
I jabbed my finger at him. “Stay out of this.”
He held up his hands. “I was just trying to diffuse the situation.”
“I don’t need your help.”
“Just remember. She’s stealthy with round objects so protect your cock at all costs.”
At Caterina’s gasp, I growled, “Bugger off.”
He grinned. “I’ll go find the wine opener.”
After he left us, Caterina crossed her arms over her chest, which emphasized her perfect, round tits. I silently cursed Nera for picking out that temptation of a dress. It molded against each and every one of her sinful curves. “I will cook and clean for you only if I want or feel like it, and most of all, I will do it only if I feel respected. I won’t be some employee you bark orders to. A marriage is about being partners.”
“Your parents were partners?” I countered.
She scowled. “I would imagine that if we want any semblance of a happy marriage we shouldn’t look to our parents as examples.”
“Aye, I suppose you’re right,” I relented.
“Do my ears deceive me or did you just admit to being wrong about something?”
“Fucking hell, woman!” Jesus, how was it possible that after only forty-eight hours, Caterina knew how to push each and every one of my buttons? This wasn’t what I had envisioned when Seamus had concocted this marriage plan.
A triumphant fire burned in Caterina’s dark eyes, and fuck me, if it didn’t go straight to my cock. “It’s fine if you won’t admit it. I know that I’m right.”
I threw up my hands. “You know what? You can do whatever the hell you want, and I’ll do whatever the hell I want. The little we have to see or talk to each other the better.”
“I agree.”
It was then I realized my brothers had all come into the dining room. Their attention pinged back and forth between me and Caterina like they were front row at a tennis match.
Quinn grabbed my shoulder. “Let’s eat before it gets cold.”
“Fine,” I grunted before taking a seat at the head of the table. The others hung back, unsure of where to sit. I tapped the seat to my right. “Sit, Caterina.”
With her eyes locked on mine, she edged around the table to sit at the very end. Her brows cocked defiantly as she placed her napkin in her lap. I clenched my jaw as I pulled my hand back—a hand that was itching to pull Caterina over my knee before sending stinging slaps across both of her ass cheeks. I wanted nothing more than to see her pink-tinged skin with the imprint of my hands.
Instead, I rose out of my chair to pour a glass of whiskey. I didn’t care whatever aged bottle of wine was on the table. After throwing back half a tumbler full, I returned to my seat. My brothers had started passing food and digging in while Caterina’s mouth turned disapprovingly down.
When she didn’t start filling her plate, I huffed out an exasperated breath through my nose. “What’s wrong now, Kitten?”
“Aren’t we going to say the blessing?”
My brothers froze at her question. Their expectant gazes bounced to me. “We don’t normally return thanks.” Smirking at her, I added, “But knowing you like I do, I imagine we’re about to start.”
“If you don’t mind.”
I motioned my hand over the table. “Be my guest.”
As Caterina bowed her head, my brothers followed suit. After rolling my eyes, I tucked my head to my chest. Caterina’s voice echoed through the quiet room. “Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts which we are about to receive through Christ Our Lord. Amen.”
“Amen,” echoed around the table.
Caterina raised her head, and the corners of her ruby red lips quirked up before she reached for the salad. When she caught my eye, she suggested, “Perhaps next time, you’ll want to say it since you keep reminding me that you’re the boss of this family?”
“I’ll pass.”
She frowned. “But weren’t you all raised Catholic?”
After snaring a piece of bread from the basket, Dare replied, “Aye. Our mother insisted we go through every single step from christening to First Communion.”
“Callum and I were even altar boys,” Quinn remarked.
Caterina’s mouth gaped wide. “You were?”
With a chuckle, Quinn replied, “Not that it’ll help us much in the end.”
“Very true,” I replied.
“Don’t you practice anymore?”
While Kellan quickly replied, “Yes,” I countered, “It doesn’t actually align with our type of work, Kitten.”
Snatching her wine goblet, she muttered, “I’ve been abducted by godless heathens.”
I curled my lip at her. “I would argue your family isn’t any better. Yer precious brothers included.”
“Regardless of what they do in their business, they still attend mass.”
“Hypocrites,” I grumbled before shoveling in a bite of lasagna. The moment it hit my tongue I fought the urge to groan with pleasure. It was that fucking good. Considering she was a good cook, I couldn’t imagine why she wouldn’t want to do it all the time. A voice in my head said, because she doesn’t want to be your fucking slave, arsehole.
After silence fell over the dining room, Kellan remarked, “This is seriously the best lasagna I’ve ever had.”
Caterina beamed at his compliment. “Thank you, Kellan.”
“You’re welcome.”
When she met my glare, she sighed. Waving her fork at Kellan, she asked, “Why can’t I marry him?”
While Quinn and Dare snorted laughter behind their napkins, Kellan’s eyes bulged as he flushed the color of the red tablecloth. After he ducked his head, I grunted. “He’s practically a kid.”
“He’s closer to my age than you are.”
“She has a point there, Cal,” Dare replied with a grin.
Ignoring my arsehole of a brother, I replied, “He’s a fourth son. Why would you possibly want him?”
Caterina’s soft gaze appraised Kellan. “He’s compassionate.”
“He gave you one fucking compliment about your cooking and that makes him kind?”
She scowled at me. “He’s done more than just that. He fed me soup.”
At her admission, Kellan’s fork froze midway to his mouth. When he cut his eyes to mine, I quirked my brows. “It seems the two of you left that part out.”
He shrugged. “She needed to eat.”
Caterina nodded. “Since I was so weak, Kellan insisted I let him feed me.” Giving Kellan an appreciative look, she added, “I certainly wouldn’t have eaten without him.”
“Well, we owe our eternal gratitude to Saint Kellan,” I grumbled.
Shaking her head, Caterina said, “Why must you be such a jerk?”
“That’s your opinion.”
“Seriously, even marrying Chuckles at this point would be an improvement over you.”
Dare threw his head back with a laugh. “Seriously, Kitty Cat? You’re calling me Chuckles?”
With a shrug, she replied, “It’s better than asshole, isn’t it?”
Jerking his thumb at me, Dare replied, “I think that’s more his moniker than mine.”
All the bickering and backbiting of the past two days converged on that moment. I very rarely blew my top with my family, but I’d been pushed past my limit. I slammed my hand down on the table, causing Caterina to jump. “OUT! Everyone out!” When Caterina dared to slide her chair back, I jabbed my finger at her. “Except you.”
“Come on, man. We’re hungry,” Dare protested.
“Then take your fucking plates with you,” I growled.
Without another word, my brothers gathered their plates and glasses. Kellan threw Caterina a fleeting look of concern before he left the dining room.
Rising out of my chair, I stalked down the length of the table before plopping down in the chair next to Caterina. She eased away from me. “We’re not leaving this room until you get some things straight, and I don’t care if it takes all fucking night.”