Chapter 6 #2
Tore picked up the wine bottle, and Despina held her glass out to him for a refill. The table settled into a quiet that wasn't uncomfortable, just full.
"Fifty euros, that was it?" Dario asked a few moments later.
"Yup," Frederica said, making the word pop. "It covered the taxi to my hotel and a beer when I got there."
The corner of his mouth moved into a smile. Not the wide, easy grin he put on for everyone, something gentler and more real.
"More wine?" Despina asked sweetly.
"Yes," they both said.
Tore filled their glasses and exchanged a knowing look with Despina that Frederica decided to ignore.
"Enough about me. How did you two meet?" Dario asked and gestured with his fork at Despina and Tore.
"My Spina was sent to kill me," Tore replied, looking at his wife with love and desire that hadn't faded over the years.
He lifted Despina's hand and kissed it. "She was the most beautiful, deadly thing I had ever seen.
I thought to myself, 'If this is Lady Death, she can take me.
I'd follow her to the ends of the Earth. '"
"Aw, that's so sweet," Dario said and sounded like he meant it.
Frederica made a gagging sound on the other side of the table. Everyone ignored her.
"How could I put a bullet in such a handsome man?" Despina took her husband's face in her hands. "I probably should have just done my job and shot you."
"True, but then you would have married some straight-laced malaka, and your life would have been so boring. Military service didn't suit you. You weren't made to follow or kneel, amore mio," Tore replied, smiling widely.
Despina laughed softly. "Alas, you are right. There's only one man I've ever been okay kneeling for—"
"Ahh! Stop!" Frederica said and threw an olive at them. They ignored her and kissed anyway.
Dario was chuckling softly. "I think it's lovely."
"That's because they aren't your parents being gross right now," she pointed out.
Some of the laughter faded from Dario's face. "True. My parents loved each other, but they were very private about it."
"It's my house. I'll make out with my sexy husband whenever I like," Despina said, kissing Tore on the tip of his nose before letting him go.
"I'm so lucky that she wants to do it so often," Tore told Dario with a wink.
"You are," he replied, and they clinked their wine glasses together in a show of manly congratulations. Frederica just poured herself another drink in the hope that alcohol would help deal with their bullshit.
After dinner, Tore disappeared to his study, and Despina began to clean up, refusing all help because she saw cleaning as a contemplative practice and didn't want people in her way.
Frederica found herself in the hallway at the same time as Dario, both of them having given up the fight to be useful.
He was holding two small glasses of limoncello.
He held one out to her, and she took it.
Their fingers brushed together during the handoff, and she was acutely aware of how large his hand was around the glass and how warm it felt.
"Files tonight or tomorrow?" he asked, his voice easy-going.
"Files tomorrow," she replied and shifted on the balls of her feet. "I'm still too tired to think straight. You want me to drive you to a hotel, or do you think you can handle staying another day with my parents?"
"I can handle it. They are great." Dario sipped his drink. "Can you handle me being here? Because I can go if you want."
Frederica pretended to consider it and clicked her tongue. "Better stay, or Mama might change her mind and shoot you."
"I see where you get it from," he said, the teasing grin back on his face. "Notice how I didn't mention you left me a bullet casing with a heart carved in it on that first job? Wonder what they would make of that, eh?"
Frederica's eyes narrowed. "Do it, Colleoni. Fuck around and find out."
Dario's laugh was soft and husky in the dim light. "Tempting, but I'd rather keep it up my sleeve as a threat for a rainy day. Sweet dreams, Spartana."
"Eat a dick," she replied to his retreating back, making him laugh.
And just like that, he had defused the weird tension that came over her at the dinner table.
This version of Dario, the one that drove her crazy with his bullshit and petty taunts, was the one she knew how to handle. The Dario who cooked with her mother and looked at her with those big brown eyes was the one she didn't understand.
She stood in the hallway a while longer and told herself that in a few days, he would be gone and would no longer be a problem.
"I like him," her mother said, standing in the kitchen doorway. Frederica had no idea how long she had been there.
"Everyone likes him. It's his…thing," she said and had a big mouthful of her limoncello. "It's why Gabriella used him as a honey pot all the time."
"I'm not talking about The Charmer bullshit," Despina chided. "I mean under that. He's a little lonely, I think. Poor boy, he almost died when I asked if he wanted to help me in the kitchen. I couldn't say no. He was staring at it like a starving dog."
"Have you seen the size of him? Of course he was hungry," Frederica replied.
"Not what I meant." Despina shook her head and sipped some of her own limoncello. "I can't imagine what that bitch did to him over the years, but that boy is hungry for more than food."
Frederica leaned against the wall. "Okay, I'll humor you. Enlighten me on what the big, rich boy mercenary is hungry for that he can't just buy."
"What we all want, chrysi mou. Love and acceptance," Despina replied and poked her in the shoulder. "You scoff at it because you don't know what it's like to be raised without it. I do. He does. Try not to hurt him if you can help it, hmm? He likes you."
"Sure, he does," Frederica snorted. "For the record, I don't think he's lonely. He has been partying in Istanbul for days, probably had people draped all over him begging to fuck his brains out."
"Maybe, but when the police called to say they had you, he ran to rescue you, didn't he?" Despina replied before turning back toward the kitchen. "Just something to think about when you're busy talking yourself out of liking him."
Frederica scowled. She really hated it when her mother was right.