Chapter 29
Frederica woke to the church bells and decided she would sneak out of bed, make coffee, then surprise Dario with it before fucking his brains out before breakfast.
It was the perfect plan until she walked out of his room and ran straight into Giana Sorrentino.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Frederica asked, her heart in her throat. She hadn't heard anyone in the house. No doors closing or voices talking. Had she slept that deeply?
"I…" Giana's dark eyes moved from Frederica's face to the T-shirt she was wearing, down to her bare feet, and back up again.
The whole journey took approximately two seconds, during which her face turned to delight and unholy satisfaction.
She lifted her phone and took a photo before Frederica could produce a single word.
"Do not—" Frederica started, and Giana's send tone pinged. "Who did you just send that to?"
"Athena."
"Why?"
Giana looked up, and the smile on her face was pure evil. "Because she owes me fifty euros. She bet me it would take longer for you two to hook up again."
Frederica stared at her. "You had a bet on me?"
"On the two of you," Giana said, as if this were a reasonable distinction. "Don't take it personally, amica mia. You did it to me, remember? We also have one about how long it will take Leo and Dante to get a dog. Come on, Athena's making coffee."
"Can I shower first?" Frederica grumbled.
"Absolutely not." Giana linked her arm through Frederica's and steered her firmly toward the stairs.
Athena was at the kitchen island, both hands wrapped around a coffee mug, her blonde hair loose and pale blue eyes bright.
She looked at Frederica in the doorway, still being half dragged by Giana, and her mouth curved into the sharpest smile Frederica had seen since the last time she'd watched someone lose a knife fight.
"There she is. Giana was meant to wake you up, but she caught you doing a walk of shame instead. What a great start to my day," Athena said and waggled her brows. "The Colleoni balls were so magical you went back for more, huh?"
Frederica tried to pray for patience and chose violence instead. "They were in my mouth last night, and they sure felt magical. Maybe it's transferable, and I'll get some special abilities too."
"Like growing your own pair?" Athena quipped.
"Mine are already bigger than most guys', so I hope not."
Giana made a noise like a kettle reaching boiling point, and Athena laughed loud enough that it bounced off the old kitchen tiles and came back at them twice.
"Sit your ass down," Athena said, wiping her eyes. "I'll pour you a coffee. You've earned it."
The coffee Athena pushed in front of her was strong and hot, and that's all Frederica needed. For a moment, none of them said anything, and she enjoyed the moment of silence to let her sleepy brain catch up.
"So what are you two doing here?" she asked, after another mouthful of coffee. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as what Dario made.
"Rodrigo and Kon went out to get some more groceries," Giana said and poured herself another cup. "Rodrigo wanted to check in with Dario, and Serapis wants Kon to run some kind of magical check on you. Make sure Agrippa didn't leave any residue after Vienna."
"Kon doesn't need to—" Frederica began.
Athena groaned. "For the love of fuck, humor him. He's been worried since you were touched up by Agrippa. Let him poke around and tell you that you're clean, and he'll feel better. Or I can call Altun and tell her that you are being difficult."
Frederica flinched. "Anything but that. She will curse me harder than Agrippa. Letting Kon have a look isn't a bad idea. It scared the shit out of me…just a bit."
"This is why you never let rich creepy white guys touch you," Athena pointed out, and patted her hand.
Frederica had never been good at friendship, especially with women. Most of the women she tried to be around found her too loud and murderous.
She watched Athena steal one of Giana's biscotti without asking. Giana reached over and took it back without looking up from her phone, and Frederica couldn't help but smile.
These women had been through things that would have broken most people. She had fought beside Athena, bled near her, trusted her in the way you only trusted people who had been in the same hellish dark and come out the other side still standing.
Giana, who had survived six years of Gabriella's particular brand of captivity and come out of it with her spine intact, didn't frightened easily, and whose warmth was genuine.
They were intense. They were, in their separate ways, just as murderous as Frederica was. She liked that.
"Fifty euros, huh," she said, breaking the silence. "Who held the longer bet?"
"Me. I maintained that you would find a reason to drag it out." Athena tilted her head. "In my defense, you are both spectacularly stubborn."
"You broke early," Giana added, satisfied. "In his childhood bedroom, no less."
"It's not his childhood bedroom. It's a guest room."
Giana smiled into her coffee. "And that makes it better?"
Frederica opened her mouth. Closed it. Athena was already grinning, sharp and delighted, teeth showing.
"I will kill both of you if he comes downstairs and you make it weird," Frederica warned them.
"No, you won't," Athena said and batted her lashes. "You like us too much."
The problem was that it was true. "I like Kon enough not to kill his girlfriend."
The sound of footsteps on the stairs stopped whatever Athena was about to say, and Dario appeared in the kitchen doorway, his hair loose and still tousled from sleep.
He had a robe over his pajama pants and the Rhodes tourist T-shirt with the knight on it that made Frederica want to do very bad things to him.
Frederica bit the inside of her cheek just looking at him. She liked her friends, but fuck did she resent them being there in that moment.
She really would have liked to greet him with coffee and another round of sex before the day had to start.
Dario held his phone in one hand and watched the three of them at the kitchen island with a dazed expression.
"You're here already," he said, which was not his most eloquent moment.
"We are," Giana confirmed.
"When did you—"
"An hour ago. You must have been sleeping very deeply." Giana's tone was entirely innocent. "Both of you, apparently."
Dario ran a hand over his sleepy face. "I just got Rodrigo's message that you were coming."
"We sent it three hours ago."
Dario grunted, pulled his robe off, and draped it over Frederica without fanfare. She shrugged into it and wrapped it closed. It came down past her knees, and the sleeves covered her hands.
Athena's eyebrow went up a fraction of a degree, which was Athena's version of a full 'what the fuck' lecture.
"Coffee isn't food. I'll make you some breakfast," Dario said. He opened the refrigerator and stood in front of it, assessing the contents.
"I didn't know you could cook," Giana commented.
Frederica met her eyes across the island. "He's actually a really good cook, but he likes to keep it a secret."
"Hardly a secret. You should have heard her moaning over the risotto last night."
"Yes, I'm sure it was the risotto," Athena said, miming pinching gestures at Dario's perfectly toned ass as he bent down to get things in the fridge.
"His risotto. So, so good," Frederica replied, and Giana snickered.
Dario put the ingredients on the counter, and the kitchen settled into the low clatter of a pan and the hiss of the burner catching. He took Frederica's cup, had a mouthful of coffee, and pulled a face.
"I'll make a fresh pot," he declared and tipped the rest out.
"Hey, I made that," Athena complained.
"Then Kon needs to give you lessons on how to do it right."
Frederica pulled the robe tighter around her and let the others chatter away. Dario turned from the stove and looked at her. "Are you okay?" he mouthed, quick and private, over the heads of the other two.
Frederica nodded. He gestured to the knight on his T-shirt and winked at her. She turned red and pretended to cough to cover it up.
Of course, he was going to hold her obsession with knights against her and make her horny when she could do nothing about it.
She let the others keep the conversation going, helped herself to the fresh coffee, and waited for her food to arrive. All things considered, there were worse ways to start the day.