Chapter 14 #2
“I will.” He embraced his mother before he returned to the car.
By the time he and Colton arrived at the house, the staples in his stomach were causing him a fair amount of pain so he popped two Tylenol in his mouth.
“Do you and Asher want dinner?” he asked. “I’ll be making something for Kara. I can make extra.”
“We’re fine. We need to talk to our New York team and review some security footage. So we’ll order some food on our own.”
“If you’re sure…”
Angelo’s feet were dragging as he got to the door.
I pushed myself too hard today.
He realized recovering from being stabbed and having surgery was not an overnight process. Nothing could have prepared him for how exhausted he was going to be. Of course, his doctor had tried to tell him, but he hadn’t understood what she’d meant until now.
The moment he opened the door, he noticed the lights were dimmed except for the dining room table which had to place settings out and two lit candles.
“Kara?” His tone was full of uncertainty.
“Oh! You’re home!” Kara suddenly rushed down the stairs, almost falling against him as she reached the bottom.
She wore blue jeans and a dark blue knit sweater that made her eyes an even darker blue, a northern sea kind of blue.
The sight stopped his heart for a moment.
And he had to admit, he’d missed her like hell while he’d been at the restaurant for the afternoon.
“Sit.” She smiled at him as she gently pushed him toward the table. He eased down into a chair at one of the two place settings.
“I should cook dinner—” he halted as he realized delicious smells were coming from the kitchen, his kitchen. He’d been too tired to even notice the aroma of food, something he never missed.
“I already did.” Kara called out as she opened the bottom oven door. He stared at her cute, heart-shaped ass as she retrieved whatever she had cooked from where it had been kept warm in the oven.
“You cooked?” Something in his chest squeezed to the point of pain, but it was the good kind of pain.
“Yep. It’s just fettuccine and a homemade Alfredo sauce, but I followed your nonna’s recipes. At least I think they were your nonna’s. I found some old photocopied recipes in a binder.”
For a second he simply stared at her, his heart filled with a deep sense of awe and wonder. The night he chose to retrieve his grandmother’s ring was the night she’d discovered his grandmother’s recipes and cooked for him. His throat was suddenly tight as he tried to master his emotions.
Thankfully Kara turned away to prepare two plates and when Angelo tried to stand up to help her she shot him an adorably bossy look which made him sit right back down.
“You cooked my nonna’s fettuccine?” He hadn’t made that recipe in years.
She bit her lip as she placed a plate in front of them. There was a small caprese salad, pasta, and Texas toast turned into garlic bread.
“I wanted it to taste as good as she made it. I made the noodles like you taught me, only I cut them for fettuccine. There were couple of great YouTube videos that showed me how to get it right.”
She put her own plate down and shifted restlessly as he picked up his fork to test the food. He carefully wound several sauce coated noodles around his fork and then put them into his mouth.
Vivid flavors exploded on his tongue and sudden memories of his golden summers spent in Nonna’s kitchen, learning to cook, flashed across his mind like a stunning movie.
He made a a soft sound the back of his throat as emotion hit him like a train.
God, how he missed his grandmother. Tasting this was like feeling her presence in his kitchen.
“Oh God, it’s awful isn’t it?” The hopeful look on her face wilted, and her fork dropped to her plate.
He reached over and slowly took her fork, winding some noodles around it.
“Taste it.” He commanded as he held it up for her.
She opened her mouth and let him feed her. Then her eyes widened.
“Kara…” his voice was soft, a little rough with emotion.
“You gave me such a gift tonight. I…” he suddenly swallowed around the lump in his throat.
“It’s been a long time since anyone’s cooked for me like this…
” He was glad her chair was close to his, because he was able to lean over and brush his lips against her cheek.
“You really like it?” Her eyes were so wide and worried that he wanted to kiss away her concern.
“I do.”
“Oh! I forgot the wine.” She stood up but he stopped her.
“I’ll get it.” He got up and retrieved a bottle of wine that paired well with fettuccine and poured two glasses.
“Chardonnay,” he said as he held out a glass. “A crisp, white wine cuts through the rich butter and Parmesan cream.”
“Hmm.” She took a glass and sipped it. “Excellent choice,” she said in a voice that reminded him of a tough food critic and he chuckled. She giggled over the rim of her glass before taking another sip.
“Kara, thank you for this,” he said. “I’m worn out.”
“I thought you might be. You shouldn’t push yourself so hard, you know. You almost died.”
He winced at the reminder. “You’re right.
” He managed a smile. “Even before that night, I had a tendency to push myself, to always do more.” He thought back to high school when he would come back from rugby practice, tired and worn out, having missed dinner in the dining hall.
He always made something from scratch in the kitchen for Jared, Thad, and himself.
It had forced him to get creative when he cooked.
“What?” Kara asked, clearly reading his thoughts.
“I got into improvised cooking in high school. Like spaghetti and hotdogs, one of Thad’s favorites. I used cut-up hotdogs to replace meatballs.” Angelo laughed. “He still orders that in my restaurant as a joke, of course.”
“What else did you make?” Kara cradled her glass of wine, listening to him intently.
“I made what I call a poor man’s tiramisu with crushed Oreo cookies and whipped cream and chocolate mocha flavored ice cream.”
“That doesn’t sound that bad actually,” Kara replied.
“It wasn’t terrible,” he admitted with a chuckle.
“So you played rugby?”
He nodded. “I was also on the swim team. My two favorite sports.”
“I’ve always wanted to play tennis,” Kara mused. “I thought it looked so fun.”
“We could try it sometime,” he suggested. “My gym has a couple of indoor courts. We could buy some rackets and give it a try?”
He didn’t miss the way her eyes lit up with the idea of trying out tennis. And just as quickly the fire in her eyes was banked as she seemed to rein in her excitement.
“Yeah, maybe,” she said softly.
He didn’t push her with anymore suggestions.
Instead, he got up and collected the dishes.
She helped him and they washed everything together in the sink before loading the dishwasher.
They packaged up the leftover food, and when she had her back turned, he carefully removed the ring box from his pocket.
“Kara,” he began just as she turned around.
Her eyes landed on the small box in his hands and she met his gaze with shock.
“I want to give you something.” He couldn’t believe how nervous he was. Deep down he was giving her this ring in truth, even though he was going to tell her it was for appearances.
He opened the box, letting the ring speak for him.
“Angelo…” Kara’s eyes widened even more when she saw the ring.
“This isn’t something to tie you down. Think of it like a shield, where as long as you feel you need to, or want to.” He prayed she would understand that he didn’t want her to feel trapped.
“A shield,” she echoed as if considering.
“Like a warrior goddess. Use it when you need to, because you are strong enough to see it for the tool to keep you safe.” Maybe it was silly, but he’d convinced himself that anyone looking for Kara, wouldn’t be looking for an engaged or married woman who was a part of his big family.
“I can’t take this, it’s too—” she halted whatever she’d been about to say.
Angelo removed the ring from the box and lifted her left hand up and slid it over her finger. It fit perfectly.
She swallowed and her lashes fanned up as she met his gaze.
“It was my Nonna’s. It was always destined for the woman who would hold my heart.” He traced his fingers along her own, watching the pearl and diamonds glow against her skin. He hoped it being his grandmother’s ring would put pressure on her to take it.
Kara’s blue eyes were so beautiful, so rapturously dark as she stood up on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
Again, that unbearable tightness in his chest was almost too much. Could she kill them with joy? Yes ... yes, he was quite certain Kara could. She teased his lips with hers before pulling back. Then with a soft, sweet look in her eyes, she took him by the hand and led them to his bedroom.
The moment they were inside his room, she closed the door and pushed him to lean back against the bed.
Then she pressed up against him, kissing him.
Her hands tugged his clothes off piece by piece, in her mouth and hands explored him with heated little kisses and teasing caresses.
She dropped to her knees, tugging his briefs down and he groaned as her mouth teased the head of his cock with her warm breath.
Then she was kissing and licking the side of the shaft.
“Oh fuck,” he groaned. “Kara…” He couldn’t resist lightly fisting his hand in her hair as she slowly took him into her mouth.
He couldn’t look away from her as she worshiped his cock with her mouth, over and over.
She sucked him deep, hollowing out her cheeks and using her hand that bore his engagement ring to heighten the sensations that flipped his stomach over and over in excitement.
Why that turned him on so much, he didn’t have time to think about.
“Kara… I need…” he was going to come. “Do you want me to—” If she wanted him to pull out of her mouth, he would.
She silenced his question as she continued to draw him in and out of her mouth and he tightened his hold in her hair.