Chapter 13
Giada was staring at her plate, not having made a move to even try to eat.
Ronan reached across the table and laid his hand on hers.
She looked up at him.
“You will never worry about that again. He won’t find you. He won’t hurt the boys, or you. It’s not going to happen.”
“I can’t let you be involved because he’ll kill you, too, and I really, really like you. I don’t want you to be hurt because you’re with me.”
“I won’t get hurt. What you don’t know, couldn’t possibly know, is that nothing about people like that scares me or my family. You’ve met my uncles and my parents coming in and out of the shelter, right?”
Giada nodded.
“Haven’t you noticed anything about them that you ain’t quite put your finger on?”
“They’re all really unusually pretty. Even the men. You, too. What is up with that?”
“I could tell you, but you wouldn’t believe me. Just know that no matter what happens, no matter where, you will not have to worry. I’ll stand between you and anything that threatens you. And my family, even those you haven’t met yet, will, too.”
“Why would they do that?” Giada asked.
“Because you’re the woman I’ve chosen. Because our futures are tied together. Because you matter to me.”
“I haven’t said I’d choose you.”
“Because you’re afraid for me if you do.”
Giada nodded.
“Or maybe it’s because I’m younger than you and you’re embarrassed.”
“I don’t know, I kind of like being thought of as a cougar,” she tried to tease.
Ronan burst out laughing.
Giada smiled sadly. She was pleased that her attempt to lighten the mood had worked but their conversation had gotten pretty dark.
“Giada, you don’t know it now, but if you choose me, you’ll never be sorry,” he said, cutting off a bite of his steak and dipping it in the garlic butter.
“That’s what I’m told,” she said.
He placed the steak in his mouth and chewed appreciatively.”This is so good. Try the butter.”
Giada reached across the table with her napkin in her hand and dabbed at a bit of butter running down his chin.
Ronan swallowed, then looked at her with a smirk on his face. “Havoc tell you that?” he asked.
“No, Analise. And she said it twice.”
“They’d fight for you, too.”
“What are you, some kind of super heroes or something?” she teased, picking up her fork and knife and cutting into her own steak.
“Something like that,” he said, nodding as he cut another bite of steak. “But I need your vow of silence before I can tell you our secret,” he said, using his best spooky voice. But it came across as Dracula rather than the werewolf.
She took a bite of her potato, and straightened up at his effort to tease her. “Are you saying you’re a vampire?”
“No, nasty things, vampires. We’re shifters. I’m a Wolf, as are my siblings. My dad is a Wolf, and my mother is a Lion. Bane is a Bear. We’ve got just about any kind of shifter you could imagine in our clan.”
Giada laughed delightedly. “Oh, really. Then what is Analise?”
“She’s a Fox, like her mom.”
“Oh, that makes sense. Red hair and all,” she said, getting in to it.
“Yep. Oh, and Daniel? He’s a Dragon.”
“A Dragon shifter?” she asked.
“Oh, yeah. A badass one, too.”
“I’m pretty sure any Dragon is bad ass.”
“You’re right. I’ll give you that one. But he’s especially bad ass,” Ronan said. “He breathes fire. Turns shit to ash as an afterthought.” He pulled one of the stuffed artichoke leaves through his teeth and dropped it on the edge of his appetizer plate.
Giada laughed again and visibly relaxed as they teased each other.
“Here, try some of my caramelized onions,” he said.
“Okay,” she said, leaning toward him and opening her mouth.
He gave her a bite of his steak, topped with onions, and dipped in butter.
She chewed, then moaned. “My God, that’s good.”
“It is. Want some more onions?”
“No, I’m good. But I am going to dip my steak in that butter.”
“Good. Then I can kiss you later and not worry about my garlicky onion breath.”
“You think I’m going to let you kiss me, huh?” she asked.
“Oh, yeah. I’m pretty. You already said so.”
Giada laughed again, then picked up the butter bowl and drizzled it across her steak and the crab meat sauce topping it.
“Oh! Now I wish I’d gotten that,” Ronan said.
“Want a bite?”
“So bad.”
She cut off a big piece of her steak, making sure to get crab meat and butter on the fork, too, then held it out to him.
Ronan accepted it, and actually hummed as he chewed and swallowed. “I might get one of those to go.”
“We’re going to have so much food leftover already.”
“No we won’t,” he said, shaking his head doubtfully.
Giada just laughed, relaxing after having confessed her truth to someone — finally. She felt a little lighter, not completely by any means, but at least she’d finally had someone to talk to.
And Ronan smiled and relaxed as he saw her able to let go a little. And she’d trusted him. She wasn’t completely ready to jump in with both feet like he was, but she’d trusted him, and that spoke volumes.
They laughed, talked, enjoyed each others’ company until there was not a scrap of food left on the table. That was when he signaled the waiter, who came instantly.
“Yes, sir. What can I get for you?”
“Can we please have a bottle of Brochette d’Acqui?”
“Absolutely. And to go with it?” he asked.
“What is your favorite dessert?” Ronan asked.
“Oh, I’m sure they don’t have it. Whatever you like is fine.”
“What is it? They might.”
“I adore creme’ brulee’. But it’s hard to find. So anything creamy or puddingy.”
“I’m not sure puddingy is a word.”
“Oh, it is. I’ve heard it before,” the waiter said, winking at Giada to convince her he had.
“You heard the lady. Whatever you have that is puddingy,” Ronan said with a chuckle.
“I’ll be right back,” the waiter promised.
Five minutes later he was back at their table with a sampling of all their desserts.
There were Napoleons, cannolis, cheese cake, bread pudding, and a chocolate cake at least six inches high.
He placed them all out on the table, then handed them each a spoon.
He hurried away again and came back with two cut crystal wine glasses and a bottle of wine.
He poured blood red wine into each glass, then left the bottle.
“If I may ask, are you in a rush, sir?” the waiter asked.
“Are you in a rush to get home?” Ronan asked Giada.
She shook her head. “Not at all. I’d like to check on the boys, though.”
“We’re not in a hurry at all,” Ronan told him.
“I’ll be back shortly,” he promised, and hurried off again.
Ronan took out his cell phone and dialed a number. He waited while it rang. Then… “Hey!”
“What’s happening my compadre’” Havoc said.
“We’re having a delicious dinner, and decided to call and check on the kids,” Ronan said.
“Out cold, dude. They’re snoring in the blanket tent I built over the couches,” Havoc said.
Ronan looked up at Giada. “They’re sleeping. In the blanket tent he made.”
Giada laughed.
“They’re all sleeping, dude. Even Analise is asleep in there with them.”
“I’m sitting in the recliner flipping stations as I eat the rest of the hot dogs. What are y’all having?”
“Dessert right now. But we had steak and stuffed artichoke and crab claws.”
“They give you that little dish of butter and garlic cloves?”
“Yeah, I could drink that stuff.”
“Me, too. It’s so good on the steaks. Alright, well, why you talking to me? Talk to your woman. I got the kids and all is well. In fact, you should let them spend the night,” Havoc said.
“Havoc says we should let them spend the night over there since they’re already asleep.”
“She can sleep here, too, if she don’t want to go home and stay there alone. Or you could make other arrangements with her.”
“He says you can sleep there, too, if you want to.”
“I hate to impose.”
“We’ll let you know,” Ronan said.
“Bye,” Havoc said, ending the call.
“Thank you for checking,” Giada said. “It’s nice of them to offer to let me sleep there, too.”
Ronan’s phone pinged and he looked at it questioningly as he pulled up the message. He laughed, then handed it to Giada.
She smiled when she saw it — a picture of all five kids, including Harley, and Analise asleep in the blanket tent with Havoc grinning in front of them.
“That’s part of what I want for them. Normalcy.
Friends. Sleepovers, and play dates, and freedom to be who they are without getting threatened or living in fear. ” She handed Ronan’s phone back to him.
He took it from her and laid it back on the table, face up. “Lucky for you, everything you want is right here.”
Giada smiled and nodded slowly as though she was considering exactly what he said.
“Okay, so here’s the rules. If you don’t get a bite of something before I eat it all, it’s your own fault for not moving fast enough.”
“Really?” she asked.
“Really,” he confirmed.
She reached out and picked up the Napoleon and the cannolis and moved them in front of her.
“That is not right!” he said, reaching over and taking one of the cannolis off her plate.
“Oh, you can have a bite, you just can’t have all of them,” Giada said, wielding her spoon like a weapon.
“You better eat fast, then,” Ronan said, digging into the chocolate cake first.
Giada went for the Napoleon first, and finished all but about two bites. When she was done, she pushed the plate toward Ronan. “For you,” she said around a mouthful.
Ronan grinned at her and reached for her cannoli. “Oh, no! You are not stealing my cannoli.”
“Come on. You ate the entire Napoleon.”
“I did not. I saved you two bites. And you ate the entire chocolate cake.”
“I can’t help it. Chocolate is my kryptonite.”
“Mrs. McCullen, if I may,” an unfamiliar voice said from behind her.
Giada turned to see who was speaking to her and her eyes widened as she got a look at what the man was holding.
The chef stood there with a large ramekin on his tray. “I didn’t have any in the kitchen, but I make it all the time for my wife, so it was no trouble to make one for you. In fact, I made two. One for you, and one for your husband.”