Lucian (13 page)

“No. That’s not it,” Lucian replied. “Nothing like that.”

“Explain it to me, then, because I am at a loss, son.”

“I told you, she’s important. I’m going to let it go wherever it goes. I think I’d find a lot of regret in not doing that for myself. I don’t live with regrets, so I’m not going to start having them with someone like her.”

“And you’re hoping it ends with you and her going together,
sì
?”

Lucian shrugged. “I won’t put explanations and feelings on things I don’t understand.”

“Can I trust her?” Antony asked, barely above a breath. “With our family, the Cosa Nostra, and my son, too?”

“I do,” Lucian replied.

“
Dio
. That’s good enough for me, then. I still have to properly meet her, though.”

• • •

Cecelia took the wooden spoon covered in a thick, red sauce, tasting it with the new ingredients. She gave the younger woman a nod in approval before turning to wash off the spoon.

“I’m impressed,” Cecelia said. “I wouldn’t have thought of those.”

Jordyn shrugged, continuing to stir in the mix of spices she’d chosen for the special pasta sauce Cecelia refused to give the secret ingredients for. “It’s like a go-to. If it’s really good from the start, these make it great. At least, that’s what I always found.”

“I’ve followed the exact recipe for years. I’ve never deviated from it.”

Briefly, Jordyn wondered if she overstepped her limits. A kitchen was a woman’s kingdom, especially an Italian woman’s kitchen. Cecelia obviously took great pride in her cooking and the massive meals she prepared for her family.

“I’m going to have to change the recipe now,” Cecelia added, grinning. “I don’t know how Antony’s grandmother would have felt about that, bless her soul, but oh well.”

Jordyn smiled. “Thanks. Does that mean I get the rest of the ingredient list?”

“Sorry, but no. Tradition is what it is, dear. Someday, I might be able to hand it over, but not today.”

“Someday?”

What did that mean?

Cecelia winked. “Another time. You enjoy cooking, don’t you?”

“Kind of had to learn if I wanted something edible to eat,” Jordyn replied, carefully choosing her words. Getting into a discussion about how her own mother was too high half of the time to cook, never mind remembering to buy food every week, was not something she looked forward to. “When I got older, it became a hobby to make different things I hadn’t before, and try new stuff in old recipes. I like seeing other people enjoy my food.” 

“Cooking is therapeutic,” Cecelia agreed. “Lord knows when my boys became a certain age and they were following their father around for … business things … I was in this kitchen whipping away my worry more times than I can even remember. Not to mention the normal teenage things they put me through. Raising three boys with a crime boss father, my dear, is a frightening, fun filled ride. It’s a wonder they aren’t fat, honestly. Antony, too.”

Jordyn snorted. “I’m sure they didn’t mind. Did you always know … about Antony, I mean?”

Cecelia cleared her throat, setting the cleaned spoon to the counter. “When you grow up in it, it isn’t hard to pick out who is who. Of course, nobody thought then that a young capo like Antony would jump rank like he did. My sister had already been arranged to marry the man they wanted to be the next boss. Our father didn’t have sons, you see, and he didn’t want just anyone coming after him.”

“Lucian’s biological father, right?”

“
Sì
. So, when I married Antony, there were no arguments involved. Everything was already set, business-wise. Kate married for family and business, and I married for love. She can’t forget it, and I don’t mind a bit that she gets to see the man’s son happy, healthy, and rich in many form. If she had her way, Lucian would still be nothing—a no one’s child to everyone. Now, he’s exactly where he should have been from the start. A Marcello, a mafia prince, doing what he enjoys and what he’s good at.

“I always wanted three children,” Cecelia continued, smiling sadly. “After Gio’s birth left me without my reproductive organs, it wasn’t going to be possible. That broke my heart. Lucian coming into our family almost seemed like he was always meant to be here. I got my third child, and Antony was able to have a part of his best friend close that he never dreamed of. Lucian, ever since he stepped into this house, has always been ours. I’ve never let him feel anything but, and I won’t allow others to, either.”

“Even Kate?”

“Even my sister.”

“Is she really that awful?” Jordyn asked.

Honestly, Jordyn didn’t know a whole lot about Kate, or Lucian’s biological father. While Lucian was an open book about most things, he kept those things very quiet. Like maybe it hurt him, or made him ashamed to talk about his life before.

“She can be,” Cecelia answered. “Lucian holds his own, as she likes to pick at him when others aren’t around. I’m sure she’ll be her usual self tonight, but it’s hard to say.”

Jordyn had one more question for Cecelia. “How old was Lucian when his parents died?”

“Six.”

Jordyn’s mind froze. “But …”

“But what, dear?”

She was sure Lucian told her he was adopted into the Marcello family when he was eight during their many discussions over the last week. 

Where did those two years go?

Jordyn didn’t get the chance to ask. The chiming doorbell rang throughout the house.

“Are you okay to keep stirring this for a few minutes?”

Jordyn looked into the large stainless steel pot that held enough sauce to feed an army. There didn’t seem to be anything difficult about keeping the sauce from burning, even if it was a larger portion than she cooked before. “Sure, I guess.”

“Good, because after I let the family in, I should go check on my husband. When Antony talks with a whiskey glass in his hand, that’s usually a sign he’s stressed out. Kate isn’t the only one who needs to be on their best behavior tonight.”

With that, Cecelia was gone, leaving Jordyn alone to her thoughts once more.

Chapter Twelve

When Cecelia stepped out on the porch and eyed Antony’s empty glass of whiskey, Lucian was quick to leave, not wanting to hear a lecture about drinking hard liquor on Sundays again.

It wasn’t long before he found Jordyn in the kitchen at the stove. She was stirring a sauce with all her attention focused on the cooking. Jordyn didn’t seem like she was overwhelmed by the three different foods she had going, easily slipping from one boiling pot to another without issue. Lucian hadn’t known she could cook, and that bothered him. It wasn’t her fault, considering he ordered most of their food in over the last week.

Seeing her now, though, cooking in a kitchen fit for a queen like his mother, hit him straight in the gut. A home like this could have very well been hers and no one would have known the difference. Where she’d come from didn’t matter, a lot like where he started out.

Adapts well was an understatement
, Lucian thought.

Jordyn didn’t look a bit out of place and Lucian felt stupid for thinking his wealth might be off-putting to her because she wasn’t accustomed to it. Maybe Jordyn just didn’t give a shit about money. After all, she’d kicked those six-hundred dollar pumps off earlier when they arrived without even knowing the price of the heels on her feet. She was tending a bubbling, messy red sauce without an apron on and didn’t care a bit about staining the very expensive dress she wore, not that she knew the price of it, either.

An elastic, which she hadn’t been wearing before, was holding back her curls in a ponytail at the nape of her neck. With her hair pulled back like it was, some of the bruising on her neck was visible, but it wasn’t bad. There was also a slight reddish discoloration at her pulse point that hadn’t been there last night, but was curtsey of Lucian’s teeth and mouth that morning.

He’d marked her very clearly. Anyone standing close enough to see the love bite would know exactly what it was. Lucian liked that a whole hell of a lot. Just looking at it from a distance sent something primal curling through his stomach while lust flooded his veins.

Kind of like it made Jordyn his.

That was dangerous territory.

Needing to get his mind away from that topic, Lucian crossed the distance between him and Jordyn, coming up behind her silently at the stove. Both of his hands landed at her waist, grabbing tight as he leaned in to kiss her neck. Jordyn didn’t start in surprise at his sudden presence. In fact, she relaxed in his hold and turned into his cheek, allowing Lucian to press his lips to the corner of her demure smile.

“Hey,” she said. “How’d it go?”

Lucian hadn’t hid the fact he and his father were going to need privacy for their chat, and it would be dealing with Jordyn being under his protection and in his life. He figured she deserved to know things that dealt with her.

“Fine,” Lucian replied. “I think we settled it all, anyway.”

“Bringing a girl home is a big deal for you Marcello boys, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it kind of is, sweetheart. Especially if that girl has a gang looking for her and it might cause us trouble”

Jordyn turned rigid at the reminder.

“Sorry,” he said quickly.

“No, I just … Never mind.”

“Tell me.”

Jordyn continued stirring the many pots on the stove, sighing. “I guess it’s easy to forget.”

Lucian’s brow furrowed. “Forget? Jesus, how?”

“I’m not sure,” Jordyn said with a weak laugh. “That sounds crazy, I know. But when I’m around you, I don’t feel like I need to look over my shoulder. I haven’t felt unsafe. I mean, look at this house, Lucian.” She waved at the kitchen they were standing in. “Right here, right now. How am I supposed to feel like some troubled girl on the run from a man who wants to kill her when I’m in a place like this? It doesn’t make me feel that way. So yeah, it’s easy to forget.”

Maybe he could understand that, if he tried. And hell, if she wanted to slip away from reality for a little while, who was he to bring up something to worry her?

“Helping my mother, hmm?” Lucian asked. “I didn’t know you liked to cook. We could go pick up some things, if you want. Being Italian means Cecelia made damn sure we all knew how to feed ourselves.”

“She let me try something different, actually.”

Lucian froze. “You mean, adding to her recipes? She …
let
you?”

That wasn’t possible. Not his OCD, overly anal, manic-in-the-kitchen mother. Cecelia would have a fit if someone moved anything an inch from where she wanted it. Learning to cook under her eagle-eye was unnerving.

“Yes. Why? It was just a couple of spices. It wasn’t like I was going to make it taste bad on purpose, Lucian.”

Lucian shook his head, trying to shake off the twilight feeling. “No, I don’t think you understand. My mother doesn’t let people help her cook. Antony once tried to add a little bit of salt to one of her stews, and she nearly broke his knuckle with her stirring spoon. Dante thought it would be funny to switch around her spice labels when he was sixteen, and she made him wash all the baseboards in this house with rags and hot soapy water. Do you want to know the square footage of this home, Jordyn?”

Jordyn didn’t seemed bothered by those statements at all. “How long did it take him?”

“A week, and that was with help. She’s crazy about this space. We all tend to stay away for obvious safety and mental health reasons.”

“She liked what I did. You’ll see. It tastes fine. Want to try?”

Lucian stumbled over his mind and words, coming up with absolutely nothing. How on earth did this woman warm up his mother enough to let her meddle with her cooking? It just wouldn’t compute in his brain.

Unless …

“She likes you,” Lucian said, voicing his inner thoughts. “Trusts you.”

Jordyn slowly turned in his embrace, staring warily at him. “Is that a bad thing?”

“No.
Mio Dio
,
no
,” he breathed through a laugh. “It’s … great, actually. I was so distracted over my father I kind of thought Cecelia would be the easier one and she’d be her normal, polite self. And she was, but in a really telling way for me. No, this is good.”

Jordyn still seemed unbothered by it all. That was exactly why Lucian found himself so strangely, unexplainably caught up in everything about this woman. She had her insecurities, but she was confident in ways that no one understood until they were right there facing them.

Perfect, that’s what she was.

“Okay. Do you want to try the sauce now?”

“
Sì
,
bella
, I’ll try your sauce.”

Jordyn turned and grabbed a cleaned spoon off the counter, dipping it into a pot before turning back to Lucian. Those pretty, pink lips of hers pursed as she blew cool air onto the red sauce, keeping his attention focused solely on her mouth for those brief few seconds, before offering the spoon to him.

Lucian tasted it without question.

Cazzo
.

Holy fuck.

Something exquisitely rich crossed his palate, zinging his taste buds and making him moan deep in the back of his throat. The sauce was always good, no doubt about it, but whatever Jordyn added just enhanced it tenfold so that it wasn’t simply a taste, but an experience.

“Damn,” he muttered when she took the spoon away. “That’s …”

“Good,” Jordyn finished, smiling.

He answered that by crushing his mouth to hers.

Jordyn wasn’t expecting the kiss, because her cute little squeak of surprise was drowned out by Lucian’s tongue spearing into her mouth. He still couldn’t get over how much he enjoyed kissing this woman, and how badly he wanted to.

Lucian was so lost in Jordyn and her wandering fingers tangling up into his hair, he didn’t register the voices getting closer to the kitchen until they were at the entrance.

“Well, isn’t this a cute sight.”

The sweetest pink colored Jordyn’s cheeks as she hid her face from view. Lucian was anything but embarrassed, considering the first person to speak made his blood boil just by being near him. 

Kate Catrolli Grovatti was a lot of things. Being an annoyance for Lucian was only one of them.

“Good evening, Kate,” Lucian greeted, urging Jordyn to turn back to the stove with him moving to her side.

There were quite a few people who were expected to attend the family dinner, as they did every Sunday. Not all were actually related, but they did relate to the Cosa Nostra in some way. Usually close capos, important affiliates, and guests of any of the brothers. The only actual family that attended was Kate, Antony’s younger brother who was one of their lawyers, and a cousin or two.

Currently, the group of three standing in the kitchen and watching Lucian and Jordyn with extra interest only included Kate, Gio, and a man Lucian wasn’t familiar with.

Lucian briefly wondered if he’d been invited by Kate, or one of his brothers.

It was only proper Lucian find out immediately. “Uh, Gio, who’s this?”

“Lucian, Salvatore. A friend of mine. Salvatore, Lucian, my brother.”

Lucian nodded, understanding immediately. It was a friend of his brother’s. By introducing this Salvatore as a friend of his, Gio made it perfectly clear without outright stating it that the man was simply an associate, and only affiliated with the business. Had he introduced the man as a friend of ours, specifically, it would have meant he was a made man in a Cosa Nostra family.

“Is this everyone?” Jordyn asked.

She waved at the stove as if to say there was much too much food if it was.

“No,” Lucian said, chuckling. “There’s still a few more who’ll show up.”

“Dante invited Jess, or Mom did for him,” Gio added. “Plus, Dad’s talking with Camden and Ross.”

“Our cousin and uncle,” Lucian explained to Jordyn before she could ask.

“And who’s this?” Kate asked, peering at Jordyn as if she was all too curious for her own good.

Lucian hated this woman. Despised her, even.

“This is Jordyn.”

“Jordyn who?”

Lucian’s jaw clenched, but Jordyn’s hand slipping into his at his side calmed him instantly.

“Uh, Mom knows Jordyn is at her stove, right?” Gio asked, stepping around his aunt in an almost dismissive fashion.

“Yeah, she knows,” Lucian replied. “Even let her mess with it a bit.”

“What? And the house is still standing?”

“I know. Don’t question it. Probably best you don’t ask Mom about it either.”

“Jordyn who?” Kate asked again, more pointedly the second time. “Is this your new kitten for the month, Lucian?”

“Kitten?” Jordyn whispered. “I feel like that should offend me, somehow.”

It should, but Lucian shook his head to ward off Jordyn’s concern, trying desperately to ignore Kate at the same time. The woman had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. There had never been one female brought into this home by a Marcello brother unless it was a friendship sort of relationship. Jess was an exception for Dante, and that was mostly brought on by their mother, not because Dante wanted her there.

“She’s a good friend of mine.” Lucian tried to sound offhanded. The last thing he wanted was to give Kate more ammo than she already had. Then, just to make himself clear, he added, “
Very
good.”

“Yeah,” Gio agreed quietly, shooting Jordyn a sly smile. “She might as well be a part of the family.” Gio seemed to register his verbal mistake straightaway, given Lucian was glaring at his brother. “Hey, Sal, let’s go chat with the boss about the guys in Vegas.”

Apparently no business on Sundays didn’t apply to Gio’s friends.

They weren’t gone from the space for more than five seconds before it started.

“Oh, my.” Kate took a step forward, that glinting gaze of hers zoning in on Jordyn way too much. Lucian stepped in front of Jordyn to shield her from the woman instinctually. “Don’t tell me I’m looking at the first
principessa
of the Marcello family. Am I?”

“Don’t, Kate,” Lucian warned.

“I am, aren’t I? Jesus, you would have thought my sister would have told me about
this
.” Kate smiled, the sight turning sinister in a flash. “How long?”

Jordyn glanced up at Lucian for direction, her fingers weaved with his tightening.

“Not long,” Lucian answered. “And that’s all we’re going to say about it. Antony’s dealing with other things, and that word doesn’t need to be tossed around like candy right now by anyone who wants to say it.”

“But I’m not just anyone, Lucian.”

• • •

“I’m your
aunt
,” Kate said, flashing her white teeth in a sneer.

Jordyn wasn’t paying attention to Kate, because she finally got it.

She couldn’t believe it had taken her this long to put it together, and frankly, she felt like a goddamned idiot for not realizing it before.