The Storm Before the Calm

Chapter 26

Aurora Salvatore
I'm not sure what's gotten into me in the last 24 hours, but I don't like it.

One minute, I was just trying to teach Bianca how to make garlic butter compound, the next minute I was listening to the music that was Vicious's laugh before he wiped butter off my face,  sucking it off his sinful fucking finger.

Don't even get me started on how he came up behind Romeo, who sat next to me at the table to annoy me as he always does, and all he did was glare down at him. Apparently they spoke a silent language, because that look made Romeo get up and Vicious took his spot next to me for the entire lunch. Wherein, he complimented everything I cooked in between a new game we made up where we each pick someone who worked for my father who had annoyed us and described the ways in which we'd kill them if given the opportunity.

I'm fairly certain every other meal he's been here for, I've only seen him on a liquid diet. But yesterday he actually tried everything I had made. Including the carrot cake I'd baked that I forced on him to try. Spoiler alert: He loved it.

I kept telling myself that he was only here to hunt down my husband, help me kill him, and then fly back to Italy. I forgot about that one little part until Angelina brought it up yesterday in the kitchen when the boys were whisked away by Mama to help set the table.

Well, not before I completely forgot about the fish my Mama had asked me to take out of the oven.

I mean, what kind of cook doesn't set a timer and just expects someone else to remember exactly how many minutes the fish was baking for? Especially when I was distracted by my dance party with Bianca and piercing green eyes. Vicious had been sent back in for scissors to cut flowers for the table and asked what was burning. I panicked, burned my hand on the pan, and was about to profusely apologize to my Mama that the main course of lunch was ruined because of me, but I didn't need to.

While I was cursing myself out for both being dumb and burning my hand, Dominico had come over, placed my hand under some cool water, and used a rag to put the ruined fish in the garbage. Then, to my surprise, asked if there was anything else we could whip up quickly as a substitute, but instead of letting us do it, he prepared an entire new salmon filet for the family.

My hand felt better, but I just stood at the sink staring at him across the kitchen as he perfectly seasoned and rubbed down the fish, got all the skin off, and cooked it to perfection with a towel tossed over his shoulder.... Talk about a woman's wet dream.

His sleeves rolled up to reveal his golden forearms, one covered in black and white ink that lead all the way to his fingertips. The white dress shirt was slightly unbuttoned, also giving me a small hint of more tattoos on his chest. His shirt was tucked into his perfectly tailored suit pants that hugged his tree trunk legs and perfect ass. I'd never checked out a man's ass before Dominico Vitale waltzed into my life, but I couldn't resist when he was standing at the stove like that, with a towel over his shoulder and one stray curl that had fallen across his forehead that I wanted so badly to twirl around my finger.

Fuck, I wanted a fistful of his hair as I gave him his own personal dessert while he sprawled me out across that very island.

But alas, that did not happen. Although he did love the dessert I did serve.

I cleared my throat, trying to clear my brain as I stepped out of my car, smoothing my skirt out, taking in my surroundings.

Yesterday, we did a home cooked family lunch. Today, we were doing brunch at my Zia's breakfast place that was more of a pastry shoppe than a traditional breakfast restaurant. I was planning on driving over with Ariana, then go shopping for a dress for tomorrow night, but alas, she was driving over with her new boyfriend, Hunter.