“I’ve noticed.”
“But when I decide someone is a friend or family, then I would do anything for them.”
I believed him. He was loyal and caring to those who mattered to him. That I’d never doubted. “Why would you want to do that for me?”
“I told you. Because you’re mine.”
“Your property?”
“You decided that’s what it meant. Maybe that’s not what it means to me.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You want to control me, don’t you?”
“I want you to surrender to me. You enjoy it. You know you do.”
Cameron hesitated for a moment, then he nodded. “Yeah, I do. I didn’t want to, but I do.”
“Then give in, Cam, not just in bed, but to all of it.”
“Do you order all your friends around?”
Angelo laughed. “Of course.”
“I assume you don’t threaten them with spankings if they disobey.”
“That would probably get awkward with some of them.”
“I’d like your help. I’d like to be your friend.”
“Good, because that was happening whether you wanted it or not.” The timer rang as he finished speaking, so he jumped up and missed me flipping him off.
Angelo brought out the pizza, a plate with the mozzarella sticks and some marinara, and a plate with the buffalo bites and ranch dressing for dipping. We moved to the larger table that was clearly intended for dining.
Despite his protest about the horribleness of frozen food, Angelo scarfed down his full share faster than I would’ve thought possible.
“Damn, you were hungry. Had you eaten today before our picnic?”
“Lola insisted I take a muffin with me when I left this morning, but other than that, no.”
“Seems like maybe you also need to be taken care of.”
“Lola tries her best, but if you’re offering to bake for me every day, I’m all for it.”
“Come by tomorrow afternoon, and you can be our taste tester.”
“As long as you understand I’ll be dragging you upstairs to taste you too.”
I glared at him, but he just smiled. “You talk about Lola like she’s a member of your family.”
“She is. She’s been with us since Lucien and I were little.”
A man who treated household employees like family couldn’t be all bad. But then I’d figured that out about him already. I couldn’t fool myself into thinking Angelo was nice, but he could be kind, generous, and even tender. He was multifaceted, like most people. I just hadn’t wanted to see that before.
I picked up another mozzarella stick and dipped it into the marinara. When I bit into it, I pulled it away from my mouth, letting the cheese stretch out.
Angelo laughed as he watched me. “At least they’re fun to eat even if they’re not very good.”
They were barely adequate, and the pizza was not very good at all, but they’d taken care of my hunger.
I looked out over the ocean again. I wanted to hold on to the happiness of that moment, but I’d pushed thoughts of my dad from my mind for too long. I felt like what I’d learned was hanging in the air between Angelo and me.
“What’s wrong, Cam?”
“Why didn’t you gloat over what my father did? I’d tried to blame you for Mr. Romano’s death. I hated your family for being killers, and my own father…” My voice cracked, and I looked away.
“Come here,” Angelo held out his hand.
I only hesitated for a second before reaching out to him. He pulled me to him and encouraged me to sit on his lap. I felt ridiculous at first, but then he wrapped me in his arms.
“How could I be your protector if I was going to gloat about that? I’ll punish you when you disobey. I’ll call you out when you refuse to be honest. I won’t let you make assumptions about me or my family, but I wouldn’t be that cruel. Not to you. And if it helps at all, Benny Romano wasn’t the man you thought he was. I’m sure he was charming when he came into the bakery, and he truly loved his kids, but he was responsible for the deaths of a lot of men, and his money was as dirty as mine.”
I nodded. “I’m sure you’re right. I didn’t know what to believe when I was a kid. I knew there were rumors about him, but there was so much I didn’t want to see back then. It was easier to see him as good and you as bad because I was terrified of the way I felt around you.”
Angelo gave me a soft smile and tightened his hold on me. “You weren’t wrong to want to distance yourself from people like me. I’m dangerous. My family is fucking dangerous. Thank God we are, or we would all be dead.”
“But doesn’t it bother you? Couldn’t you just get a regular job?” I winced as the words left my mouth. Why did I always have to push things with him?