"Wow," Elsa's gaze widens, "but would you go against the Don on certain occasions?"
"The Don is not unreasonable; there isn't much we disagree on."
"So, you would go against the Don if the situation warranted it?"
"Why are you so curious about it?" Seb scowls.
"It was just a question." She glowers back at him.
"Well, you shouldn’t be this curious about things that don’t concern you."
"Hey," she draws herself up to her full height, which still means she comes up to the height of his chest, "you are my friend’s designated bodyguard-slash-chauffeur tonight, which means it’s totally within my purview to find out everything about you."
"You mean, you want to find out more about me? He smirks.
"It means, I want to make sure that you are uh...qualified in your role of chauffeur-slash-security guard. Speaking of, why don’t you stand at a distance?"
"Why should I stand at a distance?"
"Because you are frightening the rest of the men away."
"Men?" Seb’s face grows thunderous. "What men?"
"My question, exactly," a familiar voice cuts through the noise of the bar.
"Oh, hell," I squeeze my eyes shut and mutter under my breath, "it can’t be.”Please, please let it not be him.
"You thought you could slink away without asking my permission and I wouldn’t follow you?"
I glance over my shoulder at the tall, dark, massive, glowering man whose blue eyes are alight with an emotion I dare not try to name.
"How did you manage to leave the house?" I frown.
"I am well enough to walk, or hadn’t you noticed?" he retorts.
"I know you are getting better, and believe me, I am happy about that."
"Are you?" He tilts his head. "Somehow, I can’t help but think that you wanted me out of commission long enough to not be able to walk on my own two feet up the aisle for my own wedding."
I gape at him, "I would never —" I take in his angry features, the skin that wrinkles around his mouth, the firm set to his jaw. "Wow," I throw up my hands, "you really think I planned it so you’d embarrass yourself on your wedding day?"
"Didn’t you? Isn’t that why you pushed to have the wedding so quickly?"
My cheeks heat, "I only suggested a shorter period of time because we both wanted to get married and I didn't see any reason to wait."
"Were you afraid that I'd change my mind?"
"Well, you won't, now that you have a chance to get a piece of theCosa Nostrabusiness." Bitterness fills my chest and I push it aside. "How did you find me here, anyway?" I’d chosen this bar precisely because it’s not one of the regular haunts of the Sovranos or the rest of the Mafia. And it’s not the same place that we went to last time.
"Lucky guess?" He raises a shoulder.
"Stop treating me like I am stupid." I sense Seb shuffle his feet and turn on him, "You told him, didn’t you?"
He raises his hands, "He called me, so I didn’t have a choice."
"You couldn’t have given him the wrong address?"
"I figured, you still had a head start on him, giving you enough time to enjoy yourself before he tracked you down."