She was poking her food around with her fork. There was a long silence and I realized she hadn’t heard me.
“Lia,” I said, touching her arm.
She jumped, blushing. “Yes, I’m sorry.”
“I was just asking if you started classes,” I repeated.
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Do you like them?”
“Yes, sir.”
To my shock, despite being surrounded by her family, my cock twitched in my pants at her words. I knew I’d liked hearing that word from other women, but I hadn’t imagined the effect it would have coming from her mouth. I gazed at her for too long, soaking in her soft, pretty figure wrapped in fiery, burnt orange. Then I realized we were being watched.
“Good,” I said, abruptly.
“You can speak in full sentences, Lia,” her twin said.
She frowned. “I was.”
“At least she answers now,” Federico said coolly. “She used to just sit and stare until she started crying when you talked to her.”
She blushed and a surge of annoyance moved through me. Why was Federico being so unnecessarily cruel to her and why wasn’t anyone else speaking up? Was this how they usually spoke to each other?
“Please, stop,” she whispered, her eyes on the table.
“Stop what? Nothing I’m saying is a lie,” Federico said, clearly annoyed by her meager protests. “Maybe you should stop being so pathetic.”
“You’re pathetic,” she whispered.
The table tensed and I reached beneath the table and put my hand on her thigh. Federico’s eyes narrowed and he leaned forward on his elbows.
“Don’t backtalk me, you fucking slut,” he said softly.
“Federico,” I warned.
“Now, now, Rico,” her stepfather said mildly.
Federico flicked his gaze to mine. “Excuse my stepsister.”
No, he wasn’t going to blame Rosalia for this. I’d had enough of this bullshit. I shot to my feet and my hand curled around the steak knife on the table. Before I knew what was happening, I’d stabbed it into the wooden table an inch from Federico’s hand.
Federico jerked back and stared up at me in pure shock. Beside me, Mrs. Antonucci gave a little whimper and her husband pushed his seat back, his hand drifting to the gun I knew was strapped around his ankle.
“You have been my friend for a long time, but man to man, If you ever speak to my fiancée like that again, I will fuck you up,” I said calmly.
There was a long silence as I sat back down. Federico’s eyes smoldered and his chest heaved.
“Rosalia is my fiancée, we’re going to be married,” I said, looking at her brothers. “And no one disrespects my wife, not even her own family. If anyone is going to call her a slut, it’s going to be me and in the right context.”
My words had the desired effect. Everyone shifted uncomfortably and her stepfather coughed, scratching his ear as he stared down at the table. At that moment, Federico’s phone rang and saved everyone an enormous amount of embarrassment. He sent me a poisonous glare as he walked out of the room and I realized then that I was entering the eve of my relationship with her brothers.
“Um…can I get you more coffee, Peregrine?” Mrs. Antonucci asked.
“Yes, thank you,” I said. “I’m sorry about your table, I’ll have it replaced. It was rude of me to damage your things.”
She shook her head, her eyes still wide. “It’s alright, I was going to buy another anyway.”