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“All right.” She went to make her a glass of water. “How do eggs and toast sound?”

“Good.”

“The boys will be hungry when they wake, so I’ll make plenty.”

“Thank you.” Maria smiled when she placed the water down in front of her. Staring at the glass, Maria asked, “What was strange?”

“Oh.” DeeDee laughed it off like it was no big deal. “He’s just never brought a girl here before, is all.”

Tapping the glass, she asked another one, “Have you known him a long time?”

“Since he was just a baby.” She smiled happily, reminiscing his cute, little face as she started cooking the eggs. “I’ve watched all the kids grow up now, but Dom lets me stay around to help clean the house and get the groceries.”

Maria warmed at hearing her talk about him.

“He’s a good man,” DeeDee assured her before realizing … “What’s your name, sweetie?”

“Maria.” She gave the kind woman another smile. “And I know.”

Ugh, she was getting soft the longer she stayed around here.

By the time they talked a bit more, with Maria mostly asking questions about little Dom, the woman had no sooner started making a plate for her when Matthias entered the kitchen.

“I wouldn’t do that,” he warned her, strolling in.

Maria looked at him in confusion. “Do what?”

“Eat that,” Matthias said, going to the fridge to look at what else they had. “DeeDee can’t cook for shit.”

That’s rud—

“Oh please,” the woman shushed him, hitting his upper arm. “I cook fine; don’t worry.”

At first, Maria thought Matthias was being a dick, but when she had set the plate down in front of her, Maria looked down at the eggs strangely—they weren’t the expected yellow color. Hell, now she wasn’t even sure if she should eat them, but the way the older woman was waiting for her to take a bite, she hated to be a bitch; they were just eggs … What was so hard about that?

Taking a small bite, she instantly spit them back out onto the plate with no remorse.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” Dominic laughed, entering the room. “She can’t cook for shit.”

Gulping down her water, she didn’t even look at the woman sympathetically for the crime she had committed against those eggs. “I’m sorry, DeeDee, but it’s true.”

The woman didn’t seem to take offense. “Well, that’s okay. They’ll get eaten.”

By who? A dog?

Placing a jar of jelly down in front of her that he got from the fridge, along with a butter knife, Dominic gave her a sympathetic look. “Don’t worry; the toast is fine to eat. DeeDee just thinks ketchup is seasoning.”

“Ketchup!” She took another swig of water, wondering why the fuck she thought it was okay to eat red-tinted eggs in the first place. Maria hadn’t let it touch her tongue long enough to even know what the fuck it was, but one thing she was sure of was that DeeDee belonged in jail.

Cassius had come in silently, taking her plate of the gross eggs. “I’ll eat ’em.”

Maria watched him take a seat beside her at the table. “You are not about to—”

“They taste fine to me,” he said, shoving in a mouthful.

“That’s vile,” she scolded him. Both he and DeeDee needed to be locked up.

“Sorry, we don’t have a personal chef here for you like I’m sure you’re used to,” Matthias grumbled, still staring into the fridge like something good or different was going to appear.

“We don’t have one,” Maria threw back. Taking her toast from the plate Cassius had stolen, she began smearing the jelly on top once Dominic finished coating his next to her. “Lucca does most of the cooking.”

All three brothers stopped what they were doing to stare at her.

“What?” She looked at each one of them weirdly.

Matthias was the one to quickly go back to what he was doing. “Nothing.”

It became clear that where Matthias liked to push her buttons, he wouldn’t dare push the boogieman’s.

She took a bite of her toast, deciding to surprise them even more with the truth. “He’s a really good cook, actually. You would die to eat one of his steaks. He cooks it in a hot pan on the stove just like a renowned chef would. He makes them a perfect medium rare and lets them rest till just the right amount of blood coats your plate when you cut each piece with a knife for you to dip it in.” She gave them all a bright smile. “Maybe I could ask you all over for din—”

“That’s all right,” Matthias choked out. “I think we’ll pass.”

“Suit yourself.” She shrugged, taking another bite of her toast but quickly swallowed when she saw what the twin brother was doing. “Can you please not do that?”

Gulping down the orange juice from the carton, he came up for air. “Why not?”

“Because I’d like to be able to drink something other than water when I come over here?” she snapped back without even a thought of what she was asking. She hadn’t realized until Dominic looked over at her with a smug expression. Maria had planned to keep coming back ….