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The excitement on the baby-pink-haired woman was apparent. “Your favorite; parmesan chicken with lemon rice.”

Kat, what are you doing? Maria internally screamed at her, as Katarina was the only girl in her friend group who had been wifed up, but ironically didn’t act it. Now it appeared her friend was getting loved up more and more every day.

Moving farther into the apartment, Drago, however, seemed taken back she’d been invited to dinner. “What the hell is she doing here?” Drago grumbled.

Maria flipped her hair behind her shoulder. “I came to try your wife’s cooking.”

“You’ve never wanted to fucking try it before.”

How long has she been cooking for him? Katarina might’ve been more domesticated than she thought.

“I was scared she might’ve poisoned it and, well … you’re still alive, unfortunately.”

Drago’s eyes went a furious shade of red.

With his eyes dancing between the two, Dominic leaned over, quietly asking Maria, “I take it you don’t like him either?”

“No,” Maria and Drago answered in unison.

Laughing and ignoring them, Katarina walked back into the kitchen to finish cooking.

Oh, she’s good. It was obvious his precious little wife wasn’t that domesticated after all. She still had some bite left in her.

Getting the picture himself, Drago looked at Kat. “Why is she here?”

Dominic whispered into her ear privately, “I knew I fell in love with you for a reason.”

Kat’s big brother might put up with Drago, but he still didn’t like him.

“Oh God.” Drago looked like he was about to gag. “I need a minute …”

Maria smiled at him sweetly as he walked out of the apartment. “Oopsie,” she said with a laugh, knowing Dom’s whispered confession was overheard.

Going over to Kat, Maria slid herself up on the counter to get a good look at her partner in crime. “Conveniently forgot to mention that I was coming as your brother’s date, huh?”

“It must’ve slipped my mind,” Kat commented innocently as she pretended to wipe sweat off her brow. “It’s so hard being a wife.”

“You know what?” Dominic backed away from the kitchen slowly. “I’m gonna go see if I can get him to come back.”

“Take your time!” Maria yelled as the door flung open.

As soon as it closed, both girls laughed until they cried.

“Her?” Drago asked when he saw Dominic come out into the hallway. “Are you fucking crazy?”

“What’s wrong with Maria?” The warning in Dominic’s voice told Drago to tread carefully.

Drago, however, didn’t give a fuck, giving him a warning of his own. “I know you might think you’re a bad motherfucker, Dominic, but that girl is going to chew you up and spit you out.”

“Probably,” Dom agreed. “But what do you care?”

“I’ve taken my fair share to protect that woman, and I’m grateful to live the tale, but I have never seen Maria let a man stand that close to her, so that means she must like your ass too.” Drago looked close to tears. “I already have to deal with her as Kat’s friend, but I don’t need to see her at the Luciano family functions. That was my only freedom from her.”

Dominic laughed now. He just got a two for one. Not only was he going to get himself a wife, but he was going to make Drago rue the day he ever picked Katarina.

Drago waited patiently until he stopped laughing then said, “You know what?” He was the one to laugh now. “Good luck.”

“The way Drago feels about you, I’d almost be concerned that he might actually like you deep down, but no.” Kat laughed, wiping a tear away. “He just doesn’t like you.”

Maria laughed, wiping her own tear, “Ugh, when I was growing up, my father used to tell me this bullshit that, when a boy picked on you, it meant he had a crush on you. It used to make me so mad.”

“Not Dom.” Kat shook her head with a smile at an old memory. “I had a teacher tell me that once because a boy wouldn’t stop picking on me at school, and my brother got so mad, when he dropped me off in the morning, he came into my class and told the teacher, very loudly, ‘that boy is not picking on my sister because he likes her, he’s picking on her because he’s a fucking bully.’ My teacher got so scared and said she would handle it. And, I kid you not, on the way out, Dom stared at the boy who wouldn’t leave me alone and said, ‘I already did.’ And he was right; that little asswipe never picked on me again.”

“D-Dominic told you that?” Maria asked in disbelief, feeling her chest get tighter. “He did that?”

“Yep,” Katarina said proudly. “After that point, I learned to stand up for myself, but I don’t think I would have if I hadn’t seen him do it first.”

“You and Dominic are close, aren’t you?” It was too obvious to miss. She had seen him with his brothers, but with Kat, he was different. Maria didn’t think it would be possible for a man like that to exist, but he really is the perfect man. It was either the fact he had watched Lucifer abuse women, or having to care for a sister at a young age, or maybe a combination of both that made him that way.