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“Of course I did. It was very nice of you to have Maz make it for me.”
“It was when I thought you had your—” he gestured to my stomach “—troubles.”
Happiness bubbled in my chest, drowning me in affection for this man. “Can’t you even say the word?”
“What word?”
“Menstruation,” I drawled dramatically like I was on the stage. Vito just shook his head, but I caught his lips twitching. “Well, I’m not on my period right now. I lied.”
He nodded. “I know.”
“How?”
“Because it’s clear you were hiding from me over what my sister said. And I also have Google. I looked it up after our conversation on the plane. You don’t get a period when you have an IUD.”
Smart man. “You can stop looking so smug. You don’t know all my tricks.”
“Not yet. But I will.”
I bit my lip against the rush of giddy energy that circulated through me. The server arrived with our beers. “Here you go.” He set the glasses down on the table. “Are you ready to order?”
I handed him my menu. “I’d love a cheeseburger with Swiss. Medium well. And I’m told I need to try poutine.”
“If you’ve never had it, then you definitely should. The usual, Mr. D’Agostino?”
“Yes, thank you.”
When we were alone, I sipped my beer. It was very good. “So, you come here a lot.”
Vito nodded. “About once a week.”
“Hmm. This place doesn’t seem your speed.”
“And what is myspeed, bella?”
“A fancy steakhouse with cloth napkins and a glass wine cellar where you can watch the sommelier find your exact bottle.”
“That is a very precise image.” He took a drink, the muscles of his throat working as he swallowed. I was mesmerized by his Adam’s Apple, which was a weird thing to admit. “I frequentthose restaurants, but I’d rather eat here. Some people enjoy eating foam and tiny bites, but that isn’t me.”
“I see those pretentious places online. I bet half the diners go out for pizza afterward.” I twisted my glass on the wooden table top. “How far do you live from here?”
“The penthouse is a few blocks away.” Vito stretched his arm out along the back of the booth, drawing attention to his chest and shoulders.
“And your other place?”
“The compound is twenty, twenty-five minutes away.”
“So the penthouse is where you hold your yacht-type model parties.”
The beer bottle was almost to his lips when I said it, and Vito paused to frown at me. “Maz never should have told you about those.”
“Yet, he did.” I sipped my beer, my shoulders lifting as if to saywhat-are-ya-gonna-do?
“I own several luxury high-rise developments in the city. In this particular one, I kept the top floor for myself. I often come into the city for business. And yes, I sometimes bring a woman there.”
I nudged his leg with mine. “And sometimes more than one.”
Leaning over the table, he lifted my hand and nipped at my knuckles with his teeth. “You will be the only woman I fuck there tonight. That is all you need to know.”