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“That’s where we met,” Carter whispered.

A soft, wistful sigh made both of them turn to look at Mila. She was watching them with wide eyes, flushed cheeks, and a longing expression. “You’re so in love.”

“We have enough love to share,” Gio assured her. “We’ve never invited a third, so our interest in you isn’t something cheap.”

He didn’t expect her to shake her head violently and step back until she bumped up against the counter behind her. “No, I c-c-can’t.”

She looked close to tears, making both him and Carter stand up. He could feel the shifter’s body tremble from weakness. Carter still had a lot of healing to do. That forced him to focus on the wolf first.

Gio grabbed hold of Carter’s arm to steady him. “Please sit before you fall.”

He could feel Carter’s desire to argue, but both of them knew he didn’t have the strength to fight Gio. Carter might be an alpha wolf with all the strength that came with it, but Gio was a vampire. He was an apex predator, and no single wolf could overpower him.

It wasn’t that Carter was worried about Gio hurting him, but both of them knew Gio was the only thing that kept him standing.

With a sigh of defeat, Carter sank back down. “Make her understand,” he demanded.

“Let’s not make anyone do anything,” Gio responded. “I think we should eat this sumptuous meal and talk.”

Mila looked conflicted. “I should serve you two and leave.”

Gio was quick to put a quieting hand on Carter’s thigh before the wolf could say anything. “You could do that, but it would make Carter and me feel bad. We’d much rather you stayed. You don’t have to confide in us. We could talk about your wonderful cooking, about the adorable Babette. But if you leave, we’ll think it’s because we upset you.”

“I’m not upset.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Then why do you think you shouldn’t eat with us?”

She hesitated a moment before answering. “That’s not what the staff does.”

“Even if that’s true, neither of us are fond of rules,” Gio said. “Now, what can I take to the table?”

She gave in and soon they were all seated. Carter shoveled food into his mouth, giving Mila compliments between bites. Gio ate a few bites and made sure to move his food onto Carter’s plate the moment he had a chance. He was old enough to consume a little food without becoming ill, but much more, and he’d regret it later.

Mila had a hard time sitting still. She kept jumping up to fetch things no one asked for. It made covering his lack of eating easy but made him worry about Mila’s state of mind. She wouldn’t meet their eyes and gave one or two-word answers to all his questions.

The meal passed without any meaningful conversation. If this kept up, Mila wouldn’t let either of them get close. Gio could see her hiding in her room when she wasn’t busy cooking.

A solution came to him as she served the cheesecake. She tried to give Carter a polite slice, but the wolf took the cake from her and cut an entire quarter of the dessert for himself. That made her laugh with genuine amusement for the first time since the meal started.

“You’re fired,” Gio declared, making Carter growl, and Mila fumble and drop the fork she was holding.

She looked devastated. “What?”

“You shouldn’t be fixing food for us, you should be making sweet things to sell,” he said, pushing his plate away so he could rest his elbows on the table and lean forward a little. “You’re fired because I want to go into business with you.”

Chapter 14

Mila

Mila wasn’t prepared to go from hurt to excited so quickly. When Gio announced she was fired, it destroyed her. She’d never thought he or Carter would do that to her before the two-week trial period was over. Then he’d casually said he wanted to go into business with her.

It was all too much.

“You can’t be serious,” she snapped, then gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. She was never that rude!

Gio didn’t look offended. “I’m very serious. Your baking is exceptional, all you need is a chance, and I think you could be successful. I have a kitchen, contacts, and the money for ingredients or whatever else you might need.”

“Would we have a contract?” she asked.