Page 19 of Dirty Hearts

“He’s my father.”

He looked impressed. “Wow, we really did get star treatment. Tell your father I said thanks.” He lifted his head slightly and looked me over from head to toe. “My name’s Claudius. Claudius Morientz.”

That was a seriously cool name. It had an old-world ring to it, like something from old Greek mythology.

“Nice to meet you.” I gave him a small smile.

He backed away now. “You too. See you tomorrow, Angel Doll.”

Angel Doll.

He winked at me before he continued to the door.

Of course, I stared, watching him until I couldn’t see him anymore. That was the kind of guy a girl could get lost in. And that’s exactly what I did.

I got lost.

The next few days were the kind I’d always fantasized about.

For three days in a row, Claudius came in with Luc, and they ordered the same things for lunch. Claudius would order Pa’s beef and four cheese special ravioli, and Luc gnocchi.

We swapped conversation here and there in between me serving them, and always I could feel his gaze on me.

Thursday came, and I thought I’d wear something a little nicer and have my hair down. All week I’d had it up because Pa liked his kitchen staff to keep their hair back even if they weren’t directly cooking.

I only had two days left until I had to go back to college, so I figured why not.

I got to the restaurant a little later than usual, and that was my mistake.

Marissa was back. Back, and it looked like she’d come here straight from the airport. Her skin had that golden sun-kissed tone to it, and it made her platinum hair look even more stunning. As always, my sister looked amazing, like she’d stepped off the cover of a fashion magazine. Something likeVogue.

And, as my luck would have it, she was actually sitting with Claudius, Luc, and another guy I hadn’t seen with them before.

All three men looked entirely engrossed in Marissa’s conversation. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but it must have been exciting because she had them hanging on to every word. They didn’t see me.

Claudius didn’t see me.

No surprise there.

Feeling deflated, I headed straight to the kitchen, where both my parents were. They didn’t see me either.

I hated when this happened. It was like I was invisible to everyone.

I grabbed the drink inventory list and made my way back out to the floor. Checking the drink list was always a great distraction. Plus, it helped me learn all the names of the drinks too.

I went behind the bar and started on the first row of wine. This was our sweet range from Italy. Pa had everything organized by taste and country. Then age. The aged wine was our expensive list. The older wines, however, he kept in the cellar.

“That looks interesting,” came a voice from behind me.Claudius.

I whirled around to face him, and he gave me that sexy smile he’d sported all week. The half-smile that brought out his dimples and made him look all the more alluring.

He had on a blazer today with a white ribbed T-shirt underneath it. It still kept that bad-boy image he had going on but held more sophistication.

“Hi. I’m just checking the stock.”

He smirked. “Cool. So, met your sister. Didn’t know you had a twin.”

Instantly, I thought this was going to be the usual talk I’d gotten about Marissa that I’d had practically my whole teenage and adult life. The kind from back in high school where the guys would ask me stuff about Marissa and what she liked.