Page 70 of Dreadful

I ease my foot into my boot and tie it with a grimace. The shoe’s high ankle and its added compression will help, but my leg will still hurt like a bitch. Before I get up, I look around the room for any sign of where Tallie’s gone.

It’s my sense of smell that gives me my first clue. Warm, rich, sugary, and freshly baked pastries.

The nostalgic scent reminds me of mynonna. It wafts up from the floor below, tempting me. Once I’m fully dressed and ready, I carefully make my way downstairs.

I vaguely remember riding here last night, but fuck am I glad my addled mind took the chance. If it hadn’t been for Tallie’snonni, I’m not sure I would’ve made it up these stairs. The steps aren’t as rickety as the ones I replaced in my own building, but if I have any say in it, I’ll make the upgrade here, too. I’m sure Gio and Tony will appreciate it as much as I will.

The first-floor landing has two doors, one that leads through the back entrance of the bakery, and the other that would take me outside into the freezing cold Boston air. I could leave right now, take a left, find my motorcycle in the alley where I hid it in, and head back to my apartment. It’s what Ishoulddo now that Claudio has made it clear he’ll either have my compliance or my death.

And aside from that, Tallie hesitated when I needed help last night.

I don’t know why, and I don’t know what changed her mind. But after she cared for me, I woke up finger-deep in her warm cunt and her moaning and submissive in my arms. Did that moment change whatever caused her hesitation? If the situation rose again, would she help me without a second thought?

That doesn’t matter, though, not really. I won’t turn back now. If she still has misgivings about me, I’ll figure them out, and we’ll get through it.

I push open the bakery’s back door and enter their kitchen. Delicious scents fill my nostrils, and I’m hit with a cacophony of pots, pans, and Italian curses as Gio goes toe-to-toe with my feistyvipera.

I bite back a smile. I can see where she gets it from.

Tallie’s past is still a mystery to me, with many basic questions unanswered. Like, how did she come to live with hernonni?Are her parents alive? Who—or what—the fuck caused her scars?

Rage flares underneath my skin at the last thought. If someone gave her those scars, I’ll make sure they’re repaid in kind. Then again, they’re probably already on Talia’s shit list considering how riled up she gets just with hernonnoGio.

“You’re always hiding my good knife! Where is it this time? I haven’t been able to find it all day!” Gio shouts in Italian at a mile a minute.

Tallie rolls her eyes. “Gio, how many times do we have to go over this? That wasmyknife from the set you and Tony gaveme. You just kept borrowing it before, but now I want to keep it all to myself.”

“The request sheet says they want a waterfall cake of fondant roses, carved fruit roses, and diced strawberries.Diced!You would make your poornonnoGio use the worn knife and suffer through his arthritis—”

Tallie snorts. “You don’t have arthritis.”

“I will if I have to keep using the bad knife!” Gio harrumphs and wags his finger up at her. “If I find out you used it to—”

“Gio, Tallie…we have a guest again.” Tony chuckles as he kneads a huge ball of dough, leaning his body into the motion before flipping and folding it over again.

Both of them whip around to face me. Tallie’s face pinkens before she shrugs off her reaction.

“Oh. It’s you.”

“Fai la brava, Talia,” Tony tsks.

“That’s right, Tallie.” I smirk. “Be sweet to me.”

“Youdoknow Italian!” Gio claps. “Ah! Bravo! Bravo. See, we were right. He is a good man. Perfect for ourdolce nipotina.” The way Gio beams at me only seems to torture his granddaughter more.

“Gio,per l’amor di Dio, for the love of God…” Her cheeks redden until they’re only a few shades lighter than the fondant roses on the parchment in front of them.

Seeing her blush makes me shove my hands in my pockets to keep my thickening cock from being noticeable behind my zipper. I have to be discreet now, but fuck, I’d love to carry her upstairs and see how far that blush goes.

“Be nice to the man, Tallie,” Tony adds and winks at me. “We are happy to see you up, Sev. If you had slept longer, we might have had to take you to the hospital.”

“What time is it?” I ask.

“Late afternoon,” Gio answers.

I’d thought the dimming light meant it was dawn, but apparently I slept the day away. “No wonder I’m feeling better. I didn’t realize it was so late.”

“That reminds me, Tallie.” Tony nods to the cake. “The delivery driver will be here soon. Can you help us load the cake? He makes us pay extra if he has to do it.”