Page 57 of My Solemn Vow (The Mafia Arrangement #1)
ANTONELLA
THE FULL TURKEY DINNER
Valor comes home in a different vehicle than he left in, and I only noticed because I was anxiously pacing the first floor of the house and saw him, from a window, get out of the vehicle some ways down the driveway.
“I’m fine,” he whispers, coming inside, and I pick up a distinctive burnt metal smell. “Delivery went poorly. I’ll go shower and dress, then we can go. I don’t want Kerrianne to see and smell me. I have work to do tonight.”
There’s someone in the basement . I read between the lines.
“I’d hug you or kiss you hello, but you look too pretty to grime up.” Valor walks past me, making a show of keeping his hands to himself, holding them upward and away from me.
“Well, for the neglect, you’ll owe me double later.” I try to flirt.
Valor nods, and a dangerous glint in his eyes is quickly replaced with the yellow of his wolf. “That’s one, princess. How many more can you earn yourself tonight?”
My mouth drops open in shock, and I turn away from him.
I barely hear his footsteps as he prowls away from me and up the stairs. Kerrianne never even looks up from the bonus workbook of word searches and pattern drawings I brought out for her to work on to pass the time.
Ten minutes later, Valor is coming down the stairs, and I immediately feel underdressed. Slacks and a dark green shirt seem much more formal than the flowy dress I pulled out of my closet and paired with black stockings.
“You look fine. Don’t.” Valor loops his fingers in mine as he approaches.
“Do you read minds?” I whisper, leaning in toward him.
That gets a full belly laugh, and he shakes his head. “No, your face said it all for you. If you lose focus from that perfect Mafia wife facade, it’s like your face doesn’t know what to do, so it broadcasts every single one of your thoughts.”
“Oh.” I try to school my emotions, keeping my face neutral, but my cheeks flush anyway.
He lets it go without another word, and with a little pressure, he pulls me with him toward the kitchen. “Ready to go, little raptor?”
“Let’s goooo!” Kerrianne charges past us to the garage.
We make the twenty-five-minute drive to his parents’ place, and the gatehouse opens for us without even checking the inside of the vehicle.
We drive up to the house before I have a chance to process my surroundings.
I’m not even sure what to expect, but as we pass through a row of fir trees, the home comes into view.
It’s a traditional style home complete with vinyl siding and a Welcome to the Den painted wood sign on the stoop leaning up against the house.
Valor carries the rolls, and I fuss with the skirt of my dress on the way up the walk.
Kerrianne doesn’t knock. She flings the door open and darts across the threshold, disappearing into the house while screeching, “Grandma!”
“Kerrianne, inside voice, please,” Valor says in a normal speaking voice, to which Kerrianne repeats the word at a whisper-yell volume.
“In the kitchen,” Elizabeth calls from the back of the house.
I take in the very traditional furniture — a recliner and a soft-looking sofa — the warm rug on hardwood floors, and a gas-burning fireplace with holiday decor adorning the mantel.
The home is warm and welcoming. It’s almost too suburban and more classic, turn of the century than what I anticipated.
“Oh, there you are!” Ian Cavanagh says, rounding a corner from down the hallway. “You brought her in the front door like she’s some sort of esteemed guest.” I’m taken aback, stiffening, but then he smiles and opens his arms wide. “Rather than the family that she is.”
Before I comprehend what’s happening, Ian pulls me into a hug. Valor walks past us deeper into the house with a sideways glance at me. Smug asshole.
“Come on, come on, come on. Betty will be so happy to see you. She’s been hounding me to force Valor to bring you over for dinner.
” Ian releases me from the hug but doesn’t let go entirely.
Instead, he leads me into the house with his arm wrapped around my shoulders.
“I’ve been stopping her from popping by with breakfast daily. ”
“Oh, my shoes.” I try to stop him, knowing my little kitten heels could scuff the hardwood.
“Leave them on. Floors are meant to get dirty. Homes are meant to be lived in.” He continues bringing me into the house. When we hit a larger great room and the kitchen, he takes my coat. “What can I get you to drink?”
“Water would be great,” I answer, and Betty turns to look at me.
She then decks Valor on the shoulder. “I thought you said she...”
“She does know.” Valor winces, faking pain, holding his hand over where he was hit. The hit that was a love tap at best .
“She sure doesn’t look like she knows,” Betty growls.
It sounds more like some of the sounds Valor has made than I was expecting.
“I did not know water wasn’t an acceptable choice of drink. I’m fine with whatever.” I look to Ian for help.
It takes him a second to stop his silent snickering before he goes to Betty’s side. He wraps his arm around her lower back. “Just because Valor told her doesn’t mean they jumped right to making grandbabies. They’ve only known each other two weeks.”
Betty huffs.
Valor pours me a glass of water and ice from the refrigerator door and brings it to me. “I uhm, uh, should have warned you that my mother is really excited about the prospect of another grandchild. I had hoped in seven years Royal would have stepped up but...”
Heat flames my face and down my neck. Children hadn’t crossed my mind beyond the basic ‘I can’t get pregnant because we’re physiologically different.’
I position him between me and his mother, and with my voice as low as I can possibly make it, I whisper, “You said I’d have to become a wolf, and it’s not like we talked about what exactly that entails.”
“You didn’t even tell her that,” Betty groans. Clearly this wolf-hearing thing is way better than I anticipated. “That’s it. Ian, we’re marrying Royal off. It’s the only way.”
“Betty. Don’t rule Valor out so quickly. It’s not like we’ve locked them alone in their house this entire time. They both have lives and things to do and a daughter to take care of.” Ian comforts her.
“Speaking of, is Royal’s lair where my daughter ran off to, or did we let her run feral?” Valor sighs, interlacing his fingers with mine.
“Yes, he’s in the middle of business, but I’m sure with Kerrianne finding him, he’ll switch to something more appropriate.
” Ian nods, and while it’s not absolutely clear what Royal is working on, I would wager a guess that it has something to do with Valor smelling like an explosion when he came home.
“Takeoff!” Kerrianne giggles from somewhere in the house, and footsteps running up stairs interrupt us.
Royal comes skittering to a stop, sliding stocking footed across the floor with Kerrianne clinging to his back like a little koala.
“Everything you need to know is sent to your printer. Should be enough to get us what we need. Beyond that, hello! Welcome. Mom decided we need to have Thanksgiving... again.”
“I love Thanksgiving!” Kerrianne’s eyes are wide and beaming. “Two is the perfect number of Thanksgivings. No, maybe three.”
Royal shakes Kerrianne free before coming over to me. He wraps me in a hug, too, and a throat is cleared.
“Jeez. You married her, it’s not my fault you haven’t claimed her.
I’m just excited to see her.” Royal lets me go, and I look to Valor.
His eyes are narrowed, his lip curling, and his shoulders are tight up around his ears.
“Especially since I also got you the other information concerning her that you asked for and I have good news to report.”
“Valor.” I put my hand on his chest. He covers it with his own, and there’s more of that warmth from last night between us. “If you kill your brother before dinner, then we won’t get to eat the food when it’s fresh and hot, and that would be a massive disappointment to me.”
My words draw his eyes from Royal. His features soften and he mouths, “Two.” I roll my eyes, and he turns his head back to me before mouthing, “Three.”
Shifting away from him, I hope no one was paying attention to us. Royal is picking out chairs for him and Kerrianne at the dining room table, and Ian is helping Betty pull the pan from the oven with a whole turkey roasted to a perfect brown color.
Thank goodness for small mercies.
“Now, no one get any crazy ideas. I had help.” Betty beams at the turkey.
“Probably for the best,” Royal murmurs a little loudly behind us.
I draw a sip of my water, not wanting to say anything, but I’ll for sure offer to bring more food in the future and no more store-bought buns.
After much insistence, Betty lets me help her do the bare minimum of carrying food over to the informal dining room table to eat. Even being ‘informal,’ it seats eight, so the six of us have plenty of room.
Food is placed out on the table, prayers are said, and we’re ready to eat as Ian asks, “So, what’s this other thing that Royal worked on for you?”
“It’s nothing important.” Valor dismisses his father’s inquiry.
“Nothing important or not fit for the company?” Ian presses for more while he continues cutting through the piece of turkey on his plate.
“The latter.” Valor raises an eyebrow.
I try to disappear into my chair at his side because if it has something to do with me, which Royal implied it did, I don’t want to make myself more ostracized than I am.
It would be nice to know, though, what it is they’re saying about me.
Maybe get a chance to defend myself against whatever it is they think.
“So, Antonella. You’ll maybe wait until summer to become wolf, then?” Betty is trying to be helpful, I think, changing subjects from ‘work.’
But without even knowing the answer, I’m quick to throw a piece of turkey into my mouth to buy myself some time.
“Mom, she doesn’t even know how it works. I was letting the first half of the information sink in.” Valor defends me .