Page 92 of Auctioned to the Mafia Don
Breakfast becomes the most normal thing I have experienced since the auction, which is a depressing measurement but still true. Dolores coaxes Heath into three bites of toast by insulting the toast’s feelings. Erin eats everything placed in front of her because Dolores calls her a growing girl and says growing girls need fuel if they intend to argue properly. Omar drinks coffee in the doorway with the expression of a man surrounded by enemy forces he cannot shoot.
Stefano stays longer than I expect.
Not sitting. Not relaxing. Stefano doesn't relax so much as choose where to aim tension. But he remains near the window, watching Heath eat, watching Erin settle, watching Dolores command the room with a power no one else in the house seems willing to challenge.
When Dolores tells him to eat, he says, “I have work.”
“You have always had work.”
“I still do.”
“And yet you remain alive despite all my attempts to feed you.”
His mouth curves faintly. “Not all.”
She lifts one brow. “Do not make me tell stories in front of company.”
The corner of Omar’s mouth twitches.
Stefano gives him one look.
Omar’s face goes blank again.
I store that away for later.
Stefano moves toward the door. Erin looks up immediately, and Heath’s eyes follow a second later. It is subtle, the way both children track him now. Not trust. Not comfort. But awareness that the room shifts when he leaves.
He notices.
“Bellini will return this afternoon,” he says. “Dolores has the schedule. Maya has authority over the children’s care.”
My head turns.
He keeps going before I can react. “Omar has authority over the house. Try not to make that conflict more than necessary.”
“Define necessary,” I say.
“Ask Omar.”
“He’ll define it wrong.”
“Then argue quietly.”
Dolores snorts. “As if anyone in this house has ever argued quietly.”
Stefano looks at her. “I learned from the best.”
Something passes between them.
Fast.
Small.
Gone before anyone else might notice if they were not watching him as closely as I am.
Dolores’ face softens by a fraction.
Stefano leaves before it can become anything larger.
