A Taste of Pleasure by Chloe Blake

Author:Chloe Blake
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-04-12T17:57:25+00:00

Chapter 12

Dani quietly ate as conversation flowed around her. Marcello had opted out of surgery. She made a mental note to call him. Grace had taken over the kitchen at Via Carciofo, reducing their hours to three nights a week until Marcello was well. She’d decided to stay at Toni’s apartment, leaving the two of them alone a few nights during the week.

She and Toni alone? Why did the idea make her nervous?

Grace passed Sophia the last of the Caprese salad.

“So, Dani, Toni tells me you two attended the same wedding last year.” Dani choked on her wine and tried not to meet Toni’s gaze.

“We did. But I didn’t know of the connection to Marcello then. He never spoke of family.”

“That’s Marcello. Work is his life. Nothing else interferes. It’s a blessing and a curse.”

Toni pushed his plate away and rested his elbows on the table. “I’ve never known him to be unhappy with his life.”

His mother began stacking dirty plates. “Marcello never slowed down. Never kept up his relationships with women. And now he’s in the hospital with no children of his own.”

Dani stabbed at her salad, the words hitting home harder than she’d like.

“Ma, stop.” Toni pulled the dirty plates from his mother’s hands. “Sophia and I will clean up.”

“Okay, but we need room. I’ve made tiramisu.”

The table groaned, too full to even think of another bite. His mother chuckled.

“Fine. You’ll eat it later. Dani, I’m curious what you will think of my tiramisu. My son couldn’t stop talking about the wedding cake you made for Destin.”

“Yeah, Papà even tried to make it once.” Sophia scrunched her face and shook her head.

Really? This was news. Dani looked at him, but he was busy trying to get Sophia to hand over her phone. Dani recalled his intent to eat that icing off her body. She absently touched her chest, as if she could still feel his lips on her skin.

He’d just gotten a divorce then and she remembered Nicole saying that he’d been acting like a man out on parole. In other words, he wasn’t looking for a relationship. But she couldn’t help but feel that he seemed different. Less reckless and more guarded. She wondered just how nasty the divorce had been, and based on what she witnessed the other night, what was really going on between him and his ex.

Toni’s mother finished off the last of the wine. “So, Dani, I hear you worked with Andre Pierre.”

Dani tensed. “Yes, for a while.”

“What’s he like?”

Toni was silent and she wondered if he was thinking about their conversation at the canal. It was a fair question; Andre was famous, after all.

“He’s...charismatic.” Toni’s lips pressed together. Dani wondered if he was thinking of the internet story. “He’s definitely no Marcello. That’s for sure.”

“Well, few are. But I wonder why he would say that? Two Michelin stars is nothing to sneeze at.”

Toni cleared his throat. “No, it isn’t. You must be very proud, Dani.”

Dani nodded half-heartedly, wondering why his compliment felt like a dig.

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