"Nana I hope you remembered to tone it down on the pepper. The gash on my lips from yesterday still aches."
Raul didn't look up from his phone as he talked. The flimsy singlet he was wearing did nothing to cover his chest. Around the little round dining table stood four chairs, and Raul was sitting on the one nearest to the wall. He had the seat leaned back to rest on the wall, and was balancing a leg over the other. All in all, he was a mouth watering sight.
"Nana?" He looked up, then smirked. "Well isn't it my sweet little Candy? Is that all for me?" He asked, referring to the tray Karla was holding.
She forced a smile. "Yes."
"Where is Nana?" All humor was lost in Raul's voice as he now watched Karla. His stare seemed to be accusatory, trying to pin a crime associated with his food to her.
"She already left." Karla explained, keeping up her fake smile and feigning a cheery tone. "I wanted to prepare something for you, so I got her permission and delivered it myself."
Raul raised an amused eyebrow. "And she agreed to that?"
"Yes."
"Now that's a surprise." He slid his chair forward so that it now stood erect, and tapped on the side of the table in front of him. "What are you waiting for? Cmon. Drop it."
After doing as told, Karla turned to leave, but Raul stopped her.
"Who said you can leave?" He asked. "Sit." He bobbed his head sideways, motioning at the chair beside him.
Slowly, and still trying to figure out what Raul was playing at, Karla sat down. She didn't say a word, or look at him. Instead, she placed both her fists on her laps and started down at the table. She saw the tray of food she had given to him being pushed to her.
"Eat. Till I tell you to stop." Raul ordered.
Karla didn't need to think about it to understand. Raul was making sure his food was not poisoned. If she displayed even the slightest hesitation, he would assume she had tinkered with his meal. He was acting just as cynical as Nana, not that she could blame them. A mafia don could never be too careful.
Calmly, Karla picked up a spoon, a fork, and an empty plate. She opened the serving dishes containing the spaghetti and sauce. The final product of the food she had prepared was white spaghetti, with tomato and egg sauce. Rolling a few spoons of spaghetti, then scooping some sauce, she began eating.
It was delicious! Thankfully, years of ordering takeouts hadn't rusted her cooking skills.
About five minutes passed, with Raul watching intently, before he smiled, a smile Karla did not see, and would have reminded her of the Kevin she once knew.
"That's enough! That's enough!" Raul exclaimed, so suddenly, it alarmed Karla, and caused her to drop her fork into the plate. Raul dragged the tray back to himself. Next he poked around it with the fork. "You almost cleared the plate. What the hell will I eat?" He murmured to himself.
"Uh... Sorry?" Karla apologized, even though Raul was clearly exaggerating. She hadn't eaten up to ¼ of the food. And he was the one who had told her not to stop eating till he said so.
Since there was only one fork present, Raul picked the same one Karla had used to eat, and twirled spaghetti around it. Karla watched him. Up close, she could now see the little slit on his lower lips. She likely hadn't noticed it the previous night because of the darkness. Raul put the fork into his mouth, dragged it out, and chewed.
Karla couldn't help thinking about how they'd just indirectly kissed, through the fork they shared. She then imagined the kiss wasn't indirect, but lip to lip. She would lick his lower lip, and feel his blood on her tongue. Licking her own lips, she would savor the taste.
Deep in her fantasies, she bit her lower lip, but to her benefit, Raul didn't notice. Instead, he paused his eating, and smiled.
"I can't believe you remembered my love for spaghetti." He said.
That was enough to jolt Karla back to reality. "What?" Her brain took a moment to reboot. "How could I forget? That's all you ever ordered when we hung out at restaurants as kids."
"I did. And you ordered whatever was on the menu, as long as it had meat." Raul smiled warmly, an expression that looked alien on him.
"I've toned down on the meat. I realized too much of it isn't healthy."
"I told you that every time. I can't imagine you finally listened."
"Well your influence stuck, even after you were gone."
It was unbelievable to Karla that they were having a regular conversation about their childhood together. The last time that had happened, Raul had exploded, causing the household to gossip. Yet here they were, discussing like there was nothing odd about it.
"Have you eaten lunch?" Raul asked, changing the topic. Karla shook her head. He then leaned back on his chair. "Sit on my thighs. We'll share."
Karla's eyes widened. "It's okay. There's some leftover in the kitchen. I'll eat that later."
"Are you disobeying me, Karla Nightingale?"
Considering the likely horrifying punishment associated with disobeying Raul, sharing a meal with him didn't sound so bad. As she sat on his lap, Karla wondered why she had objected in the first place. That was what she wanted, to get close to Raul. Maybe it was because she was feeling guilty, because she hadn't cooked for him out of her kind heart, but her intention to kill him.
Raul's hand moved to Karla's hips, and he shifted her, so that she balanced properly on his thighs. He then moved his hand to her knee. The other hand twirled a large portion of spaghetti round the fork. He brought it up to her mouth. Karla struggled a bit to fit the entire fork in her mouth, but she succeeded. She imagined she did not look sexy chewing that much food at once.
Karla looked into Raul's eyes, to see what he thought, but he wasn't looking back into her eyes. He was too distracted, gazing at her lips. She swallowed, and his eyes followed the motion down her neck. Slowly, he leaned forward. Soon, Karla could feel his breath on her neck. She threw her head back, to give him enough working space. His lips were near —she knew it— but he was taking his sweet time to kiss her neck.
Interrupting them, Tonio barged into the room. Raul sat up.
"Lord Raul!" Tonio yelled.
"Do you not know how to knock?" Raul snapped.
"I apologize, but an urgent matter came up."
Tension filled the room, and instantly drove away the passion that had been building up. Karla saw as Raul's expression steeled.
"Get up." He commanded Karla.
Not daring to try his patience, Karla moved to the seat beside Raul. Tonio leaned in almost immediately.
"Del Nico was killed as planned —before dawn— but there are some complications. A mercenary group and a lone assassin clashed while trying to hit Del Nico, and the group lost some of its members. They later won against the lone assassin, but they are demanding pay for damages. They want $6 million in total. They are threatening to come after you if you don't comply." Tonio whispered into his ear.
Raul sighed. "Why do people always need to be taught the hard way?" He turned to Karla. "Finish up the meal alone. I won't be returning." He stood up and began walking out the room.
Karla could feel it. She could feel Raul growing cold. She was back at square one —again.
TEASER: THE TRUTH ABOUT REECE