“I see the alphas staring,” he mutters, making my lips twitch in amusement. They’re the only omegas at the table today, and I wonder how we’re going to fix our latest issue.
“Be a good girl and take a bite. Then I’ll start talking,” Dario says, pushing his luck.
I pull out the remote control from my dress pocket, while Rosa quietly pulls out her knife and lays it on the table.
“No bloodshed at the table, children,” Lyle murmurs, making Abbott chuckle.
Rosa pops a blueberry into her mouth and begins to chew, and Dario sits down next to me again, kissing my hair as he does so.
My lips part in surprise, and he shrugs saying, “I like your hair today. It reminds me of a fairy princess.”
Rosa shakes her head as she eats, and I can feel her disbelief and amusement. The Domino brothers are acting very oddly indeed.
“Please don’t give Verona a stroke,” Lyle grumbles. “I have a reputation to keep for not killing my house guests.”
“That’s what I get for trying to be nice,” Dario sighs. “Your uncle is a cunt, Rosalia.”
“Which one?” she asks, unbothered as she sips her coffee. “My grandparents were very fertile. Between them, there are many children.”
“Elio,” Ciro adds for context.
“Does anyone have any idea how his fingers are healing?” she asks. “I can’t believe Dr. Walsh managed to reattach them.”
“He didn’t have much choice from my understanding,” Pablo says. “I did some research on my computer on the video feeds, and he was held at gunpoint.”
“Sometimes, it’s best not to answer the house call,” I breathe, forcing myself to eat. Pablo and Rosa aren’t the only ones getting sidelong glances, and I don’t want to be the next subject of conversation.
“What is Elio up to?” Rosa asks, pulling the train back onto the tracks.
“He’s telling people your father has gone soft for not killing you yet,” Dario explains. “In his mind, you disappeared from the church, and haven’t been seen in public since. He’s telling the family you’re spitting in the face of tradition.”
“If my wedding was a normal one, and my father wasn’t batshit crazy, then maybe he would be correct. I’d go to people’shomes to visit and chat as a newly married wife. Instead, I am plotting my family’s demise in safety.”
“What’s his end game, and where did you hear this from?”
“Nico’s phone received a call this morning from one of Rosa’s aunts, demanding to know if this was true. Speaking of which, here is your phone, Nico. She was honestly kind of a shrew. I pretended to be my brother, and she couldn’t tell the difference,” Dario sighs, sliding Nico’s phone to him.
“I haven’t had much of a presence in the Accetta family outside of seeing them at the wedding, so it’s not any wonder she didn’t know my voice,” Nico says. “How much trouble is he stirring up, and if there’s a call to kill Renzo to replace him, do we save him?”
“Selfishly, I want to be the one to kill my father,” Rosa admits. “If Elio takes Papa’s place, it’ll cause enough upset that they may all boycott the charity event, citing it’s unsafe to attend.”
“We’ve discussed culling the family so we have less people we need to invite as well,” Silas says. “Should we begin now?”
“Yes,” Rosa says. “I want Elio’s head. I don’t much care how the rest of his men or his daughters are killed. He has an ex-wife who is currently living in his home, and Sheila is a miserable human as well. Unfortunately, his home is a large one. How do we feel about poison?”
“Like the kind the women in your family make?” I ask. “Isn’t there a way for them to know if they’re ingesting something that may be poisoned?”
“The cook doesn’t allow anything to pass through her kitchen that she hasn’t made. She bakes all of the desserts as well,” Rosa explains. “The best way to get poison into something would be in the milk or some type of liquid we know most of the household will drink. A maid would be the best option. Chef Etna can’t be in the kitchen at all times.”
“Let us work on that,” Cassidy muses. “Shiloh, think we can blackmail one of Elio’s maids into this?”
“Oh yeah, Precious. I can make that happen. Give me a couple of hours, and I’ll start working off a list of those who need more money than Elio provides. We can throw one of them a bone,” he says.
“If it helps, Elio brings over his maids from Italy. He says it makes them more loyal because they’re in a country where they know no one. My uncle has deplorable hiring practices, but having maids who can’t speak English, means they’re more likely to stay quiet when they see something they shouldn’t,” Rosa says.
“So they’re innocent,” I muse.
“Yes. They don’t eat anything from the main kitchen, though. House staff are starved until they return to their homes to provide for themselves. He rents them all places to live in. They eventually do learn English in order to be able to survive here, but Elio’s view of his staff sucks,” she complains. “Play this carefully. Those who don’t speak English may be more suspicious of what you’re offering.”