Ginevra laughed lightly. “Really?”
“Yes. Have you ever had it—poutine?”
The memory of the one time she had tried the French dish of fries, cheese curds, and dark gravy seemed to come to the forefront of her mind with a heaviness, taking with it all of her happiness.
Cara didn’t miss Ginevra’s change in expression. “Something wrong?”
A typical mother.
Caring.
Concerned.
Loving.
Like hers.
“I had poutine once,” Ginevra said, “with my mother and sisters. Mama made it because Greta saw a recipe on the internet—looked fun, I guess.”
Cara quieted for a moment. “Ah.”
“I liked it.”
“Ginevra.”
She peeked up through her lashes, but Cara’s soft smile faded. Instead, she found sympathy and understanding in the older woman’s gaze. “I’m aware of your current circumstances, and what brought you here.”
“Oh.”
“I’m so very sorry about your mother’s passing. You are too young to be without your mother, and I bet that because you have two younger sisters, you feel you need to fill that role for them now. Except being here makes that impossible, doesn’t it?”
“Entirely.” Ginevra shrugged. “And thank you. I try not to think about it ... it’s easier.”
Well, mostly.
“Once,” Cara said, “there was a time when I, too, was a woman who did not want the legacy of the mafia following me, or the life I was just given and told I belonged to. I know what this world can sometimes make you sacrifice for this, and I’m sorry that they took your normalcy from you for the benefit of men who do not care what will happen to you because of their choices.”
Ginevra dragged in a burning breath, surprised at the ache in her chest. “I didn’t ask for what my half-brothers did. But I had no choice—if not me, then my sisters. I was willing to be whatever they needed for me to be so that my sisters didn’t have to.”
“And you worry for them now because you’re not with them to stand in where they might have to,” Cara replied. “I can hear it in your voice.”
“Every single night. I worry for hours. I can’t sleep.”
Cara sighed. “I am not supposed to talk about the things my husband knows, or his contacts with other crime families outside of his own. Not our way, you see.”
“I suppose.”
“But ... I will make an exception for you, Ginevra.” Cara smiled, that twinkle back in her eye as she said lowly, “From what I understand, and from what Gian has gathered, New York will be a better place for you and your sisters when this ends ... one side is winning, and it’s the one you want to win.”
Ginevra straightened on her chair, taking that statement in, and what it meant.
“And for now,” Cara added, “no one will blame you for focusing on yourself, and your own happiness. Because there is nothing else you can do when these men ... they make our choices. We make the best of it and say to hell with them when we can. You didn’t ask for this life, but you can do amazing things with it, Ginevra. I hope you’re aware of that.”
The server came around the table, stopping the two from saying anything more on the topic. Food piled high on a silver platter that the woman balanced on her arm had Ginevra’s stomach rumbling.
She could absorb Cara’s words later.
When she was alone ...
• • •
“Have you pried as much information from her as you could, Ma, and can I take her home with me now?”
Ginevra and Cara spun around from the piece of artwork they had been admiring behind the restaurant’s bar. Done with their lunch, Cara had called, so Chris could come back around to pick up Ginevra anytime he was ready.
Someone else came instead.
Cara grinned at the sight of Corrado standing behind them with his hands tossed into the pockets of his suit’s slacks. “Is that the only reason you assume I wanted to have lunch with her?”
Corrado’s gaze drifted to Ginevra; his usual intensity colored by a clear affection. “Of course not, Ma. She’s amazing without all the other interesting bits with me and Alessio. She doesn’t need us for that.”
“And you would be right,” Cara said.
Ginevra smiled and stared down at the floor.
“And yes, we’re done,” Cara added, “so you can sneak her back, and hide her away from the world, Corrado.”
“Thank you, Ma.”
Cara pointed a finger at him, her gaze narrowing. “I do, however, want to see more of you, if you will be staying in this city. It’s not acceptable for you to be here for two months, and I see you all but one time. I don’t like that.”
“I will fix that.”
“Make sure. Oh, and Alessio, too. Although, I have seen far more of him than you ... pick up the slack, huh?”
“Noted, Ma.”
Ginevra hid her grin at Cara chastising her son by continuing to stare at the floor. She only looked up when Cara touched her arm with a soft touch.
“Thank you for joining me today,” Cara said, winking, “and we will do it again soon. I promise.”
“I can’t wait.”
It wasn’t a lie, either.
“Your driver is outside, if you’re ready to leave, Ma,” Corrado said. “I chatted with him before I came in.”
Cara nodded. “Good. I have errands. Take care of this woman, Corrado.”
“Will do.”
Corrado leaned down to press a quick kiss to his mother’s cheek when she stopped at his side before passing him by. A simple wave of her delicate hand over her shoulder was all Ginevra saw of his mother before Cara disappeared out the front of the business.
Just like that, her focus was back on Corrado.
And that sly grin of his as he stepped closer to her until she had to walk backward from his closeness. Not that she went far—her back hit the edge of the bar, and she was cornered. Except it didn’t really feel like he cornered her, not when she liked being caught by Corrado.
He stared down at her, his brown eyes darkening before he dropped a quick kiss to Ginevra’s mouth without asking if he could or should. She didn’t mind that, either, taking his kiss and reveling in the way he owned her.
All too soon, he was pulling away.
But he didn’t move away.
Corrado’s thumb stroked her bottom lip, and then drifted over the edge of her jaw as he asked, “Did you enjoy yourself?”
“Very much.”
“Good. My mother loves you.”
“She’s ... amazing, too.”
Corrado cocked his head to the side with a curious eye. “She is, and so are you.”
“Do you lay that charm on for every woman that catches your eye, or am I a special case?”
“I never tried.”
She appreciated his frankness.
“And you’re quite special,” he added, winking.
Ginevra laughed. “You came to get me alone?”
“I did. Today has been long ... Alessio needed time alone. I’m giving it to him.”
“Did something happen?”
“Nothing that didn’t need to happen.”
Ginevra wasn’t sure if that was a good thing, but Corrado also didn’t seem like he would give her the chance to figure it out. Not before he leaned in, and found her lips with his own again in a soft, slow kiss that had her entire body heating as sparks lit up all of her nerve endings.