Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 32729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
“It’s not exactly hard, and yes, of course I know.” She rolled her eyes. He had a six-digit code. Three dates that were important to him brought together to make the code. She had tried it out within a month of their marriage, and saw the money, jewels, and some contracts. Not very exciting, so she had left it.
“Breakfast,” her father said, sounding nervous.
Liana went to the pantry, grabbing the carton of flour, and she made a couple of trips until she came back and looked to her brother and father. “Pumpkin pancakes?” she asked.
Both of them looked happy.
“You cook?” Diego asked in a mocking term.
“Yeah, I do.” She glared at him, and then turned back to the fridge. “When Mom was alive, she preferred to cook meals for the family. Her mother taught her, and her mother before her, and so on and so forth. She started to teach me and Enzo. After she died, I continued her teaching with my grandmother, until she passed. I still use their recipes, as well as a whole bunch of new ones.”
“She is a damn good cook,” her father said.
Liana was not there to be praised. She wanted to be with her mom. There had been a few moments throughout her life where she wished she had her mother by her side. This was one of them. The times before when she got her first menstrual cycle. Talking about it with her brother and dad, they had been considerate, but it wasn’t the same. She would have loved to have her mother to talk to about her wedding night. But she had her friends. She made a note to call them, to see how they were.
After she broke the eggs into a jug, added the milk and some melted butter, she got to working on the dry ingredients and nearly forgot the canned pumpkin while she was at it.
****
If it hadn’t been for his brother-in-law, Diego would not have gotten any food for breakfast. He had his doubts on Liana being able to cook. She had not stepped foot inside his kitchen at home, nor their penthouse apartment. He had a cook who handled his meals. A man he trusted.
However, the pumpkin pancakes with maple syrup and bacon were to die for. They were buttery but not too sweet, with just the right amount of pumpkin to make them taste so damn good. They were amazing. He was in shock. Liana could at least cook pancakes. According to her father and brother, she could cook a lot of other things.
He expected her to sit with them at the breakfast table, only Liana never joined them. He, instead, sat with her father and brother-in-law.
“She’s not coming to sit down,” Enzo Jr. said. “She’s too pissed at you to sit with you.”
“Son!”
“What? He should know the truth, like the fact she wants to get the D-word.”
He saw Enzo glare at his son.
“D-word?” he asked.
The Valentino family had always been close. He was aware of how loving Enzo was to his children. Enzo had been the first man to ever fall in love with his wife. Diego had never met Liana’s mother, but he heard the tales and saw the pictures. It had been rare, but they had an arranged marriage and a love that developed out of that arrangement.
Diego knew her death had come at a great cost to Enzo and the whole family. Unfortunately, it had been a hit at a gas station, and she had been at the back of the car. The bullet was intended for Enzo but had hit his wife. From what he heard, she had died in his arms, telling him how much she loved him.
He didn’t believe in love or connection, or soulmates. People described Enzo and his late wife as having been a true love. So much so, that no one ever mentioned her name. This was not out of a lack of respect, but to honor her, and to help Enzo heal.
“My sister wants to divorce your ass. You seriously hurt her last night.”
“That is not going to happen,” he said. There was no way he was going to be the first one who accepted a divorce in the Colombo Mafia. His name would not be smeared like that.
Enzo Jr. clicked his tongue and looked away. Even Enzo didn’t look convinced.
“What?”
“Liana is a very strong-willed woman. You hurt her, and she does not wish to stay married to you. You are going to have a difficult time attempting to convince her otherwise,” Enzo said.
“Strong willed? Do we even know the same woman?” Diego asked.
Enzo Jr. lightly slapped his father on the chest. “See, I told you, you were making a big mistake suggesting she be agreeable. He now thinks she is a doormat.”
Diego looked between the two men.