Heart of the Mafia King

Dinner

{Maisie’s POV}

Angelo began working on the seafood stock, and I began dicing, chopping, and mincing the ingredients for the tomato base. I added oil to the pot, and tossed in the onions, fennel, and salt, cooking them until the onions were translucent. Then I stirred in garlic and red pepper flakes, before adding my tomato paste. I stirred it for a minute before opening the bottle of white wine, pouring myself and Angelo both glasses, before adding some into the base. I cooked it up for a couple of minutes, stirring it before I added the crushed tomato’s, bay leaf, and oregano. Angelo finished with the seafood stock, straining it and pouring four cups into the tomato base that I prepared. I simmered it, before turning down the heat, and covering the pot allowing it to cook slowly. Once we knew it was done, Angelo added in all of the seafood, king crab, shrimp, cod, mussels, and clams, before covering the pot again and allowing it to finish cooking. I jumped up on the island, sitting with my legs crossed while I took a drink of the white wine from my glass.

“Mmm.. normally I’m not a big fan of wine, but this.. this is good.” I said softly, watching as he reached across me, grabbing his glass and taking a drink.

He sat the glass back down beside me, smiling as he did. “It’s one of my favorites, Margo really likes strawberry wine, but me, I usually prefer whiskey. If I’m drinking wine though, this is the best one by far.”

I smiled, taking another sip of my wine and doing a little happy dance. The food smelled incredible, I’d never had anything like this, I was always someone that adventured in cooking, but Robert hated seafood, so I didn’t really get to cook it. “It smells so good!” I giggled, kicking my feet off the edge of the island.

A loud buzzing from the other room let me know that my clothes were done in the washer. I sat down my glass and began to slide off the counter, when Angelo’s hands found my waist. He helped me down, waiting to let go until my feet were planted firmly on the ground. “T-Thank you..” I said, my voice soft and breathy. A man hasn’t touched me like this since my relationship started with Robert. The lingering feeling of his large, heavy hands, on my waist had my head spinning.

He moved back, smiling down at me as he turned his attention back to the food. “No problem, go ahead and put your stuff into the dryer, the foods practically ready.”

I smiled, turning and making my way back to the laundry room, I grabbed the things from the washer, tossing them into the dryer, trying hard to get my mind out of whatever gutter it was trying so hard to bury itself in. I felt a blush creep across my face, as I remembered how good it felt to have his hands touching my waist. I shook my head, trying hard to shake the thoughts out of my mind. He brought me here to be nice, and to help me when he barely knows me. He knows my darkest secret.. the fact that I’m the one who ki**** my ex. I slowly placed both of my hands on the dryer, feeling the vibrations, trying to ground myself. I leaned forward, holding onto the dryer, sighing deeply. When I felt a hand on the small of my back, I jumped, turning to face him.

“Sorry, you were taking awhile, and the food got done. When I came in here, you looked upset so I just wanted to check on you, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He smiled, an innocent, sweet smile.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to panic.. I just.. it’s been..” I sighed, rubbing my hands over my face. “I’m okay..” I said, smiling up at him.

She placed his hand on my shoulder. “No, you’re not, but if you tell me that you want me to believe that you are, no questions asked, then I’ll do that.” He said, before his eyes turned softer. “But, if you need to talk, or if you aren’t okay.. if you need something, anything, then tell me.. I’m here for you.”

I smiled up at him, I could feel my demeanor beginning to falter. “I-I.. I’m not okay.. but I will be.. right?” I asked, tears beginning to prick in my eyes.

He pulled me into a hug, rubbing my upper back softly. “Of course you will be, everything is going to be okay. You just have to get past the mentality that you did something wrong. You didn’t.. I promise you didn’t.. he was wrong for hurting you, and you.. what you did was an accident. You didn’t mean to ki** him.. there is no reason to spend the rest of your life with this pain, or with this fear, and you definitely shouldn’t be spending it behind bars. You deserve to have a life, a life where you get to decide what you want, what you feel, how you live!” He said, kissing the top of my forehead. “For now, you should come eat dinner, and when your clothes get done, I’ll help you take them up to your room. Then, you should take a nice hot bath, eat some of the cookies and cream ice cream that I got, and try your best to relax!” He pulled away smiling down at me. “Go on in the kitchen, I’ve got the food set out on the island.”

I pulled away, smiling up that him. “Thank you Angelo.” I turned, walking into the kitchen and sitting down at the island. He soon followed behind, and we ate dinner, it was nice, sweet, calm, delicious, the best dinner I’d had in years.