Then Maceo led her one deck below, to where an elaborate dinner table was set out for two.
The vichyssoise starter was perfect, the poached salmon with grilled sweet potato equally mouthwatering. But what struck Faye most was how much she was enjoying this less intense Maceo. How his infrequent but jaw-dropping smiles curled around her senses, warming that cold, dark place where fear and isolation lived.
She knew it was temporary, that the knot would be back in its rightful place in a few hours. But banishing that warmth was the hardest thing she’d ever done. So she let it linger, lull her into a place of comfort. Just for a little while.
Too soon the plates were cleared, the after-dinner coffee drunk. Nervous over what was coming, she refused Maceo’s offer of a nightcap and went with him into another stunning salon, this one partly shielded from the cool night breeze.
He sat down next to her, arms spread over the back of the sofa, his stance deceptively relaxed even though she sensed he was anything but. Hooded eyes speared her.
‘There’s something on your mind.’
It wasn’t a question.
Faye swallowed. ‘You said I could trust you to be straightforward with me.’
He tensed, eyes narrowed. ‘Si,’ he affirmed.
Trepidation drummed wildly in her belly, but she reached into her clutch bag.
‘Good. Here’s your chance to prove it.’ She held out the picture, aware her hand was shaking, but knowing this felt too big for her to be distracted by that weakness. ‘Who is this man?’
CHAPTER EIGHT
AT FIRST HE looked puzzled, and then, deciphering exactly what she held, his hand jerked off the back of the sofa to curl around hers, his features turning dark.
‘Where did you get this?’ he growled, thunder rumbling in his voice.
Every cell in her body quivered. ‘Does it matter? I have it.’ She pointed to the third man in the photo. ‘And I want to know who this is.’
He dropped her hand as quickly as he’d grasped it. ‘Why the curiosity?’ he asked, clearly deflecting.
‘Why do you think? Because he looks a little like Luigi. Is there a family connection?’ she probed when Maceo remained statue-still, his features taking on the formidable look that had terrified her during their first meetings.
But she wasn’t terrified any more. He’d lowered his guard in varying degrees since then, shown her enough facets of himself to prove he was human. He hurt and mourned, hungered and smiled, even if in a more elevated realm than most.
She waited him out, watched him rise from the sofa, pace to the railing, his gaze settling heavily into the middle distance.
‘Si,’ he confirmed finally.
She waited for more. One minute. Two.
‘That’s all you’re going to give me?’
Tension gripped his whole frame. He exhaled slowly before turning to face her. ‘Every family has a black sheep. Pietro was the black sheep of the Caprio family. The dark secret no one liked to talk about.’
Faye swallowed. She knew all too well what he meant. She was the dark secret of her own fractured family. Most likely the reason Luigi had left and never returned.
‘But who was he to you? To Luigi?’
He shoved his hands deep into his pockets, rocked on his feet once. ‘He was Luigi’s fraternal twin brother.’
Faye gasped. ‘His twin?’ Her stepfather had had a close sibling and never bothered to tell her?
‘Don’t be taken in by that. Being twins didn’t mean they automatically shared a special bond. Dio, they didn’t even remotely share personalities. They were as different as night and day.’
‘In what ways, specifically?’
Maceo’s expression shuttered. But she hadn’t come this far to be deterred now.