Page 76 of Legacy of Deception

My excitement morphed into sadness momentarily. I wanted to give him everything because that was what he deserved in my opinion. “It’s not, but maybe I can get a temporary tattoo or something with an M.” That seemed like a good compromise.

“I’ll like it just as much.” His grin seeped through his words, his muscles rigid beneath me.

“I saw a blue bird today,” I said randomly. At least, it was random to him.

For me, I was testing something out. I had recently read about bird theory and how it was a great way to see if you and your partner were compatible. People were saying it gave them insight into how long they would last as a couple. I had a feeling we were going to do great, and Marco was going to pass with flying colors. He only had to react to my statement in a way that wasn’t merely brushing me off, more so genuinely curious and wanting to continue to talk to me. However, if everything we had been doing this evening was any indication, it wasn’t going to be a problem. I couldn’t speak for him, but I could stay like this forever, talking about anything and everything with him.

Angling his head, he elevated an eyebrow. “Do you know what kind of blue bird it was?”

My pulse sped up, and my palms grew sweaty as I splayed them over his black ribbed tank top. We were compatible, and we were going to be just fine. “I know it wasn’t a blue jay because it had an orange-brown chest.”

“It must have been an Eastern Bluebird.”

“How are you sure?”

“They’re like Northern Cardinals, residents of the city. They don’t migrate.”

Blinking, I laughed. “Explain.” I couldn’t process this idea that he knew so much about this particular topic. I mean, how? When? It felt like I had so many questions, so he should probably just start from the beginning.

Scratching his arm with his opposite hand, he grinned. “Carmine used to use bird watching as a way to pick up ladies.”

I knew there were a ton in the city, so people often brought their binoculars with them to Central Park, but I’d never known anyone to make a hobby out of it. A real life bird watcher. Well, in the past tense, that was. “And that worked?” I spluttered, still shocked by this notion.

“Sometimes.”

I couldn’t believe this was the first time I was hearing about this. I was going to give Capri some real shit about not telling me before. This was like prime gossip. It was actually interesting to me when I thought about it. The way I shared my secrets and gossiped more with Marco nowadays. Of course, there were still things I kept to myself, only feeling comfortable enough to share with Capri. It was reassuring actually because things had definitely shifted in my life, but that seemed to be something that would never shift…our friendship. “That phase definitely ended?” I was talking about Carmine and his thing with birds, but I was also talking about something bigger than that.

Taking me out of my head, he circled the conversation back around to the beginning. “Yeah, but sometimes he would take me along with him. It was boring, but I picked up on a few things. It was kind of hard not to.”

“Speaking of Carmine—”

“Not necessarily what I prefer to be talking about.”

I ran my hands over his pecs, relishing in how muscular they were. “I’m serious. Is he, or any of your brothers, attending the cocktail fête?”

I had never been to one, but I knew these things happened on Madison Avenue quite often. Each time, the Delucas were present. Not all of them, but some. Capri almost never attended, and neither did Siena. However, these events were typically for a charity event or gala of some sort, and they were almost always splattered across the front pages of every popular news outlet. You couldn’t pass a newspaper stand without seeing the headline.

They were the mark of a new era in the world of the elite, and this one in particular was a cocktail party celebrating the expansion of a designer’s clothing line into menswear atelier. He’d be giving a preview of his new collection before New York Fashion Week to the attendees and pre-selling his designs so they could be the first to wear the pieces. All of the money earned at the celebration would be donated to a charity of his choosing, one that was most near and dear to his heart.

“That’s right. I forgot you know all about it.” He snapped his fingers, probably thinking to himself how Capri had told me previously. “I sincerely doubt Carmine or any of my brothers will be going, considering I already got strict orders to make sure I walk the red carpet, so our family is represented at the event.”

“Do you usually go to these things?”

“Oh, yeah. Different causes, but otherwise, they’re all the same.” His tone was bored, clipped, as he seemingly would have rather talked about anything else.

My eyes flared. “Not this time.” We weren’t going to let this be the same as all of the others. Plus, Marco deserved to have a little fun if he felt forced to attend. He may as well have made the most out of it, and I’d make sure we did that.

Looking around, he questioned jokingly, “Where’s the crystal ball you’re using to tell me that?”

I shook my head. “I’m going, so it’s already different than usual.”

He gasped, gently pushing my hair down my back instead of over my shoulder like it had been. “Don’t tell me someone has already asked you.”

“Dumbass. Aren’t you going to ask me?”

“I could, but no pressure. If you go, you do me a favor, and if you don’t go, you do me two.”

Making an effort to get off his lap, I went to roll onto the seat beside us. “On second thought, I’m sure I could get in some other way.”