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“Is everything okay?” I asked, after a while.
She looked up. “Yeah, sorry. I honestly just want the sandwich, but I should probably get the salad.”
I studied her slight frame. “Why not have both?”
“My mother is kind of strict about that sort of thing. Even though she’s not here, I still always hear her telling me to eat the salad and deal with being hungry.”
I wasn’t sure what to say, but just then the waitress came back for Olivia’s order. She squirmed and asked for the calorie count of almost everything on the sandwich menu before finally ordering the salad with grilled chicken on the side. It was beginning to dawn on me that maybe Olivia wasn’t as carefree and happy as I’d initially thought. I watched her for a minute as she arranged her silverware a half dozen times and sipped her green tea, her eyes shifting over the table.
“Olivia,” I said carefully. “Are you feeling alright?”
Her gaze darted up and she smiled. “Yeah, honestly I’m just nervous around food. My parents have been practically grooming me to be Lucien’s wife for years and my mother is on me all the time about what I eat and what I wear and all that shit. And she’d probably be horrified if she heard me say shit just now.”
I frowned. “Why is that?”
“Well, you’re from our world and you know how valuable a marriage to an Esposito man is, especially Lucien because he’s underboss. My parents have lived their lives terrified that Lucien will go back on his promise to marry me if I gain too much weight or embarrass him somehow. Or get too close to a man who isn’t him, heaven forbid.”
I thought about how terrible I would have felt if my mother had constantly berated me about my weight or looks. Poor Olivia, no wonder she was a nervous wreck.
“That sucks,” I said. “Do you think Lucien would?”
She shook her head. “Lucien is one of the most honorable men I’ve met when it comes to things like that. His word is his bond. But my mother is a basket case of nerves so she just assumes the worst of him. What about your parents? You weren’t promised to anyone?”
“I’m beginning to realize my parents sheltered me from our world a lot,” I said slowly. “I had a job as an Instagram influencer and they didn’t seem to care, as long as I wasn’t bringing boys back to the house.”
Olivia’s cheeks flushed a little and she leaned forward, her fingers clutching her glass. She glanced over her shoulder and then whispered, “Have you, you know, done it before?”
I shook my head. “If you mean sex, then no. My mother told me to save it because I’d likely end up with a more traditional man. But I have fooled around a little before and I’ve done a little with Duran. Sorry if that was too much information.”
She let her head drop back and laughed. “No, I don’t have anyone to talk to and I’m dying to know. Lucien is so stuffy and he won’t do more than kiss me until we’re married. He’s the responsible Esposito, that’s why my parents were alright with me staying here when I needed the extra security after the tensions with the Russians started. Lucien won’t touch me until I’m legally his and they know it. God, he can be such a bore sometimes.”
“So what does that make Duran?”
“What?”
“You said Lucien was the responsible Esposito. What does that make Duran?”
“Oh, everyone knows he’s the hothead, playboy son. Didn’t you know that?”
I shook my head, a little uncomfortable. I didn’t like the idea of Duran with other women, and if Olivia’s assessment was correct, he probably had a string of ex lovers. I frowned at the mental image of Duran, naked as he’d been last night, tangled up in bed with a nameless woman far prettier than me.
“There was a rumor for a while that he got one of the Giuliani girls pregnant, but she just turned out to be fat.” Olivia sighed and took a drink. “Is that mean?”
I giggled into the back of my hand as the waitress arrived with our food. I set to work on the sandwich and Olivia began eating her food like a scared rabbit, as if she expected her mother to appear at any moment and knock it from her hands. We ate in silence and I thought about what she said, trying to steer clear of any invasive thoughts of Duran with other women.
“Why is Lucien like that?” I asked, after a while. “So strait-laced, you know.”
Olivia sat down her fork and lifted her coffee to her lips. “He didn’t used to be. It was a huge scandal when it happened, but one of the Romano girls got pregnant and apparently he’d slept with her at some point so she said it was his. It was a big deal. I remember it even though I was about ten at the time.”
“Romano, as in the Romano family?” I asked. “Like the boss’s family?”
Olivia nodded, her face serious. “My father is underboss so he was party to the whole thing. Apparently the boss threatened to kill him if he didn’t marry her, but Lucien stood his ground and said he would only marry her if there was a paternity test. The boss beat him bloody for weeks, he’s still got scars from it. Then finally the girl couldn’t take it anymore and admitted it was another man’s baby. Poor Lucien, I don’t think he’s trusted anyone since.”
I thought back to Lucien and Duran’s conversation this morning. It must have killed Lucien to see his younger brother show up at the house with me, a respectable girl and the daughter of one of the boss’ soldiers. He’d probably given him hell when I wasn’t around to overhear them.
“He’d kill Duran if he did anything to hurt you,” Oliva said softly, as if she could hear my thoughts. “Lucien is a good underboss and he’s very protective. Your father is one of his men so Lucien says he has a duty of care toward you in spite of his brother.”
“Really?” I asked. “He talked to you about me?”
