Sweet Temptation by Cora Reilly

My chest ached thinking of Cassio’s morning encounter with Daniele. I could
tell that Cassio hurt because of his son’s reaction to him. I needed to help
somehow, but first I needed to figure out why Daniele acted the way he did. For
some reason, I couldn’t imagine that Cassio had hurt his son in any way. Cassio
was certainly capable of the most depraved acts imaginable. The rumors of his
business practices had reached even my ears in Baltimore, but the way he looked
at his children, it was clear he loved them. No, it was something else between
them. I had a feeling it had something to do with Gaia, which was a problem
because Cassio refused to talk about her. Daniele didn’t speak at all, and I wasn’t
sure if it was wise to mention his mother around him. I made my way into the
kitchen with Simona in my arms and Daniele tiptoeing after me. His face was
tear-stained because he couldn’t find his tablet. I’d seen it up on the shelf in his
room, but decided not to give it to him. He needed to learn to be without that
thing. It wasn’t healthy how fixated he was on technology.
Sybil was already making waffles. The kitchen smelled of vanilla and warm
dough.
Elia and Domenico weren’t there yet, but I knew they were somewhere in the
house or Cassio wouldn’t have left. Loulou slipped under the table, probably
hoping for a repeat performance, but sweets definitely weren’t good for a dog. I
approached Sybil as Daniele knelt in front of the table to watch Loulou. “Let her
come to you, Daniele. She’s shy. Eventually, she’ll come. Give her time, okay?”
He nodded absentmindedly, but didn’t move otherwise.
“Can you cook some bacon as well?”
“For the dog?” Sybil guessed.
“I don’t want to force him to eat. Not when he doesn’t trust me yet. This is
the only way he’ll have breakfast.”