Sweet Temptation by Cora Reilly

Elia came toward me, carrying two cups. “You look like you need a coffee.”
“I need a drink and a shower.” Despite my lack of experience with alcohol, I
suddenly got why people craved a drink after days like this.
He laughed then handed me the cup. “Coffee is a start, don’t you think?”
He sat down beside me, again closer than was appropriate. This time it didn’t
bother me because now I knew the truth. I took a sip of the black coffee. Usually
I drank mine with milk and sugar, but this felt good now. I regarded Elia openly,
not even bothering to hide my attention. He wore a tight white shirt that
accentuated his muscles and a black gun holster over it. I wondered if he was
good with weapons, if that was at least part of the reason why Cassio had chosen
him—or maybe his presence was only as a trap.
Cassio had set Elia up to do this. I had no doubt about it. Cassio was jealous.
He had admitted it himself, and Faro and Mansueto had confirmed it too. I
hadn’t expected him to be jealous enough to trick me like that, though. It
infuriated me, but beyond that, it made me really sad. If Cassio trusted me this
little, we had a long way to go for this marriage to work.
I set the cup down on the table then faced Elia. I leaned closer, gauging his
reaction. “I’ve been asking myself a question…”
His eyes shifted to caution, but the smile remained plastered on his face
“Does Cassio know?” I murmured.
His smile became less honest. “Know what?”
“That you like men.”
For an instant, Elia’s expression slipped before he could control it again. “I
don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh yeah?” I said. “I saw how you checked out that guy in the dog park. You
were flirting with him like you’ve been pretending to flirt with me. I’m not
blind. Maybe the men in our world don’t notice because they prefer to see what
they want to see, but I don’t care if you like men or women. Love is love.”
Elia shook his head. “I didn’t check anyone out. You can’t go around saying
something like that. You know what would happen to me if those rumors
spread.”
“I have absolutely no intention of telling anyone. It’s your personal
business,” I said. Officially, there weren’t any gay Made Men. It was ridiculous.
Boys learned to hide it if they liked other boys or they got killed. That was the
only reason why there weren’t any gay men in our circles. “But Cassio knows.”
I could practically see Elia’s thoughts racing as he tried to get me off track.
“If he thought I was gay, he’d kill me. The mafia doesn’t tolerate fags.”
I smiled. The insult was a nice touch. It didn’t work. “No, unless you don’t
make it public. And sometimes it comes in handy to have gay soldiers, especially
if someone’s as jealous as Cassio seems to be.”
Elia didn’t say anything. I could see that he was completely thrown off.
“This is—”
“Ridiculous? Yes, it is. Did Cassio ask you to come on to me to see if I
would bite?”