“Do you think because you are virtuous,

that there shall be no more cakes and ale?”

William Shakespeare, Othello

Liam got out of his truck and closed the door. He scrutinized the building as he walked across the gravel. They’d finished getting all the sheathing up and the wrap on last week. The roofers would finish tomorrow. The windows and doors were supposed to have been delivered over a week ago but still hadn’t arrived. He’d scheduled far enough in advance, so they’d have them here and ready to install as soon as the roof went on, and everything could be sealed up before December hit.

He pulled his cell from his pocket and called the window company, got their voice mail.

He rolled his jaw in frustration and then left a message. “This is Liam Dougherty. I’ve already left two messages and haven’t heard back from anyone, so I’d appreciate it if someone called me today to let me know what’s going on with our order. If we don’t get it soon, it’s going to put us behind. If that happens, you’re going to have a very unhappy customer on your hands.”

He disconnected, jammed the phone back into his pocket with a mumbled curse.

“What bit your ass, bro?” Burke asked, as Liam ducked under the yellow perimeter tape.

“This is the second time this year that I’ve had a problem with windows not being delivered when they were promised. We were supposed to have them ten days ago. I’ve left three messages to find out what the delay is, and if someone doesn’t get back to me today with a good reason and a guarantee that we’ll have them by the end of this week, they’re done.”

“Shawn had a problem with them a couple of months ago. He told me that when he called to find out what was going on, the owner told him he and his wife were going through a divorce, and she’d left him with a mess to try to straighten out in the office.”

Liam pulled a frown. “Everybody’s got shit to deal with. If they weren’t going to be able to fill the order on time, they shouldn’t have taken it. Now I’m locked in. If I tried to get them from another company at this point, it’d take at least six weeks. I don’t have that kind of time.”

“See if you can move some of the subs up a few days, and deal with the windows when they get here.”

“Yeah, you try getting a sub to change their schedule with only one or two days’ notice. And forget next week with the holiday.”

Burke held up his hands. “Only trying to be helpful. You don’t have to get pissy about it.”

“I’m not getting pissy! If those windows don’t get delivered soon, and I can’t switch things around, it’s going to push us back another week. With Thanksgiving next week, make that two, since we’re not working Thursday or Friday.”

“We’ve all had to deal with delays before, Liam. Yeah, it sucks, but something always comes up to throw a schedule off. You know that. So, whatever’s been going on with you the last few days, get over it. If you’re not slamming things around, you’re nitpicking over something trivial. Yesterday you reamed Elliot out because you didn’t like the way he tucked the wrap near the foundation wall. In case you haven’t noticed, people are starting to avoid you.”

“There’s nothing going on with me. And you’re the last one to point a finger at someone for wanting things done right, Burke.”

Liam started to push past his brother and felt his cell vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the screen. “You better be calling to tell me my windows are on the way,” he said when he saw the number.

He swiped the screen to accept the call. “Liam Dougherty,” he said in a firm tone and cast a glance at his brother.

Burke shook his head and walked away. Liam frowned after him. He wasn’t the one who had Caterina, the control freak, breathing down his neck for an account of every minute of every day. And after what happened in her room the day before yesterday, he didn’t particularly want to deal with her any more than he absolutely had to.

After getting a guarantee from the owner of the window company that his windows would be there on Monday, Liam ended the call, then joined his crew inside the building. If the windows arrived as promised, they could get everything sealed in before they halted work for the holiday.

He’d still need to play some catch up, but he could probably shift some of the subs, as Burke had suggested, and manage to get back on schedule. Then he wouldn’t have to tell Caterina they were behind and have her trying to micromanage him.

She needed to get another job until they were done with the construction. Something to keep her busy so she’d stop trying to do his. What did she do all day, anyway?

Liam conjured an image of her sitting at the top of the attic stairs. What was in those boxes that was so damn important she couldn’t wait for Antonio to take them down to her room? He’d considered turning around and leaving when he’d first seen her, before she knew he was there. But when he realized what she was attempting, he couldn’t let her endanger herself that way.

Yeah, and look where that got you. Locked in her room, supposedly by some crazy ancestral ghost, with a kiss as ransom.

He didn’t know what to believe about the story she’d fed him. A ghost aunt who held people hostage until they did what she wanted? It was a big pill to swallow, but he hadn’t been able to figure out how Caterina could have locked the door or how it had just drifted open after Rosa supposedly got what she wanted.

And why would Caterina try to trick him into kissing her? He doubted she’d wanted to lock lips with him any more than he had with her. Not that he hadn’t wondered what she’d taste like. That didn’t mean he’d intended to find out. He’d just been curious.

He wasn’t curious anymore. He was furious. Furious because she’d made him burn in a way he hadn’t imagined possible. Not with her. Maybe not with any woman. And now, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t wipe the taste of her from his mind. Worse, he had a dangerous craving for more.

THERE WOULD BE eleven for dinner tomorrow. Caterina would be cooking for a crowd and was glad for it.

She would make all the traditional fare because that’s what everyone looked forward to, expected, and because it was tradition. But she would put her own touch on things: a twist on the stuffing for the turkey; the sweet potato casserole; add a bit of lemon and lime zest to the cranberry sauce. Just a few little tweaks to infuse some surprise to tease the palate.

Thanksgiving had always been Caterina’s favorite holiday. She used to love helping her mom with the meal, breaking up bread to dress the turkey, and grinding fresh cranberries in the old, metal hand grinder that they would bolt to the side of the table and then manually turn the handle to crush the berries. Cat still used it, not because it was convenient—it wasn’t—but because it was a link to her mom, a connection. It was during those times, spent with her mother in the kitchen, that her love of cooking took root.

As she headed for the kitchen to start prepping things, the front door swung open, and Burke, Liam’s brother, walked into reception with a little girl in tow.

“Good morning, Burke.”

No one else was in reception, so Cat stopped to see if she could help him with anything. “This is the first time I’ve seen you over here. Are you looking for your brother?”

“Hey, Caterina. No, for Antonio. I’ve got a remodeling job starting up next month that I brought him in on. I thought if he was around I could grab a few minutes to talk to him about it.”

“He’s not here. He and Lucia volunteered to pick up some of the stuff I need for tomorrow’s meal, so I could do the baking and some of the prep work. They probably won’t be back for at least another hour. Do you want me to have him call you later?”

He shook his head. “That’s okay. I’ll catch up with him next week.”

“So, who’s this?” Cat asked, smiling down at the adorable girl holding Burke’s hand. She had his eyes, the same blue-green that his brother had as well, but dark hair, inherited from her mother no doubt, as Burke’s was blond, like Liam’s. It made for a stunning combination. Burke would probably have his hands full fending off the boys when she got older. She was going to be a beauty.

“This is Riley. She’s—”

His cell phone rang, and he glanced down at the screen. “Sorry. It’s one of our clients. Do you mind?”

Caterina shook her head. “Take it,” she said, waving a hand in the air.

Burke listened a moment, frowned. “I’m sorry he’s giving you a hard time, Mrs. Fey. Let me see what I can do. I think the county offices close at one today because of the holiday, but I’ll shoot over there now to see what I can do, okay?”

He listened again. Cat could hear a woman’s voice on the other end. She couldn’t make out the words, but from her tone she sounded quite distressed.

“I know it’s upsetting,” Burke said soothingly, “but I’ll get it straightened out. The stairway is supposed to be grandfathered, so he shouldn’t be able to do that. Just hang tight, and I’ll call you as soon as I know something.”

He disconnected a moment later and shook his head.

“Problem?” Cat asked.

“County inspector put a stop work order on one of our jobs. Shawn’s the lead on it, but he took the day off, so he could go with his wife to her obstetrics appointment, which is why the client called me. Now I’m going to have to go talk to the chief inspector to see what I can do.”

Burke looked down at Riley and sighed. “I’m really sorry, honey, but we’re not going to be able to go to Chuck E. Cheese’s for lunch. I’ve got to take care of a problem for work, and unfortunately, you’re going to have to come with me. But I’ll make it up to you, okay? I promise I’ll take you another time.”

Riley looked down at her feet. “It’s okay,” she said with an accepting but disappointed sigh. “Am I going to be bored out of my gourd?”

Caterina bit back a chuckle. She didn’t want to make light of the girl’s feelings, despite finding her question amusing. How many times had Burke had to drag her on an appointment and used that expression as a warning, she wondered, only to try to make it up to his daughter later?

“I’m afraid you might be, but I don’t have any other option. Aunt Becca and Uncle Shawn had to go to the baby doctor, and I don’t know anyone else I could leave you with for a couple of hours on such short notice.”

Riley sighed again. Cat’s heart went out to the girl. She could envision her sitting in a stuffy office, full of adults, with nothing to do while her dad tried to deal with work problems. No might about it, she’d absolutely be bored out of her gourd.

“If you’d like,” she offered without giving it any more thought, “you could leave her here with me and pick her up after you deal with the problem. I’m going to be here all day making cookies and doing some other baking for the holiday, and I’d love having a helper in the kitchen.”

“Seriously?” Burke asked. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“No, of course not. I love kids, and if she’d rather stay here, I’d be happy for the company.”

Riley was looking up at him like she wasn’t sure but thought maybe she’d just been granted a reprieve much more to her liking.

Burke got down on his haunches, on her level. “Would you like to stay here and bake cookies with Miss Caterina, Riley, or do you want to come with me? It’s your choice.”

“Oh, I’d much rather bake cookies,” she blurted without hesitation. “I like being with you and everything, but, well…”

“It’s okay, pumpkin.” Burke leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “It doesn’t hurt my feelings if you’d rather stay here than go to some boring office with me. To tell you the truth, I’d much rather stay here and make cookies, too, but I have to take care of this problem.”

“’Cause you’re an adult and sometimes adults have ‘sponsibilities they gots to take care of.”

“Right.” He tapped her on the end of the nose and then stood back up and faced Cat again.

“I shouldn’t be more than two hours, three at the most if they give me a problem.”

“Don’t worry about it. Like I said, I don’t have any other plans for the day, so we’ll just be here making magic in the kitchen.”

“Do you know magic?” Riley asked, her eyes going wide.

“Cooking is like magic,” Cat said, smiling broadly at Riley’s expression. “Would you like me to show you how?” She held out a hand.

Riley nodded enthusiastically and, giving a wave to Burke, skipped across the reception area and wove her fingers through Cat’s.

“Okay then. I guess I’m old news when there’s magic brewing.” Burke winked at Cat. In looks, anyone seeing him and Liam together would easily guess they were brothers, but Cat thought the similarity ended there. She’d never met their brother Shawn but guessed there’d be a strong resemblance there as well.

Burke seemed easygoing, friendly, approachable. From her limited exposure to him, she liked him. She could say none of those things about Liam and wondered what had happened in his life that made him the way he was.

“WOULD YOU LIKE to do the other one by yourself?” They were putting together pumpkin rolls that would go on tomorrow’s dessert table. Her mother had always made them for the holidays, so she kept up the tradition. Caterina had made the sponge cakes the day before, but she and Riley had made the cream cheese filling together and were now finishing them off.

“Sure.” Riley unrolled the cake log the way Cat had shown her and peeled off the wax paper that kept it from sticking to itself. Scooping up a large dollop of the filling, she slathered it on the cake, glancing up at Caterina every few seconds for confirmation that she was doing it correctly.

“You’re doing a great job, Riley. Are you sure you’ve never made these before?”

“I never did. I never even baked anything else either.” She held the tip of her tongue against her upper lip, concentrating intently on the job at hand, scooping up more filling, and spreading until she’d managed to cover the entire cake.

“Can I roll it up like the other one too?”

“Go for it. When you’re done, we’ll wrap them in plastic wrap and put them in the refrigerator. Tomorrow, when it’s time to set out desserts, I’ll sprinkle them with confectioners’ sugar to make them pretty.”

When the second roll was complete, Riley ran her finger around the empty mixing bowl to scrape up the remnants of cream. “My dad lets me make waffles in the toaster, but this is more fun.” She licked the filling off her finger and then looked up at Cat with an impish grin.

“I’m a big fan of toaster waffles myself.” Cat pulled a box of plastic wrap out of the long drawer on the work island and tore off two pieces. “I like to cover mine with fruit and whipped cream. What about you?”

“I only had them plain, but I like whipped cream. Maybe my dad will buy some and I can try that.”

“You only put syrup on them?” Cat asked, as she wrapped the pumpkin rolls in plastic.

“No.” Riley shook her head. “Just toasted.”

Who ate toaster waffles plain? Were her parents trying to limit her sugar intake?

After putting the pumpkin rolls in the refrigerator, Cat returned to the island and pulled the two trays of macaroons forward that had been cooling there after she and Riley made them. Cat had let Riley form the cookies before putting them into the oven. If she’d done it herself, they’d all be the exact same size, measured out and leveled off, in perfect rows, precise.

As it was, no two looked the same. Some were the size of grapes, some of golf balls, and a few were big enough to share. A few others were flattened like pancakes and had turned out to be macaroon crisps instead of the soft, chewy cookies most people were used to.

Cat had caught herself about to reshape Riley’s cookies as she made them, pretty them up, even them out, when she’d been struck with a memory of one of her own first baking experiences. Mom had let her make a cake for a Fourth of July party. She’d only been a couple of years older than Riley was now. She didn’t remember if it had come out lopsided or tasted any good, but she did remember how proud she’d felt that she’d done it on her own.

“Do we get to put chocolate on these now like you said?” Riley asked.

“Yep. We’re going to dip some of them in chocolate, and we’ll leave some plain. That’s what this is for.” Cat reached for the chocolate she’d had warming in a small melting pot on the side of the island. “I’ll do the first one to show you how, and then you’re on your own, kid.”

She took one of the cookies, turned it upside down, dipped the top into the chocolate, and gave it a slight swirl to prevent drips as she lifted it out. She put it on a piece of parchment and then slid the pot of chocolate closer to Riley.

“Your turn, sweetie.”

Riley took a cookie and plunged the top into the chocolate, getting as much on her fingers as she did the macaroon. She put it on the paper, dripping chocolate on the island as she transferred it, and then scratched her nose with the back of her hand, leaving a trail of the chocolate on her cheek and upper lip. What remained on her fingers she licked off.

“How’s that?” Riley, a chocolate-faced munchkin, beamed up at Cat with pure delight shining from her beautiful, aquamarine eyes.

“I couldn’t have done it any better.” Cat ran a hand over Riley’s hair. “It’s perfect.”

Riley’s face lit up, and she reached for another cookie to dip.

“Thanks for helping me today, Riley. I hope you’re having a good time because you’ve certainly made it more fun for me.”

“Yes.” Riley’s head bobbed up and down emphatically. “I’m having a great time. Daddy lets me help make stuff sometimes too. I’m not allowed to use the sharp knives yet or cook on the stove, but he lets me do toast and make sandwiches and stuff like that. But this is way funner.”

“I’m glad you’re having fun. I used to love spending time in the kitchen with my mother when I was growing up: cooking, baking, learning the names of all the different spices and what they tasted like, how different ingredients could completely change the taste of something. When I say cooking is a kind of magic, it’s true.”

Cat picked up one of the macaroons, gave it a quick swirl in the melted chocolate, and instead of putting it on the parchment to let the chocolate firm up, bit into it with a moan of delight. “You take a few unrelated ingredients, some that don’t taste good alone, but you mix them together, bake them, and then—”

She leaned lower, close to Riley. “Magic,” she whispered with reverence and a wink for the girl. “Sweet, chewy, delicious, golden-brown mounds of magic.”

Riley giggled. “Can I have one?”

Cat straightened and slung a hand on her hip. “Well, of course you can! You were the chef, after all.”

Riley followed Cat’s example, although her swirl was more of a dunking that included most of her fingers again. She took a bite, chewed, and looked up with a dimpled grin that pierced Cat’s heart and filled it with longing. She wanted a child of her own someday, and if she could place an order, one like this would suit her fine.

“These are yummy!” Riley finished her cookie, then stuck her fingers in her mouth and proceeded to suck off the chocolate that hadn’t found its way to her upper lip, her chin, or the tip of her nose.

“We’ll pack some in a tin for you to take home to share with your mom and dad since, like I said, you were the chef, after all. I’ll bet they’ll be super proud of what a great job you did making them. You can take some of the pumpkin roll, too, since you did all the filling and rolling. And I’ll give you a bag of the sugar you need to sprinkle on top to make it look prettier.”

Cat reached into one of the cabinets under the island, where she kept an assortment of containers, and pulled out a tin large enough to hold a dozen cookies and half of a pumpkin roll. She got a sandwich baggie out of the drawer, put about a half cup of confectioners’ sugar in it, and set it beside the container.

“I don’t gots a mom,” Riley said matter-of-factly, as she continued dipping and lining up cookies on the parchment. “She had to go to heaven when I was little, but Daddy’s not going to believe I did these by myself. He’ll be as proud as Peter. He’s a peacock! Daddy read me about them in Peter the Peacock, and Peter’s the proudest of all the animals.”

Riley licked more chocolate from her fingers, errantly wiped a little more down the side of her chin. “He likes to strut. Sometimes when I do something good my dad says he’s proud as Peter Peacock, and he does this—”

She slid off the stool Cat had pulled over to the island, so Riley would be high enough to work there, put her hands on her hips, puffed up her chest, stuck her nose in the air, and, taking sweeping steps, pranced to the end of the island and back. “That’s how you strut. I didn’t know how, but Daddy showed me. He’s funny when he does it.”

Cat stared down at Riley, still absorbing that this adorable child had just told her she didn’t have a mother. “Wow,” she said, buying herself a moment to collect her thoughts. “That’s some good strutting.”

“Thanks. I can teach you if you want me to.”

“Well…I…yeah, that would be great!” How else, Caterina thought, does one respond to a motherless little girl, who’s just offered to show you how to strut your stuff, with all the sincerity of an angel?

LIAM STOOD JUST outside the opening to the kitchen, gaping at the sight in front of him. He couldn’t remember ever having been so confused about what he was feeling, and his muddled brain was the reason his feet were still rooted to the floor. His mouth hung wordlessly open as he watched Caterina Bonavera follow his daughter around a large center island in the middle of the Bonaveras’ cavernous kitchen.

They started around the far end, and Riley looked back over her shoulder, watching Caterina. “You’re doing great!” she said with a giggle, as if she were cheering her on.

“Well, that’s because I’ve got such a great teacher. Maybe you should—” Caterina looked up at that moment and saw him standing in the doorway. She came to a sudden stop and inhaled sharply, clearly surprised and, he guessed, not happy that he’d caught her with her hair down, so to speak. No, not the meticulous, always-in-control, Caterina Bonavera. She did still have her nose in the air—at least some things remained consistent.

“If you’re looking for Antonio, he isn’t here,” she said, and Riley turned to see who Caterina had spoken to.

“Daddy!”

Riley dashed toward him. Liam bent low, caught her, and then scooped her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.

“Hi, pumpkin.” He ruffled her hair, told himself to stay calm and hold what he had to say to Caterina until Riley wasn’t there to hear it. He didn’t want to upset her, and it wasn’t his daughter’s fault his brother had left her with one of the last people Liam would trust to look after her.

He glanced back at Caterina. She was the one standing with her mouth open now, looking at him as if he’d just sprouted a few more heads.

“You’re…Riley’s…father?” She shook her head as if trying to clear it. “I thought…I thought Burke…”

So, she hadn’t known, had assumed for some reason that Burke was Riley’s dad. Would she have offered to let Riley stay with her while his brother dealt with the Fey’s problem if she’d known the truth?

“Daddy, I teached Miss Caterina how to strut like a peacock. And we made rolled-up pumpkin cakes, and I made cookies all by myself. They have chocolate tops, and we get to take some home ‘cause she said I was the chef after all.”

“Really? I’ll bet you did a great job, chocolate face.” He wet his thumb and rubbed it across the tip of her nose, over her chin, but only managed to wipe off a thin layer.

Liam wasn’t happy that Riley had spent the last several hours here, but clearly, she felt proud and excited about what she’d done. He didn’t want to take away from that. And, from what he could tell, no harm had come to her.

“I did. Miss Caterina said she couldn’t have done a better job. She’s a chef, and she knows how to do magic, and I got to do some.”

“Magic, huh?” Caterina Bonavera doing card tricks and playing at disappearing coins didn’t quite jive with his image of her.

Riley nodded fervently. “We’re going to make pies too.” She looked at Caterina. “Maybe my dad can help us and see about the magic.”

“Well, I…” Caterina looked at a loss for words. He guessed she was as anxious for him to leave as he was to take Riley and get the hell out of there.

“We need to get going, Riley.” Liam lifted her down to the floor. “I’m sure Miss Caterina has a lot to do to get ready for Thanksgiving. And you and I need to go to the grocery store on our way home to pick up something to take to Aunt Becca and Uncle Shawn’s house tomorrow.”

“Can’t we make a pie first? I never maked one, ever!”

“Not today, Riley. It’s getting late, and we have errands to run.”

Caterina walked to the end of the island and angled her head toward his daughter. “It sounds like you need to get going, Riley, but thanks for all your help today. I think your cookies are going to be a big hit with my guests tomorrow.”

“Are you going to tell them I made them?”

“Absolutely!”

Riley smiled lightly. “They probably aren’t going to believe it ‘cause I’m only four.”

“They might have a hard time, but I’ll make sure they know you were the chef.”

“Well, sorry I gotta go, so I can’t help you make the pies.”

Caterina waved a hand in the air. “That’s okay. You were already a huge help.”

“Maybe I can come here again sometime, and we can make some pies then.”

Caterina stared at his daughter a moment. “Maybe, honey,” she said softly. Liam’s gut clenched. He didn’t know what he would have preferred her to say, but he didn’t want Riley thinking of this woman as her new friend.

He leaned down. “Go on out to the porch and wait for me, sweetie. I need to talk to Miss Caterina for a minute, and then I’ll be right out.”

Riley looked at him, and he thought for a minute she might question him, but to his relief she only nodded.

She started to go but turned back and waved to Caterina. “Bye.”

Caterina lifted a hand. “Bye, Riley.”

Liam watched Riley walk across the lobby and out the front door. When it clicked shut, he turned back around. It was unlikely that his daughter would see Caterina again. He didn’t take her to work with him except on those rare cases when there was no one to look after her, and he absolutely had to be on site that day. The only reason she’d been with Burke that day was because the daycare had closed for the holiday, and Liam had a meeting with a lawyer that he needed to go to.

The crew was only scheduled to work a half day today, and neither he nor Burke needed to be there. His brother had offered to watch Riley, so Liam could keep his appointment.

He’d scheduled the meeting after getting a letter from a lawyer Sylvie’s parents had hired, notifying him that they intended to file for custody of Riley. He’d been stunned and thought they were crazy, but after he got over the shock, he’d decided to talk to his own lawyer rather than take any chances that they might pull something over on him that could hurt his daughter.

Caterina looked uncomfortable. They hadn’t seen each other since the day they’d been locked in her room. The day the taste of her lips had been seared into his memory, as if someone had burned it there with a hot branding iron. He wished he could shake it, wished he could block the itch that kiss had stirred—the one he’d be crazy to give in to.

Especially now, with Sylvie’s parents threatening to try to take Riley from him. Not that they stood any chance of getting her. His lawyer had basically assured him that without good cause, they didn’t have a case. They’d never liked him and even blamed him for Sylvie’s death. But to try to take Riley away from him…he still couldn’t believe they’d go so far.

He’d think about that later, when his thoughts weren’t clouded with the image of Caterina Bonavera strutting around her kitchen counter with his daughter, and Riley laughing and cheering her on, as if she were having the time of her life.

Liam shifted. “My brother shouldn’t have left Riley with you. It was an imposition and won’t happen again.”

“She was no bother. I enjoyed her company.”

“If I’d known he had to leave her with someone, I’d have made other arrangements. I never would have agreed if he’d called to tell me he was going to—” Liam frowned, considering his words.

“To leave her with me?” Caterina said, finishing what he’d been going to say before he realized how ungrateful it sounded.

“Riley was Burke’s responsibility this morning, not yours. I only leave her with family or people I trust enough to—” That hadn’t come out any better. “Look, let’s just forget it. My brother shouldn’t have left her with someone else without talking to me first, but he did, so thanks for keeping an eye on her.”

The look in her eyes sliced into him, and he hated it. She wasn’t supposed to have feelings he could hurt. She was supposed to be an insensitive, self-absorbed control freak, who only cared about herself.

He turned away from her, walked through the reception area to leave, anxious to be anywhere else but there. When he got to the door, he saw Caterina had followed him out and was walking across the room after him. She carried one of those round metal tins people usually put cookies or candy in.

“These are Riley’s. I told her she could have them since she made them. She forgot to take them when she went out to the porch.” She held the container out for him to take, and he hesitated, torn between an overwhelming desire to haul her into his arms and kiss her and an equally strong one to get the hell out of there before he did.

Caterina closed her eyes a moment, and he saw her lashes flutter. When she looked at him again, she said, “They’re not poison, Liam.”

The vulnerability he heard in her voice did him in. He reached for the container with one hand and pulled her toward him with the other. He didn’t think—just acted—kissing her because he needed to, and any thoughts that he was making a mistake were trampled to dust beneath his desire.

He had to taste her one more time. Needed to feel her body against his, her mouth opening for him, no refusal. He felt it soften, and something roared to life inside him—a need he couldn’t seem to control, pagan and demanding, just like the last time he’d kissed her.

Caterina whimpered, and he slanted his mouth again, and again, and again, unable to satisfy the desire raging through his blood like a warrior with a need to conquer. To make her his.

“Oh…well…”

They broke apart.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Marcella stood in the opening that led from the reception area to the hallway. “I’m just…” She pointed toward the solarium. “Going in there.”

Liam glanced at Caterina, then away. He should probably have said something but couldn’t think straight enough to risk what might come out of his mouth. She’d confused him. Again.

She could have said something, but she looked as confounded as he did. No wonder. He’d basically said he didn’t trust her, and then kissed her as if she were a filet mignon and he a starving carnivore who wanted to devour her. Talk about mixed signals.

“Riley’s waiting for me,” he managed to get out somewhat coherently, latching onto his best excuse to bolt and then doing just that.

CATERINA STOOD WITH her mouth hanging open, the same way she had after they’d locked lips in her room, and he’d walked out on her in a similar fashion. Her heart felt like it raced at a million and some odd beats a minute. Who was that man who had just kissed her so passionately? Kissed her as if he’d wanted to, needed to, and hadn’t—wouldn’t have stopped if his life were being threatened…except that her sister had walked into the lobby to find them consumed by a mutual insanity. An insanity that had taken possession, with God only knew what consequences she’d be dealing with because of it.

She puffed out a gush of air to kick-start her breathing again and headed back to the kitchen.

“I didn’t know you and Liam were a thing.” Marcella called after her as she went through the solarium, and Cat saw her sister angling to follow in her direction.

“We’re not.” She kept walking. “And don’t ask, because I have no idea what that was about, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay. What do you want to talk about?”

“Nothing. My brain stopped working a few minutes ago, and I don’t think I’m capable of conversation right now.”

Marcella followed Cat into the kitchen.

“I came down to see if you needed help getting anything ready for tomorrow,” she said. “We don’t have to talk if you don’t feel like it. Just tell me what still needs to be done, and I’ll pretend I never saw anything. Unless you’re in a state of shock or something and really do want to talk, but just don’t know it yet.”

Caterina pushed her fingers through her hair and groaned. “Oh, Cel, I have no idea what just happened. I’m so confused. I’m just so, so confused when it comes to that man! He doesn’t like me. I don’t know why, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t even try to hide it. And then he turns around and kisses me out of nowhere and it’s…it’s craziness!”

Marcella walked over and wrapped an arm around her in a half hug. “Good crazy or bad crazy?”

“Bad! Of course, it’s bad! I mean…why would he do that? He doesn’t try to hide that he thinks I’m lacking somehow, and he practically warned me away from his daughter…as if he thought he couldn’t trust me around her.”

“Liam has a daughter?”

“Yes. I didn’t know either, until about fifteen minutes ago. She spent the morning baking with me, and she’s the most adorable little girl ever. I can’t believe she’s his daughter. I thought she was Burke’s, but that’s a whole other story. The point is, when he found out his brother left her with me, he got all upset because…I guess because he just doesn’t like me. And maybe he thought I’d take his surliness toward me out on his daughter.” She huffed. “Like I’d ever do anything to hurt a child.”

“I doubt he thought you’d hurt her.”

“I don’t know, Cel, and that’s not even the point.”

“I get the point, Cat. I think you’re overlooking the obvious, though. I don’t think Liam can help himself. He’s attracted to you. We’ve all seen it—me, El, Luch. Even Antonio made a comment the other night about the two of you dancing around each other. You two are the only ones who don’t want to recognize what’s going on.”

Cat put her hands on the island to steady her racing thoughts. “That wasn’t the first time.”

“What wasn’t?”

“That he kissed me. It wasn’t the first time.”

Marcella raised her brows, and Caterina told her about Liam bringing the boxes down from the attic, and how afterward, Rosa locked them in Cat’s bedroom together and held them ransom there until Liam kissed her.

“So now, in addition to not liking me, he thinks I’m a flake. A flake who forced him to kiss me by somehow locking the bedroom door with, I don’t know…with trickery of some kind and then blamed it on a ghost.”

Cat looked at her twin. “And you know what, when you think about it from his perspective, no wonder he was worried about Riley being left alone with me.”

“Maybe, but that doesn’t explain why he kissed you again today. You did indicate he initiated it, right?”

“Oh, he initiated it! And I guess that’s why I’m having such a hard time understanding his motivation. That, and because it was different from the first time.”

“In what way?”

“I don’t know how to describe it, but I felt something I’ve never felt with another man. I didn’t want him to stop, Cel. It was passionate and full of need, in a sexually needy way, which I’ve felt to some degree when other men kissed me. But it went beyond that. I felt connected to him, a connection I never would have expected and can’t explain. It caught me so off guard, because—”

Caterina let out a shaky breath. “Because this time…this time it was as if I could taste my future in it.”

“And that,” Marcella said softly, “scared you.”

Cat closed her eyes, swallowed the truth in her sister’s words. “To death.”