She knew he was going to be. She knew the moment she had sent him out to check on whether the Famiglia had arrived in town yet. She knew because her reason for sending him on the task had nothing to do with anticipation for the rest of the syndicate. No, it had everything to do with her desire for a few hours alone, to be without him – and he'd recognized her objective. He just couldn’t complain about it. It was a simultaneously important, yet completely meaningless task. Her men were not fools. They would be able to locate them without a welcome sign pointing them in the right direction, no less an escort.
But it wasn’t her fault she needed to resort to such a roundabout way of accomplishing her goal. If Nico would actually listen to her when she told him to leave her alone, then he wouldn’t have to waste a good portion of his time carrying out pointless chores. He, unfortunately, refused to abide to her demands unless she had a job for him. Well, that was a job. He should be pleased that she'd even bothered to give him a remotely sensible one.
As she watched him set the box down, Arden dropped the cotton candy bag between her legs as she leaned forward to examine it. Her smile had brightened considerably as she clasped her hands together. She loved presents. She especially loved it when the present was confectionaries. Reaching out to pull open the lid, her eyes lit up at the sight of what was inside. “Caramelle!” She exclaimed, plucking one of them out, “You’ve found caramelle, piccolo terrapene.”
Popping it into her mouth, she savored the taste of the hard caramel as she reached into her bag to tear off a bit of the floss sugar. “You have done good today,” she commended, pressing the tuft gently to his lips, “Here. This is your reward.”