Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“Ma, let’s keep this between you and me, all right? People can’t keep a secret. Honestly, I probably already blew it telling you.”
“I would never say anything!”
“You were just about to tell everyone in town. I don’t even have the ring yet. I just need to save up a few more checks. I found the one that I want, but it’s a little out of my price range. So the jeweler said he would hold it until I come up with the rest of the money.”
“Con, I’ll open the safe right now and give it to you.” She was already headed for the hallway.
“Ma, chill.”
She turned back to me. “Money is just money, Con. Take it.”
“No.”
“Do not be stubborn like your father!”
I released a short laugh. “I’m stubborn like you, not him. And I don’t want money I haven’t earned. I’m not buying my wife’s ring with a handout. That’s insulting to her and insulting to our marriage.”
“Con, you can pay me back.”
“What’s the rush? I’ll ask her in a couple months. Not like she’s going anywhere.” I grinned before the alarm went off and the next batch of pizzas was done. I pulled them out of the oven and set them on the counter so they could cool. “You’re the only person I’ve told. So you need to keep it together, all right?”
“You’re going to make me wait months? Con, I could drop dead—”
“Well, now you have a reason to stay alive.” I grabbed the pizza roller and sliced each pizza into slices. Our bestseller was the Bronte pizza, which was sliced mortadella piled on top of a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese with pistachio pesto sauce drizzled over the top. I had a couple of slices myself when it came out fresh from the oven. “This stays between us.” I pointed back and forth between her and me. “Got it?”
She gave a performative sigh before she rolled her eyes.
“Did you just roll your eyes at me?” I teased.
She started to march back to the office. “I’m your mother. I can roll my eyes at you all I want!” Then she slammed the door as hard as her little body could manage.
My mom hosted her weekly dinner on Sunday evening, and the small house was packed with pretty much all of Taormina. Friends, family, neighbors, the door was open to everyone. My mom, aunt, and sister cooked most of the food, but everyone brought something to help out. No other way seventy people were going to get fed without a little assistance.
Isabella and I sat together on the patio. My arm was draped over her chair while I drank a glass of wine and chatted with my friends and cousins at the little table we were crammed into. “We should all take a trip to Rome,” Antonio, my cousin, said. “I’ve never been, and it’s just an hour flight.”
“Because no one ever leaves Taormina,” I said. “And for good reason. We’ve got the best food, the best wine, and . . .” I turned to Isabella beside me and kissed her in front of everyone. “And the most beautiful women.”
Her lips didn’t just melt for me, but her eyes did as well.
“That’s the lamest line I’ve ever heard,” Antonio said.
“Hey, it worked,” I said before I raised my glass and took a drink.
“It worked because you’re six five,” Francesco said.
My glass was empty and so was hers, so I left the guys and walked to the table under the patio where all the booze was set up. I opened a new bottle, let it breathe for a second, and then poured the glasses.
That was when I noticed my brother Edric step onto the patio. One hand was tucked into the pocket of his jeans, and he had a swagger so distinctive, it made it obvious which twin he was. He either didn’t notice me or wasn’t in the mood to talk, because he moved to the patio and the sea of tables. He didn’t say a word before he took a seat.
I recorked the wine before I took a drink out of the glass, pivoting my body to look at the sea of people gathered around to enjoy the festivities. My mother knew how to bring everyone together. She said her mother had been the same way, a quality that had been passed down through the generations.
Antonio joined me. “Any wine left?”
“Yeah, just opened a new bottle.” I looked at my brother again, about to walk over and talk to him, but he wore the hardest look I’d ever seen.
And when I followed his gaze, I saw it landed right on Isabella.
And she stared back . . . with the exact same look.
I felt my chest tighten as I watched them, witnessing an unspoken conversation pass between them, in a language no one else in that room could understand.