“No, he can’t,” I sigh, giving Kent a dubious little look as I climb out of bed and go searching for my slippers and robe. “Which is why I have to tag-team his emotions with his boyfr-“ And I freeze mid-sentence, realizing what I just said. And that Kent and I have never had that conversation befo
Ivan doesn’t reply to me by the time I head down for breakfast, but I don’t worry about it. We ended yesterday poorly after all – and he might hate me a little bit now. So, I imagine that giving him a little time to decide what to do makes sense. Feeling cheerful and confident about how I’ve taken
“I thought that was your closet!” I exclaim, climbing out as well and staring at him over the roof of the car. “The closet is next to it,” he says, shrugging. “Honestly, Fay,” he says, giving me a dubious little look as we head into the house. “You should explore more. You live here.” “Um,” I sa
I wait a long time before going down to Kent’s room tonight, not really knowing how to play this. Because what I do know is that I want to know more about what he was saying with Alessi, and what the hell is going on, and who might be planning whatever attack is coming, and why he’s not taking it se
“I already told you, Fay,” Kent sighs, starting to stand up from the bed. “You don’t need to know – I’ll tell you what you need to know –“ “Kent!” I exclaim, getting up on my knees as he stands up from the bed and turns away from me. “Seriously, Kent! You’re being unfair!” He turns to me, anger
I jump awake at the sound of the alarm clock, gritting my teeth and hating that thing. But it’s silenced almost immediately and I raise my hand to rub at my eyes, feeling cramped and horrible and terribly sad after my night alone in this stupid chair. But as I start to come awake I notice that the
At breakfast yesterday and today, Kent came and placed my plate in front of me, as he always does. And then he leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest, and stared at me. Which pissed me off. A lot. So both mornings, I just pushed the plate of food away and picked up my coffee, ignoring him a
My eyes go immediately to the door of Kent’s office at the bottom of the stairs, which is – as I hoped – still standing wide open, light spilling out of it. When I get to the landing I cross to the door as quietly as I can, peeking inside. He’s there, as I knew he’d be, though he’s never in there
My dad greets him with such genuine joy and excitement that it makes my heart swell with joy. They talk for a few minutes about Dominic’s day before dad gives him a little nudge back towards the gate where Kent and I are waiting. Dominic gives dad a kiss before running ahead again. My dad waves to
“Papa!” Dominic shouts, startling me out of my reverie as he drops my hand and darts down the road. I look up, a huge smile breaking out on my face again as I see Kent on the sidewalk just ahead. His back is to us as he speaks companionably with the butcher, a heavy bag of his purchases already hung
As I walk down the street towards the little Italian kindergarten, the whispers start around me, as they always do. I listen to all of them, a big German Shepherd padding quietly at my heels. “Is that her?” “Yes, that’s the one – I heard she was her husband’s mistress before he married her – tha
Both Kent and I laugh, but Don Bianci – across the baptismal font from us – snaps his eyes up, perhaps not liking the joke as much as we do. But I just ignore it, because dad’s right, frankly – and it’s too happy a day to care. After the final blessing everyone applauds Dominic – he likes that, bl
“Well, it didn’t seem to affect your first very badly,” Ivan says with a shrug, peering around Kent to where Daniel is laughing with an arm around Jerome’s shoulders. “So…maybe keep it up.” I smirk, squeezing Ivan’s hand once more before standing and moving to Kent’s side, tucking myself against h
“Hey, gorgeous,” Ivan says, his mouth turned up in a smirk as I cross the churchyard, beaming at him. “Look who’s talking,” I say, laughing and reaching for him when I come close enough. Ivan wraps me in a hug, dropping a kiss to my cheek as I hold Dominic a bit to the side so he doesn’t get squis
He laughs, smiling at me genuinely. “Do I make you nervous?” he asks, blunt. I laugh, unable to help it. “Has no one bothered to tell you, in all these years, that you’re a little terrifying, Don Bianci?” He grins and shakes his head at me. “Well, considering what you accomplished, young lady, I
Two months later, we’re all gathered together again. And it is only with frustration that I see Gio and Janeen standing so close together that their arms nearly brush, even though they’re still not together. I roll my eyes, dismissing the problem for a moment as I move my eyes down to Dominic and
It's an incredible night. Kent didn’t lie, not at all, about the food either. I’m shocked by the mountains of dishes that continue to follow each other, one after another, long into the night. After a few hours of it I just mournfully watch the waiters go by because I couldn’t eat another bite if I