I shrug, a little coy, and look Gio over from head to toe. Because as much as he presents himself as outside of his family – someone who does not dress like them, who is clearly in a trade, and who has garnered both his father’s and his grandfather’s disappointment – Gio has learned some tricks, has
“Nah,” Daniel says, giving a casual shrug. “I think I got used to disappointing these Italian fathers a long time ago. It’s inevitable, unless you’re willing to structure your life exactly like theirs.” “Is that how Gio feels too?” I ask quietly, considering. “Yeah,” Daniel says, his eyes on the
“Obviously,” Daniel says, rolling his eyes. “No, we were a dumpster fire. I couldn’t bring myself to do more than kiss her.” “Hmm,” I say, blinking at him innocently. “I wonder what that’s like…” Daniel shoots a glare at me, half apology half chagrin, and moves on with the story. “As soon as
Kent drops Daniel’s shirt suddenly and steps away with a groan, sinking his hands into his hair and turning away from us, muttering mournful words and shaking his head. My eyes go a little wide, because I had expected him to be angry, but I hadn’t expected this. “Dad,” Daniel says, taking a
Kent’s eyes go to the floor with the bra, and then his gaze slowly travels up my body as I shimmy out of my panties and then kick them away when they hit the tiles. “This isn’t going to work, Fay,” Kent says, his voice low with warning. “You’re not going to seduce me out of answering your question
“Is that the most important thing to you?” he asks quietly, his hands stroking over my hair possessively. “To be right?” “No, Kent,” I say, pulling him tighter against me. “The most important thing is for you to be free of all of this. So we can do what you said you wanted – what we wanted. Rememb
Kent clicks his tongue in sympathy and I look up at him, my eyes wide with regret. He just shakes his head at me. “It wasn’t a bad plan, Fay,” he murmurs, holding me tight. “You’re just…playing chess with the grand masters now. You’re kind of bound to be outmatched.” I frown at him a little bit. “
And I hesitate, not really wanting to agree to this because… I mean. This worked out pretty great for me. And so I loop my arms around his neck and move myself closer, letting the wet skin of my breasts press against his chest. “Well then what will we do instead?” I murmur, lifting my mouth to h
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