“Nooo,” I whine, reaching back for the door. “I want to see! Gio’s going to find out that Janeen is single –“ “As if he doesn’t already know,” Kent murmurs, carrying me directly to bed. “Besides, your sister’s love life isn’t a telenovela –“ “Um, isn’t it?” I ask, pulling back and staring up
God, I love it when he’s all riled up. “If you need me to teach you a lesson about the right time for jokes, Fay,” Kent snaps, lowering himself over me again, glaring at me with a violent heat in his eyes. “I am more than happy to oblige.” “Go ahead and teach me, Kent,” I say, drawing a fing
About half an hour later, freshly showered and more appropriately dressed in pajamas and a robe, I push open my bedroom door and give a little squeak of joy to see most of my family already awake gathered in the kitchen and living room. Dad and Kent are the only ones absent – but Kent’s just a minut
“Oh, almost immediately,” Gio says with a smirk. “Lies,” Daniel says, grinning at him. “You’re not that clever.” Gio laughs and puts his coffee down. “All right, not immediately,” he says, looking around. “Though Fay was the most obvious piece that didn’t fit.” My jaw drops open and I gi
I grab Janeen’s arm on the way to the table, pulling her back just a little. “You’re going to do whatever he asks you to, Janeen!” I hiss, glaring at my sister. “I’m going to hear him out, Fay!” Janeen says, gesturing towards the table. “What!?” I gasp, appalled at her lack of instant assura
We’re all quiet for a long moment when Kent finishes speaking, processing this insane plan. “Why does he want you to do it, Kent?” Gio asks, his voice soft. “It seems…the sort of job any of his regulars could do.” “Because they don’t know I’m here,” Kent replies, shifting his eyes to his nep
I take a deep breath, confused about whether I want to indulge my rage or quell it. Because that really, really pissed me off. How dare he use my pregnancy as a reason to keep me out of this? As if I’m some kind of time bomb that’s going to go off in the middle of his heist and ruin all his plan
“I’m not insulting you,” he says softly. “It was brilliant, and maybe without recognizing it, Fay, you played to your strengths. You are good at putting together the complicated plan, but you didn’t put yourself on the front line for a reason. You don’t want to have to make snap decisions, you don’t
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