“God, fuck, Jerome,” Daniel moans, and his father lets his shirt loose as Daniel buries his face in his hands and turns his back on him. “How could you fucking do this –“ Jerome’s heart breaks as he hears Daniel gasp, his breath thick with tears as his world pretty much falls apart – his best frien
“All right,” I say, quietly stroking the little dog’s ears, noticing the deepening of his breathing as he starts to fall asleep – probably a very puppy reaction to all the stress. “You’ve got my attention, Ivan. By force. But all right, tell me about this offer.” “I can’t,” he says, shaking his hea
“True,” he says, offering a hand. When I take it but still struggle to get to my feet, he helps me, being very patient and, frankly, delicate with me as I stand and settle the little puppy in my arms. “Are you seriously taking the puppy?” he murmurs, looking down at me like I’m crazy. I gasp and l
I stare, completely baffled, at my mother – who I barely remember – but it is absolutely undeniable, instantly, who she is. Not only because she looks exactly like me, but because… The things I do remember about her? The way she moves when she walks, the shape her words take as they ring in my ears
“Good,” she says, raising her eyebrows at me. “I’m glad to see you can be rational.” “Why am I here?” I ask again, insistent this time and stepping further into the room so that I can see both Ivan and my mother at once. “What is this all about? Because you two might think that you’ve been clever,
I ignore her jibe, keeping my face straight. Ivan leans against the wall next to me, taking a deep breath. “Fine,” my mom says, sighing and studying her nails. “You’re here, Fay, because you’re in a unique position to give me what I want. And I am in a unique position to take away what you love.”
“Well,” my mother says with a sigh, “either you risk that, or I take everything I know about Kent Lippert’s current location, and his plans, and everything I figured out about what happened at the Alden house the day that container ship conveniently left the New York harbor, and I take it directly t
“I’m sorry about that,” Ivan murmurs, shaking me out of my stupor a little bit. He keeps his eyes on the road. “I didn’t expect her to be…that cold.” “Seriously, Ivan,” I breathe, shaking my head at him, holding the little puppy on my lap, close to my belly. “What the fuck was that?” “Do you have
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