“Oh, hush you,” I sigh, scowling and shooting Kent a little glare as I stroke a hand over the dog’s soft head. “All right,” Kent says, his voice more serious now. “For the dog, what about…Titus.” “Titus,” I say, sitting up a little, curious. “Sure,” Kent says, “a figure of classic literature,
Kent gets two or three hours of sleep as well, after Fay drifts off. He takes a minute alone with his son, studying his face and his tiny form, but when he feels himself slipping off he lifts both Titus and Dominic from the bed, slipping Titus into his little crate, where the pup promptly curls up i
“He’s…keeping Daniele,” Gio says softly, and Kent whips his head to stare at his nephew. “What?” “Nonno,” Gio explains, anxious. “He is not letting Daniele or Jerome leave the house. Instead, he’s demanding that you come and explain yourself.” “Shit,” Kent breathes, more vehement now. “So not
Something soft caresses my cheek, but it takes me a long, long moment to come back to the waking world. My eyes slowly blink open but I lay with my heavy head pressed into my pillow. “Hey,” I hear Kent’s voice say, and I slowly turn towards it. “Time to get up, sweetheart.” “What?” I ask, conf
“You don’t know that,” I breathe, shaking my head at him. “I do,” he insists, moving again so that he sits at my side, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, keeping me warm and safe. “We’ll make it be all right. Bianci – he hasn’t lost anything in Monaco deal just yet – and I’m too useful to him to
I sigh, accepting the help as Kent wraps an arm around my waist. “Bring the coffee,” I mutter as Gio turns towards the door and Kent starts to guide me to the closet. Kent nods, laughing, and reaches for the coffee on the bedside table. “And where’s my dog?” Kent just laughs then at that, handin
I come abruptly awake with a little gasp when the car goes over a little bump outside the gates of Villa Bianci. My eyes fly open and I look up to see Kent already turned in his seat, looking at me. I give him a little nod, letting him know that I’m all right, and then I turn to glance at my dad, wh
When we get into the house, Valentina falls back, kindly inviting Janeen and my father to join her in the kitchen for some refreshments, offering to get a bowl of water for the puppy – clear code that they are not welcome at the meeting upstairs. Janeen hesitates but Kent nods solemnly to her and so
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