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
To my surprise, Kent throws the first blow. “Why have you called us here,” he says, his voice cold, “the day after Fay has her child, threatening my son’s safety if I didn’t come running? Are things so broken between us that this could not wait?” Bianci has my full attention when he answers. “To s
“None of that matters,” Kent growls, stepping to my side. “What matters is that Fay has paid enough – the deal is complete. You accepted Victoria Thompson – she’s in your power now. If you felt her an insubstantial replacement for Monaco, you should have sent her back –“ “That’s not how it works,
“It is enough!” Daniel says, translating nonna’s words for me as she says them. “That girl has given you enough.” “Get back, old woman,” Bianci growls, and Daniel translates these words for me too. “It’s none of your business what happens in this room –“ “It is my business! It is all my business
And then up at Kent, who stands stoic at my side, his arm still passively around me, his face…blank. Or at least, blank to the casual observer. But I know him now – I can see in his stillness how hard he is working to not let anything show. And deep beneath it all, I know a great well of emotion i
“We were desperate, nonno,” Daniel says, stepping forward. “It’s my fault, it was my idea –“ Bianci just presses his lips together, waving a dismissive hand at Daniel. “No one believes that you thought of this Daniele,” Bianci says, dismissive, turning his gaze back to me. “It is all this grasping
She folds her arms, clearly letting Bianci decide. He glares at his wife, livid, for a long moment. And then he shocks me by exhaling a deep breath, covering his face with his hand and murmuring something that I can’t hear. Kent’s arm tenses around me, and I can tell that he is surprised as well
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