Kent sighs, shaking his head after Natalia as Nonna crosses the room, smiling at me so happily that her eyes nearly close with her joy. She murmurs softly to me in Italian, reaching for the baby, who I pass willingly into her arms. “Welcome to the family, Fay,” Bianci says, his voice still a littl
“Oh, it’s so pretty,” I murmur, looking around and pressing a hand to my chest. Kent translates my words to Nonna, who beams at me before pulling me forward to the bed. She tugs back the fluffy white duvet, patting the sheets and gesturing vehemently for me to get in. I laugh a little, glancing ba
“He just said he’ll kill us all if we don’t treat you like a queen,” Valentina says with a sigh, wrinkling her nose at me. I start a little in surprise, laughing at the violence that stands alongside the sweet sentiment of the message, but Valentina just laughs too. “A very Italian thing to say,” sh
Kent moves quickly through the hallways of the house, eager to get back to the study and control the conversation there. Because as much as Bianci gave in on the deal, Kent knows that man – he’s going to do everything he can to squeeze every last cent he can. And considering that Kent left Bianci
“You’ll pay for this,” Natalia hisses under her breath. “Kent Lippert – you’ll pay, and so will she. I’ll die before I let you get away with this.” And then Natalia turns, striding down the hall towards her own room to begin her plans. Hours later, when everything is finished, Kent walks slowly
When I wake up, I can tell by the way that the sun shines through the window that the morning is well advanced. My first instinct, of course, is to curl up even tighter in Kent’s arms, to bask in the warmth of his body, to catch just a few more minutes of sleep – But then I hear my little baby fus
Unfortunately, the world has other plans, and a little knock comes at the door. Kent growls a little, glaring at it, clearly intending to tell whoever is there to go the hell away – but I laugh, giving him a little shove and calling to whoever it is to come in. The door cracks open, revealing Va
I just…stare at Nonna and Valentina, completely dumbstruck. Today? A wedding? Today!? My wedding is today!? I turn suddenly when I hear Kent speaking in Italian behind me, his brow furrowed as he lifts a hand towards Nonna. The words fly from his mouth, sounding like he’s protesting. “No!”
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