“How sweet of you,” Mamma said. “These are beautiful, Hunter. Thank you.”
Hunter’s cheeks pinkened. “My pleasure.”
Nonna approached Hunter with her cane, grinning. “And those must be for me. Unless you tell me they’re for Enzo, in which case I’ll be sorely disappointed.”
He grinned as well. “They are for you.”
She grabbed her bouquet and put her arms around Hunter, pecking his cheek. “It’s good to finally meet the man my granddaughter has been obsessing over.”
“Obsessing over, huh?” Hunter said, winking at me.
“Oh, yes,” Nonna returned in her typical boisterous fashion. “She told me all about you during our last call.” She mimicked a phone’s cradle with her thumb and pinky finger, bringing it to her ear and mouth to imitate me. “‘Nonna, he’s perfect and so handsome. Like a real-life Prince Charming. I really, really like him.’”
“Hey, I do not sound like that!” I inserted, chuckling. Hunter chuckled too, pleased. I told him all the time how much I liked him, but hearing it from another important person in my life must fortify the fact. I didn’t even mind being the butt of a small joke if it helped reassure him of my feelings.
“You do, Gabriela.” She nudged Hunter with her elbow. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this smitten before. It’s adorable. You clearly mean a lot to her.”
“For what it’s worth,” he rasped, “she means everything to me.”
My heart raced.
Nonna’s expression gentled. “Oh.”
Behind us, Mamma pretended to swoon and faint.
Papà cleared his throat and unbuttoned his suit jacket, pushing the lapels aside as he shoved his hands into his pockets. A power move to purposely expose the gun sitting at his waistband.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
“Sir.” Hunter redirected his attention towards him, extending a hand for a shake. “It’s nice to meet you again.”
Papà eyed Hunter’s hand with disdain, leaving it suspended in the air.
Hunter, thankfully, didn’t balk under his scrutiny, waiting for him to acknowledge it.
Papà assessed him the way he did every man in my life and without removing the scowl from his face, he reluctantly grabbed Hunter’s hand for a shake, making sure to squeeze extra hard.
My boyfriend didn’t flinch.
“It was nicer meeting you the first time,” Papà said with a shark grin. “When you were only my daughter’sfriend.”
I glared at him.
“Enzo,” Nonna said through gritted teeth. “Stai zitto.”
Hunter didn’t take offense.
Before Papà could further instigate Hunter, Mamma’s falsely jovial voice interrupted in the background. “Dinner’s ready, everyone!”
CHAPTER 40
Meeting The ’Rents
Hunter
One thing was for certain: the Bellafiore women could cook.
I didn’t think I’d ever eaten such a filling, delicious spread before. Between my girlfriend, her mom, and her grandmother, they kept adding more food to my plate till it was piled high, insisting I trythisandthatandthis.
