Katy sighed and crossed her arms in front of her.“Why?Did you really believe that you two would run off into the sunset together and make pizza-loving babies?”
He let out a tired-sounding laugh as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks.Antonio leaned back against the wall behind him and tilted his head up as he looked down on her.“What if I told you she’s in danger?”
“I’d call B.S.No offense, Tony, but you seem a little bit unhinged and so I’m taking what you say with a grain of salt.”Katy leaned her shoulder against the wall beside the door that would lead into the dining area.She didn’t want to get smacked with the door when Maddie came looking for her, which she would be doing very soon unless Katy got her butt back out there.“What’s going on, huh?”she asked him with a chin nod.“Since when do you look like a man whose wife kicked him out because he went on a twenty-four-hour bender?”
Antonio chuckled as he shook his head.“Since, I fell in love with a woman way out of my league.”
“Well, I can’t disagree with you there,” she held up a hand.“No offense.But Lola’s really out of everyone’s league.She’s just one of those people.Kind, funny, beautiful, and oblivious to all of it.So yeah, she’s definitely out of your league.”She watched him as he stared at her across the room.Initially, when Katy had heard his voice, she’d been afraid, but Antonio didn’t appear to be a danger.If anything, he looked defeated.Perhaps the fight with his dad had knocked some sense into him, and he’d gotten whatever weird, possessive feelings he’d been having, out of his system.
He cursed under his breath in Italian, something that once upon a time, Katy would have found hot, but all she saw was a desperate man.Desperate wasn’t hot.
After another beat of silence, he spoke.“Will you just ask her to call me when she gets a chance?”
“I don't know that you’re what’s best for Lola,” Katy said.“And I only do what’s best for my friends.”
“Katy,” Antonio sighed.“You’ve known me for years.You know how I feel about Lola.”
“I know how you feel about women,” she corrected.“Lola happens to fit into your favorite category.”
“Yes, I’ve always liked the ladies,” he shrugged.“But I was just waiting until Lola was old enough for something serious.There is no one, but her, now.”
Katy didn’t bother to point out how disturbing that sounded.It was obvious Antonio already made up his mind about Lola, and he wasn’t changing it.“Look, just leave her alone until she’s ready to reach out to you, okay?”
He scoffed.“What do you think I’m going to do?Kidnap her?”
Katy pushed away from the wall and shrugged.“People in love do crazy things.I’m just encouraging you to keep your crazy under control.”
“I wouldn’t ever hurt her, Katy,” he said, his voice firm.“You have to know that.”
Katy started to push the door open.She glanced over her shoulder at the forlorn-looking Antonio.“I don’tknowany such thing.Three days ago, I would have sworn you wouldn’t come in here screaming at your dad about having a right to know where my best friend is.But here we are.”Without another word, she left the break room and Antonio behind, heading back to the NNP dining room.Katy immediately found Maddie’s white-blonde hair as her tall, BFF moved around the room like a graceful ballerina.Smiling, pouring water, and picking up trays, with such ease it was a near art form.Sometimes, Katy seriously wondered if their teal-eyed BFF was human, or one of those creatures out of Lola’s books.
“Don’t think I didn’t notice how long you were gone,” Maddie's voice jolted Katy from her thoughts.She’d been so lost in them, she hadn’t even realized Maddie’d made her way across the whole room.“What’s up?You’re looking a little worse for wear.”
“Antonio came into the break room,” Katy responded.“Wanted me to tell him where Lola is.”
“Dude has gone off the deep end,” Maddie muttered as she glanced around the room, as if he might appear.
“He said he would never hurt her,” Katy said.The words sounded just as lame from her mouth as they did when uttered desperately from his.
“He may not think he would,” Maddie said.“But people who get desperate, do desperate things.”
“Agreed,” Katy nodded.“I’m going to let Sal know Antonio was here.”She started for the kitchen.“No walking alone, Maddie,” she told her BFF.“If he cornered me alone, without the result he was hoping for, he’ll no doubt attempt to do the same to you.”
“He’ll meet the zappy-end of my Tasmanian Devil if he corners me,” Maddie chirped happily.
“You and Lola havegotto stop naming your weapons,” Katy said as she sauntered off.“Y’all totally kill the badassery of them by naming them.”
“That’s not even a word, Dork,” Maddie called back.
Katy waved her off as she smiled at some of her regular customers as she continued past the back counter until she stood next to the open window to the kitchen.
“Why do you look like someone found a hair in their pizza?”Sal barked.
“Antonio came back,” Katy started.Before the words were out of her mouth Sal had thrown down his pizza cutter.“Wait,” she hurried, “he didn’t do anything.He just asked me where she was.I didn’t tell him and he remained calm.”
Sal rested his hand on his hips, his chest rising and falling with quick successions.“What is going on with him, Katy?”He shook his head.“He’s always been crazy about Lola, but not crazy like a psycho.He’s never acted like he did earlier.”
“Do you think he’s into drugs?”Katy asked.He’d looked exhausted earlier, but maybe it was more than exhaustion.Maybe Antonio was on something.
