"Oh, I meant what I said! I really do want her to live with us."
"We can't—" He stops. Takes a breath. "We'll talk about this later."
"Okay!" I smile in the darkness. "But I really think it's a wonderful idea. I could start getting her room ready for her at your place. We will be living there, right? You know, there are a lot of details we haven’t talked about. We need to get on it. Time is ticking by."
He doesn't respond. The rest of the drive is silent. When we pull up to my house, he walks me to the door. Again. Even though I can tell he doesn't want to.
"Goodnight, Liana."
"Goodnight, Santo." I kiss his cheek. "Thank you for introducing me to your family. They're lovely. Especially Nonna. I can't wait to see her again. I think she likes me too."
"I'm sure."
I head inside, and the moment the door closes, I lean against it and grin.
Gia appears from the living room. "Well?"
"I offered to have his ninety-two-year-old grandmother move in with us after we're married."
Gia's mouth falls open. "You didn't."
"I did. In front of his entire family. And he can't say no without looking like a terrible grandson. So now he's stuck either agreeing to live with Nonna or explaining to his whole family why he won't take care of her. She’s really sweet, too. I would take her in a heartbeat. She shouldn’t be staying overnight by herself."
"That's evil."
"That's strategy." I push off the door and head for the stairs. "Day Three, Gia. And he's already realizing this is going to be harder than he thought."
In my room, I change out of the too-bright dress and into pajamas. My phone buzzes. A text from Santino.
Santino: We need to talk about my grandmother.
I smile and type back.
Me: Of course! I have so many ideas for her room. Should we do yellow or blue? Or maybe lavender? Old people love lavender! Oh wait, is that why they smell like lavender? Have you ever noticed that?
His response takes five minutes.
Santino: Goodnight, Liana.
No heart. No kiss. Just goodnight.
I set down my phone and stare at the ceiling.
Three days down. Thirty-seven long days to go.
And Santino Marcello is starting to crack already
Chapter 6: Santino
By Day Four, I need to talk to someone before I lose my mind.
I'm at the social club by eight in the morning, earlier than usual. Bruno's already there with coffee, and within thirty minutes the rest of the crew filters in. Paulie with his phone. Tommy with his newspaper. Sal with his opinions.
"Morning, boss." Bruno slides an espresso across the table. "You look like hell."
"Thanks."
"How's the engagement going?" Paulie grins. "Still got all your fingers? Toes? Sanity?"
