Her marriage to Joe had always been about the insurance, as long as Georgia played the devoted wife in his life. It all made sense once I found out the truth. She’d married him because the doctor had suspected cancer. Her new doctors gave her a good prognosis after she had a hysterectomy, but I worried about her a lot.
Then, with Big getting shot…my world had been rocked.
Probably feeling my eyes on her, she looked away from what the seamstress was doing and met my stare. A blazing smile came to her face. Her teeth almost seemed too big for her face because of all the weight she’d lost. Her eyes were a little sunken in, along with her cheeks. It wasn’t just from the cancer and the treatments. I was sure it was from the stress of it all, even if she refused to admit it. She’d say it was from all the heathy food she’d been eating. She was trying a cleaner diet, which I’d started eating with her.
She dropped her head a bit, shook it, and then ticked her mouth as she lifted her beautiful dress and walked toward me. “Did you lose something today?”
“No.”
“Then you have no business wearing that look on your face.”
I cracked a smile.
She pinched my cheek. “The sun’s out and we have a rainbow, Ladies and Gents!”
I hugged her so tight she made an exaggerated noise and pulled away.
“How do I look?” She turned so I could get the full view.
“Like a million bucks, baby girl.”
“That’s about how much Big is spending!” She laughed, then sighed. “This was a really nice thing your man did for these girls. And what he’s done for my girl…priceless.” She pinched my cheek again. Then her eyes went over my shoulder for a second. She waved and told Angelo hello.
He lifted his hand in greeting, and when she turned to talk to the seamstress, I noticed how he was watching her. I couldn’t truly explain the feeling that went through me then. It was more than a feeling. It was intuition. Angelo wasn’t the type who had crushes. And the way he was looking at Georgia, like she was the light in a dark life…it made me uneasy.
I didn’t want to make a scene by calling him out on it, so when Georgia came back and he walked out, I acted like nothing was wrong.
We talked about the dresses and Vinny and Sam’s suits. When the attendant went to grab my dresses for one last fitting before they were flown to Italy and Greece, Georgia took a seat on a plush chair.
Crossing her legs, she gave me a firm look. “How are you feeling about…coming face to face with Big’s past?”
I shrugged. “I’m somewhere in the middle. I’m not too nervous, but I’m not feeling confident either. The Fausti family will be there. You know Big used to race for them. There’s some pressure there, especially since Rocco Fausti is married to Rosaria, whose sister used to be engaged to Tullio.”
“The songbird.” Georgia tried to hit a high note and we both laughed. “You think she’s going to show up?”
“Maybe not to the wedding, but maybe at some point…” I shrugged again.
Rocco had asked Big to race for a charity event while he was in Italy. I’d never been to a Formula One race before and was eager to see what Big could do. But I wondered if his ex was going to show up. Abree Caffi was Rosaria’s sister, and from what Big had told me, she wasn’t okay with the broken engagement. He said it was because her pride was hurt. I knew it was more than pride. Big was a triple threat: gorgeous, successful, and had a way with women.— And she had lost him.
Georgia waved a hand. “I’ll take care of her if she starts something. You know I’ll finish it.”
I raised my pretend glass to her, and she raised hers. We made a clanking noise.
“Finish what?” Rocky said, flying into the room. Her hair was half up and half down, and she had on boots and an old pair of overalls with oil stains on them. She stopped and looked at us, lifting her hands. “I swear I won’t get grease on anything!”
Rocky was Rocky Barcelona until she married Gio, and then she became Rocky Capitani. I’d warned her and Penelope about the full moon the night it all went down. Rocky and Gio had an arrangement, and even though I was always there for my girls, I tried to stay out of whatever they had going on.
One loud knock came at the door and Vinny peeked his head in. “I’m not going.”
“Why did you just sound like the Grinch when you said that?” Rocky laughed.
He rolled her eyes at her. “I meant what I said.”
“Me too,” Georgia said. “Consider us gone if you don’t show up.”
He blew out a heavy breath and stepped into the room. The three of us started applauding. He looked good in his suit. His cheeks turned the color of tomatoes. “What is this anyway? A Mob Wives of Vegas episode?” he demanded as he stormed out.
A round of applause seemed to go through the entire place a few minutes after.
