“Yes!” I smiled. “The best!”
She pinched my cheek until it felt like blood came to the stinging surface. “Love you, sweet girl!” She took herself to the table, where she sighed as she sat down.
“Aunt Lola, do you think you could direct me around the kitchen so I can cook dinner for everyone?” I chanced a glance behind me, but Matteo was no longer there. He was “summoned” to Brando’s office for a family meeting. But sometimes he’d pop up out of nowhere, hidden in the shadows, and he would surprise me. He was quieter than our kitten. “I’d like to surprise everyone, especially Matteo.”
“Sì.Though, I will admit, I have never been much of a cook. I have always been a great beauty.” She ran her paper-like hand through her thinning hair, giving me a look like a model would.
That made me laugh. I’d heard about what Grazia, Nonno’s famous Italian movie star mamma, could do in the kitchen, and she was a great beauty too. I didn’t think food would turn up its nose at a beautiful set of hands doing the cooking. But I was learning that Aunt Lola was feisty, and she had a great sense of humor.
“Not that great in the kitchen?” I asked.
“Better in the bedroom.”
I exploded with laughter, and she almost made atitititititsound when she laughed. She asked me about our honeymoon, and I said that we were set to leave next week. We’d be doing a tour of Europe. We’d turned down Noemi’s invitation to theevent in Paris—after speaking to Saverio, Matteo didn’t think the event was safe enough at the time—and we were going to start our honeymoon in Paris. I couldn’t wait to see it again with my husband next to me. And Matteo had secured the Paris Opera House for our second wedding, so we were going to check it out and speak to whoever oversaw things like that.
This time, though, the entire Fausti family would be invited. It was going to be the “event” of the year, or so Ava had said. She’d had an “event” of the year too, after she and Naz had been married in a lush ceremony after one of the cousins in the family challenged Naz for Ava’s hand. I was learning that this family had a long and thick history, and that even the years couldn’t stop legendary stories from being made. Most of them were romance-book worthy, and I hoped ours would be too, all the drama over in the beginning.
I sighed at the thought of going back to Paris, but this time, as a free woman. Maybe Matteo couldn’t understand it fully, but I had fond memories of Paris, made when it was just me and my mom there. It had been an adventure for the two of us, until she left me. And I refused to blame the place, the innocent people, for what Régine Nemours and her goons did to me. I’d overcome it, and maybe, just maybe, I’d have the courage to face the truth about the rest of my life.
Aunt Lola and I chatted for a few minutes about what we should cook, and the way she was talking was making me a little nervous. Scarlett cooked for an army, almost literally, and I’d need to start by making more than triple the recipe of whatever we decided to cook. I wondered if this was how it felt to be thrown into a pool when you couldn’t swim, or onto the interstate as a new driver.
“You will need eggs,” Aunt Lola said, tapping her chin. “Scarlett was telling me that before Mia went into labor.” She chucked her chin toward the window. “She gets feelings aboutthings, as I am sure you know. She was washing dishes, gazing out of her window, and before the knock came at the door, she dropped and broke one.” She made a noise like she’d gotten chills and rubbed her arms. “Odd, sometimes, that she has the power to do that.”
“I couldn’t imagine knowing something before it happens, and not alwayswhat’sgoing to happen. That would make me a very anxious person.” I started to wipe the counter’s down, but they were almost spotless.
Maybe I would sweep and then mop.
“Aunt Lola, where does Scarlett keep her cleaning supplies?”
Aunt Lola was in the middle of shaking her head and pointing to a chair, about to probably tell me to take a seat, but we both grew quiet when Rosaria walked in.
“Lola!”
We both jumped a little at the sound of Uncle Tito’s voice. She looked between me and Rosaria, and either she forgot about Uncle Tito, or she didn’t want to answer him, but when he called her again, she gave a heavy sigh.
She patted my hand. “He has trouble with his zipper sometimes. Gets stuck. Would you like to come with me?”
Helping Aunt Lola get Uncle T’s zipper unstuck was not something I felt like I needed to be in on. The only reason she asked, though, was because she was worried about leaving me alone with Rosaria. Maybe she thought Rosaria would have me for dinner, but I wasn’t afraid or intimated by her.
“No,” I whispered, patting Aunt Lola’s hand. “You go. He needs your help.”
“Lola!” Uncle T was screaming for her, but it was in more of a sing-song type of voice.Looooo-laaaa!
“I am coming!” She used the arms of the chair to brace herself, but she still almost fell back in it. I gave her a hand, and she lifted, leaving me with a lingering look.
Be careful, it seemed to warn.
Rosaria took a seat at the table. Her hard, hot stare was on me. I guess my threat to her at my wedding, about protecting me and mine, hadn’t penetrated her thick head. I acted like she wasn’t there until she cleared her throat and called me something in Italian. It sounded like “chin-eren-tola,” but I knew I was probably way off.
“Cinderella,” she said, getting more comfortable at the table, tapping her fingertips against it. “If you were wondering what it means.”
“I actually wasn’t, but thanks anyway.” I faced her, refusing to let her keep her eyes on me and try to intimidate me.
“You are a sassy little bitch,” she said to me, and I could tell I was getting underneath her skin because she couldn’t get under mine. She laughed, but it sounded more mocking than a true one, if she even had one of those, or maybe she’d forgotten how to use it. “Especially for someone who is essentially a pole dancer.”
I shrugged. “Nothing wrong with an exotic dancer. It’s an honest days’ work.” I turned slightly, reaching for the pitcher of water I’d made earlier.
Scarlett had asked me to make it one day for her. Sliced cucumbers and lemon in the water. She told me it would sit in the fridge until it got cold. I’d done that earlier and then had taken it out and set it on the counter for Aunt Lola and me.
