"Maybe slightly better than adequate."
He flips me onto my back, hovering over me. "I'll show you adequate."
But I catch his face in my hands before he can kiss me. "Wait."
His brow furrows.
"I know we need time," I say softly. "Before kids. Before all of that."
Understanding crosses his face. "You were trying to distract me. From the Vittoria situation."
I shrug against the mattress. "You take on everyone's problems. Carry everyone's weight. I wanted to give you something else to think about."
"By talking about babies?"
"It worked, didn't it?"
Lorenzo's fingers find my ribs, making me squirm. "You're getting sneaky, Mrs. Sartori. Manipulating me with talk of babies."
"I learned from the best." I try to wiggle away but he holds me in place, his touch light but insistent. "You manipulate people for a living."
"I negotiate. There's a difference."
"Oh really? What's the difference?"
"Negotiation involves mutual benefit." His fingers dance along my side. "Manipulation is what you just did."
I gasp as he finds a particularly ticklish spot. "Stop! Lorenzo!"
"Admit you manipulated me."
"Never."
He increases his assault until I'm laughing so hard I can barely breathe. "Okay! Okay! I manipulated you!"
He stops, but keeps me pinned beneath him, grinning down at me with that rare, genuine smile that transforms his whole face. "See? That wasn't so hard."
"You're terrible."
"You love me anyway."
"Unfortunately."
He mock-glares at me. "Unfortunately?"
Before he can start tickling again, I say quickly, "Speaking of manipulation, did you hear about Giulia?"
Lorenzo's eyebrows rise. "What about her?"
"She asked Pietro if she could go to Sicily for a couple months. To stay with your mother."
"Giulia wants to leave?" He seems genuinely surprised. "She's been with us for twenty years."
"Apparently she needs a break from..." I gesture vaguely. "She told Vittoria she hasn't slept properly since Bruno woke up."
Lorenzo rolls off me, lying on his back. "Can't blame her. Bruno's been..."
"A nightmare?"
