"To the car. To go throw myself under it."
She laughs. I don't.
I head out the door. Let's pretend I'm functional.
My parents already left without me, so I drive my hungover ass to the meeting alone.
Honestly? Better. I can insult the entire existence of meeting people without anyone telling me to shut up and be kind.
Maybe after the meeting I'll go for a walk.
Alone.
Far, far away from all this madness and the two Italian men currently haunting my soul.
I park, drag myself out of the car, and head inside.
Everything looks exactly the same as I left it, shiny to the bone and aggressively quiet.
I walk into the meeting room. Everyone's in there, but no one's sat down yet. I see my dad. I walk right past him. I go to my mom.
Everyone is smiling. Like, way too much. Big smiles. Creepy smiles. And it terrifies me.
Did they hear about my humiliation, too?
At this point, anything is possible.
"Sweetheart, finally. You look so pale—are you sick?" my mom asks.
"Just... hangover. What's going on?" I ask, squinting through the light. "Why's everyone so excited?"
She beams. "We might have a new strategic partner joining the expansion. If all goes well today, it could mean amajorbreakthrough for both families."
"Okay..." I clear my throat. "And that means...?"
Her hand lands on my arm like she's giving me good news.
"You, Gio, and a new representative from their side, will be traveling together to Spain next week. You'll be handling all the meetings with the clients. Just for a few days."
I stare at her.
Someone is messing with me. There's no other explanation.
They scream at me to stay away from him, to not touch him, to notlookat him, and now they're sending me on a cute little business trip with him?
"You're sending me to Spain. With Gio."
"Yes, and one more. A young man, very promising. He's a cousin of Gio's. I believe his name is... Lorenzo?"
I start laughing. Because this is funny. This is actually funny.
The universe keeps telling me "fuck you" right to my face with zero mercy.
"Lorenzo," I repeat, like maybe she didn't say it right the first time.
She nods happily. "Yes. I don't think you've met him yet. Very polite.Verysharp. You'll like him."
Oh, I met him, mom.
