Vera grinned. “The kids love him, I’m afraid. I think you’ll have to fight for his attention tonight.” She moved to Autumn and wrapped her in an unexpected hug. “I’m Vera.”
Autumn tensed at the sudden touch. She was never touched, other than her sessions with Hererra, that is.
It was disconcerting.
“I’m Autumn.” She hugged the woman back awkwardly, then released her just as quickly. Heat, stained Autumn’s cheeks as she looked over the woman’s shoulder.
“You know,” Vera said, looking in the same direction, “Nico never brought anyone here before.”
Autumn blinked at her. “He hasn’t?”
Vera shook her head when a glint of light hit her eyes, “It’s been a couple of years since I’ve seen my older brother.”
“He’s family?”
Vera stopped and looked Autumn over. “Are you a reporter? Mario didn’t exactly say Nico was bringing a guest.” Suspicion filled Vera’s eyes as she looked at Autumn closer.
“Ah,” Autumn blinked and shook her head. A tight smile tipped her lips up. “No, I can’t stand reporters either.”
Vera gave her a sidelong glance, then nodded. “You and Nico must have a very new relationship since he hasn’t talked about us.”
“He’s very private.”
Vera grimaced. “Yeah, he’s always been like that. With his parents dying like they did…”
They started walking in the direction Nico went. Autumn was more curious about him than ever. Here, he seemed more welcomed than when they met with Casale. The few times they met the gangster, Casale seemed to mock Nico.
It appeared that this part of his family accepted him with open arms.
“How long has it been since Nico was here last?”
“I’d say about three years. He’s been busy, or so he says.” Vera turned, a smile on her lips when she looked over her shoulder at Autumn. They walked through an overly large room that seemed like a reception hall. “But I think it has more to do with his mother’s brother, Arturo.” The way Vera said Casale’s name was like it was a curse.
“Yeah, Arturo isn’t one of my favorites, either.”
Vera’s head cocked to the side, but before she could ask, one of the kids ran to her and pulled on her hand.
“Mamma mia! Come watch!”
Autumn and Vera walked through yet another doorway where a group of kids watched Nico carefully as he did some footwork on a mat on the floor. It looked like some dancing video game.
“Oh sure, Nico, you’re such a showoff!”
Autumn blinked, never having seen the game before. She turned to Vera, her eyebrows quirked together. “Show off?”
Vera blinked at her, then motioned to Nico, who had a grin as he stomped to the music. “Dance Revolution, have you ever played it before?”
“I can’t say that I have.” Her lips tipped up in a smile, “I’m not much of a dancer. Is this some new game?”
“Oh, my God,” Vera pushed Nico out of the way. “Mr. Smooth, get out of the way and let your girlfriend get in there.”
Nico’s eyes were bright as he motioned for her to step onto the mat. “It’s all yours,mi’amore.”
Autumn carefully stepped onto the mat, careful not to break through the plastic with her shoes.
“Here, let me take those off you. It might be easier without them.” Nico got down on his knees and gently pulled the low heels off of Autumn’s feet. She held onto his shoulder as she felt like she was someone else. Right now, she wasn’t a crime scene analyst, she was just Autumn, out at a party with a man showing her a good time.
“Okay, let’s find something easy since you’ve never done this before.”
