“Fine, stay out of mine.” I was about to turn on my heel, but I had one more question. “Where is Dad?”
“Tokyo. Salvaging the family fortune.” She twisted her mouth in a pout. But it was the twitch in the corner of her right eye, the one that no cosmetic filler could silence, that I caught. “I hope he cuts you off because you chose him—” she pointed at Bill, who waved back with a toothy grin “—over our family.”
Carole was lying about Dad’s whereabouts. Lying and insulting me. I didn’t dignify her with a response. I left her fuming on the sidewalk, Chandler snuffling in her arm.
“Did she recognize me without the mustache?” Bill chortled as I slid past the door he held open for me.
“Really? That’s what you’re wondering?” I sniped.
Bill shrugged and closed the door. I had half a mind to call him by his Italian name or maybe try the English equivalent William.
Instead, I asked, “She said she’s been calling?”
Bill looked at his phone, shook his head, and took the car out of park. “Nope. Even though she all but humped me like a dog in heat, she hasn’t called me once.”
“Gross.” I winced. “No, not you, idiota, me.”
“Oh, that,” Bill chuckled. “Yeah, her, the secretary, your dad. V’s guys have blocked the calls.”
That explained it. The days and days of radio silence.
I should be furious. I really should have been. But Vincenzo messing with my phone made it so I had time to see things clearly. To breathe. Toheal.If I’d been contacted by the vestiges of my parasitic old life, I would never have had the courage to claim a new one.
The drive was pleasant. Bill hummed along to songs, when he wasn’t gabbing about something.
I reverted to my relaxed state, pushing the complex thoughts to the back of my mind. Normally, I would have dwelled on the situation. But the strain was wipedaway, and I didn’t feel stressed. It was a first in a long time. I planned to enjoy it for as long as I could.
Mama Ana’s was busy with a dinner crowd. Bill teased the hostess before going to a table of men eating at a large round table. Since he didn’t invite me to follow, and we’d been told Vincenzo was in the private room, still in a lunch meeting, I shifted, looking over the place. I didn’t want to take up a four top for just me. I wondered if the cook would shoo me out if I waited back there.
The manager emerged before I could decide if I should go into the kitchen or not. We locked eyes across the restaurant. Her face transformed from anxious into a scowl. Maybe it was the new, rejuvenated me, but I set my shoulders and marched over.
With a sigh I could feel, Gabriella broke away. “Hi, Amanda, how’s it going?”
I lifted my shoulder. “Can’t complain.”
The woman’s nose wrinkled as if she smelt dead fish. “Can I help you, Signora Messina?”
I pursed my lips. I’d had enough lady drama to last a lifetime. Carole was someone I might not ever have to see again, and Gabriella was a mafia princess. Which meant she was my family. We needed to put this behind us. “Look, when I said I wanted a change to start over, I was serious. I’m not your enemy. Don’t treat me like one.”
Her mouth fell open.
“Hi, Gabriella Deluca. I’m Amanda. Nice to meet you.” I took the opportunity to reach for her palm, shook it, then dropped my own to my side. “There, we’ve met. Now would you kindly stop gaping at me and tell me how I can help out around here? It’s really busy, and you look like you could use an extra pair of hands.”
“You’d…help?” she croaked.
I shrugged. “What else am I going to do? Make your staff wait on me?”
“Well, yeah?” Those warm brown eyes blinked rapidly. “It’s a restaurant.”
I waved my hand. “I already had mixed greens and other small bites at the—” I almost said spa, but that wasn’t going to help my image. “I’m good. Put me to work or tell me where I can wait for Vincenzo. Either way, don’t let me stand here.”
A glint sparked in her eyes. “You can bus dishes.”
“Done.” I turned on my heel.
She didn’t think I would—or probably could—do it. What she was too young to know was that when I would leave the preppy school, sneaking over to the wrong side of town, I spent many afternoons here helping Vincenzo. After which, there would be a little studying and far too much kissing.
Those were the days….
