Madonn,talk about marrying into money…
But I liked working for Adriano most of all, because you knewexactlywhere you stood with him.
He always spoke his mind. He never held back. And even if you pissed him off, if you worked hard and did your best not to screw up again, he recognized it. He never held your mistakes against you.
He was unpredictable in how angry he got – but he was predictable in that healwaysgot angry. As long as you accepted it was gonna happen, you could just let it roll off your back.
A lot of guys didn’t handle that real well.
I did, so Adriano and me got along just fine.
3
We rolled into Florence an hour after we’d left the mansion.
As the money man, Roberto had been in charge of the financials for Bianca’s shop. He’d looked for a location on theVia dè Tornabuoni, the most famous street for shopping in all of Tuscany. That’s where you’d find Gucci, Balenciaga, Hermes, Prada, and the like.
But the rents were sky-high, so Roberto had leased a space off the main drag – at least until Bianca proved she could succeed in the world of fashion.
Her boutique was in apiazzawith a lot of foot traffic, along with shops that had a slightly funkier, more alternative vibe.
Bianca didn’t care.
“I’d work out of a cardboard box if that was the only option,” she said happily.
Of course, when your husband ran Florence and your in-laws ran Tuscany, you were gonna get significantly better than a cardboard box.
But she deserved to get her shot. Ever since Rome, she’d been working day and night with a team of seamstresses to get all the clothes ready for the grand opening.
I didn’t know anything about fashion, but evenIcould tell they were amazing. They looked like theybelongedon the front cover of magazines.
Not only that, but a lot of really expensive fashion was just fuckin’ weird.
Not Bianca’s stuff. Hers was super feminine and really beautiful – something I’d want my girlfriend to wear.
If Ihada girlfriend, that is. I hadn’t had a spare moment since I first got hired by the Rosolinis.
Hell, I hadn’t gotten laidoncein the last seven months. Too busy getting shot at.
I pulled up in front of Bianca’s shop and parked by the curb.
As we were getting out of the Mercedes, I glanced at the café next door –
And froze in my tracks as an absolutely gorgeouswoman walked inside.
I only caught a glimpse of her, but that was enough to set my heart racing.
Her hair was the first thing I noticed.
Almost every Italian in Tuscany was brunette, and usuallydarkbrunette. If a Tuscan woman had blond hair, it almost always came out of a bottle.
This woman had long, golden blonde hair – and as far as I could tell, it was completely natural.
Which meant she probably wasn’t from around here.
Lots more Italian women had blonde hair in the north, up around Milan and the border with Switzerland.
I only saw her face from the side, but she had flawless skin and gorgeous cheekbones.
