“A monkey in little kids’ books. He follows around a man in a yellow hat.” Lucia suddenly clapped her hands. “That’s what you need, Adriano – a yellow hat! Then Giorgio can follow you around and be Curious George!”
“I’m not wearing a fuckin’ yellow hat,” Adriano snapped.
“Not even if your wife makes it?”
Bianca played along and gave him sad puppy eyes.
“Not even then,” he growled.
Lucia looked at me and shrugged. “Guess you’re stuck being Gorgeous instead of Curious. What’s he got you doing today –puttanaduty?”
“Lucia!” Bianca scolded her.
“What?!It is what it is. No use sugarcoating it.”
“That’s whatIsaid!” Adriano shouted as he pointed at Lucia.
She nodded somberly and winked. “Great minds think alike. So, how many ladies of the night are you talkin’ to today, G.G.?”
“…G.G.?” I asked, confused.
“Gorgeous George. Keep up. How many?”
I shrugged. “As many as I can fit in before dinnertime, I guess.”
Lucia frowned. “Why dinnertime?”
“Oh my God!” Bianca said, clapping one hand over her mouth in shock. “I forgot about my parents!”
“See, that’s why they like me,” Adriano smirked. “Because I remember dinner with them when their daughter doesn’t.”
“I’ve been busy!” she protested.
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Jeez, calm down.” He turned back to me. “Remember – pick us up at the apartment at 6:30.”
Adriano and Bianca had a ritzy penthouse apartment in one of the most expensive buildings in historic Florence. They’d gotten it specifically because it was close to Bianca’s new shop.
“Oooh – can I come to dinner, too?” Lucia asked.
“No,” Adriano said flatly.
“Why not?!”
“‘Cause I want her parents tokeepliking me.”
“See? You keep that up, you’re gonna be back to sixth-favorite brother-in-law.” Lucia looked at me. “Well, Giorgio, I don’t want to keep you from your whores.”
“Lucia,” Bianca snapped.
“Jeez, it’s like my grandmother’sright here,”Lucia said, then called out to the rest of the store, “Where are you, Nonna? I canhearyou, but I can’tseeyou!”
Bianca rolled her eyes, then turned to me. “Don’t be late. You see what I have to put up with.”
“Yeah,” Lucia said, “a marketinggenius.”
“Six-thirty sharp,” I promised Bianca with a smile.
“You two keep doing Milan Fashion Week,” Adriano said. “I’m gonna talk to Giorgio for a second.”
