“How did you get involved with that idiot from the airport?” he asked as they shared an unplanned order of focaccia with an olive tapenade.
“I ate in his restaurant. He was the chef, came out, chatted me up, asked for my number.” Emotion flickered under her skin, but her expression didn’t change. “I didn’t know he was married. His wife obviously found out. She hired me to throw her five-year-old a birthday party, and outed me as a scarlet woman. My brother even got me a great sweater with the letter A embroidered on it.”
That didn’t seem very supportive. Then again, Lorenzo himself had done some assholery on the cheating front, but only with his brother’s best interest at heart, and long ago at that. “She outed you?”
“She announced that I seduced her poor hardworking husband, because you know…” She indicated her torso and face. “Scarlett Johannsen right here, right?” He didn’t know who that was, so didn’t answer. “Anyway, I tried to explain, she didn’t believe me—who would? And then I got…a little outspoken at a restaurant and basically finished digging my grave, at least in the event-planning world.”
In his normal life, back before he had a personal assistant who made him feel looked after and at home, he would not have enjoyed this conversation about messy personal moments. “What does being a little outspoken mean?” he asked
She shook her head, rolled her eyes and said, “Four glasses of wine, a microphone and a packed house. I told the crowd that A) I knew who slept around, so no stones in glass houses, right? And B) I thought their little parties were mostly stupid.”
“Did you? I’m impressed. They are stupid. My sister had a gender reveal party for both her kids, and I sat there thinking, ‘What if you miscarry, Sofia?’ and also, ‘Is this really necessary?’”
“Exactly! It’s such bad luck!”
“Fai festa troppo presto, e il diavolo infila la coda.”
She pulled back a little to look at him. “Go ahead, show-off. Translate, please.”
“Celebrate too early and the devil slides in his tail.” He lifted his glass in a toast.
“Oh, I like that one.” She took a bite of her food. “Out of professional curiosity, I have to know. How did they do the reveal?”
He smiled. “For William, who came first, they had a picnic and asked Henry’s mother to bring her falcon.”
“Did you say falcon?” She was already smiling.
“I did. And at the appropriate moment, the falcon swooped in, hit a huge balloon with its talons, and poof. Blue powder all over the food. We had to order out.”
She threw back her head and laughed. “Whoops! Well, points for creativity. I’ve never heard of that one before. How about for Lucy? By the way, Lark is crazy about her. She’s Lucy’s godmother.”
“Yes, I’m aware, as I’m Lucy’s godfather.” The instant irritation that always flared when someone told Lorenzo a fact he already knew was absent this time. “Anyway, they learned their lesson about exploding powder. They just bought a stork pinata and beat the thing to death until pink candy rained out. It was extremely violent. Not child-appropriate in the least.”
“Hopefully therapy will clear William’s mind of the memories. Tell me more about your family. I’m on the fringe, but I know Dante, of course. Your sisters seem wicked nice, and your parents, too.”
“Yes, they’re all wicked nice.”
“But…”
“But nothing. They’re nice people.”
“That’s not how people usually talk about their families, Lorenzo.”
He gave her a look. “It’s how I talk about mine.”
“Here, I’ll demonstrate. My parents are irritatingly happy with each other and like to show the world that they’re winning at marriage. Lots of public displays of affection, lots of snuggling and flirting. As their child, I’m glad for them and just wish I saw less of it. No one likes to see their parents making out, you know? And also, it’s…well, it’s a lot to live up to.”
“Mm.” His own parents were less demonstrative, but very much a unit. He’d never thought about their marriage much, to be honest. Assumed it was solid based on the evidence presented.
“My oldest sister is the best,” Winnie went on. “She had a baby in college and placed him for adoption, but they reunited and he’s awesome. Lark and Addie are complete opposites in every way but DNA. No one likes Nicole, Addie’s wife, except Addie, so I guess that’s what really matters. Addie seems shallow and irritating, but she’d also kill for you. Lark…well, you know Lark. She’s an angel sent from heaven.”
“She cries far too often. She definitely cried at the gender reveals. She’d gotten very attached to that stork.”
Winnie grinned. “And finally, there’s my brother, Robbie, who’s a jerk, who falls into the best things without lifting a finger, and just when you think he’s a complete idiot, does something great for you. And we can’t forget my grandfather, who’s perfect in every way. So. That’s my family. You try again.”
His good mood seeped away. Also, he should not finish the lasagna, no matter how fantastic it was. “My family is fine. I told you I didn’t grow up in the same house as my siblings.”
“That school for gifted kids sounded very cool.”
