I clear my throat, and Sandra-dee Incarnated turns around, appearing to notice me for the first time. A polite and professional smile graces her face.
“Sorry,” she says, “we don’t take evening appointments. You’ll have to call and set something up.”
Chapter 4
Giovanni
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Tessa hisses.
I casually gesture to our surroundings. “Go ahead.”
She lowers her voice. “In private.”
As soon as the door to my office shuts, she aggressively whispers, “How come you never told me you had a family?!”
Biting back a smile at her misplaced outrage, I relax into a lazy yawn. I’ve never seen her this flustered before.
She points to my left hand. “You’ve never worn a ring. Lying is wrong, Giovanni. It’s one of the Ten Commandments. You should know, you were probably there for the first draft.”
I exhale a long sigh. “I’m barely older than you.”
“The evidence says otherwise.” She points to the small bowl of hard candies I keep on my desk. “Exhibit A.”
“Those are Lu’s favorites.”
“And doesLuknow she’s your…” Tessa’s cheeks redden as she tries to work out my relationship with Lu. “Well, whatisshe to you?”
I smirk. “Why are you so upset, Tessa?”
Her face goes blank, as if she’s surprised herself. Her mouth opens to speak, but Micheletto bursts into my office before she can say anything.
“Zio Gi, look at my high score!” He excitedly holds up his phone to us, showing off his winning Pokémon match.
High-fiving him, I join in his enthusiasm. “Bene, Micheletto! Go tell your Mamma!”
When my gaze swings back to Tessa, she’s squinting at me. “Zio… Is that ‘uncle?’ Is he yournephew?”
Cracking my knuckles, I can’t help but grin. “Yes. It was very enjoyable to see you jump to conclusions, though. And I’m his uncle through bonds, not blood.”
“Does she work for you?”
I lean against the wall and nod. “Lu works for me, and Micheletto is her son.”
When I found out that Lu and Micheletto were financially struggling through my Italian ex-pats group, I offered her a job as my receptionist a few evenings a week.
No one ever calls.
It’s technically after business hours.
Nevertheless, for three evenings each week, Lu sits dutifully next to the office phone, and we both pretend like it might ring. It doesn’t matter to me. Micheletto could take a hammer to the phone, and their company alone would be well-worth the sunk cost.
Tessa’s eyebrows knit together. “You have a whole employee? I’m here, like, every minute of every day. If your shop is open twenty-four hours, you better not tell Lamont. He’ll force me to come here in the middle of the night.”
I shrug, enjoying her intense interest in my personal life a little too much.
Tessa retrieves one of the many lip glosses she keeps in her purse and unscrews the cap. I crane my neck slightly to seethe flavor. Coconut. Regrettably, my favorite of them all. I’m in agony as she swipes it over her lips, giving them a wet look that I actively try not to notice.
“Gi?” Lu pokes her head in my office, interrupting my exchange with Tessa. “Sorry to barge in, but there’s a rip in Michael’s school pants. Do you think you can patch them before we leave tonight?”
