Dario grinned. “A big meanie?” He paused. “You know, you’re going to have to find a way to get along with her.”
“Celeste? We get along great! I love her! Why? Did she say something?”
Dario laughed. “No, I mean Nico.”
“Oh.Her.”
“Yes.Her. I’m surprised there’s been no response to the tweet.”
“I suppose I should consider myself lucky. If she responds, anything I say is going to make me sound like a—”
“Douche?”
Rocco remained silent.
“Wanker?” Dario suggested. “Prick? Jagoff?”
Sounds about right.
Dario patted him on the back. “Don’t worry. That ship has sailed.”
Rocco sighed.
Just then Celeste entered, and they both waved at her.
Smiling, she waved back.
“We’ll hear from her … eventually,” Rocco said, not ready to drop the subject. “I can see those conniving black eyes as she crafts her response.”
Dario frowned. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen black eyes.” He paused. “Hey, how do you know her eyes are black? When we met her, she was wearing sunglasses. Unless …” Dario grinned, nudging him. “You’ve been googling her, haven’t you? Looking up images?”
Rocco hadn’t. Dario was right. He had no idea what color her eyes were.
I must have been thinking of that woman at the bar.
He shook his head. “I haven’t been looking her up. I don’t know why I said that.”
It took a while for Celeste to reach them, as she stopped multiple times chatting with the people she passed. Once she left them, they were all smiles. Everyone loved Celeste.
She had a slender build, wide-set blue eyes, a heart-shaped face, and dimples when she grinned. She was a looker with a wicked sense of humor. That coupled with a heart of gold made her a real gem and Dario one of the luckiest guys on the planet in Rocco’s opinion.
Once she’d made it through the trail of admirers she’d left behind, she and Rocco exchanged pecks on the cheek while she shared a more intimate embrace with Dario.
“Celeste,” Rocco pleaded, doing his best to look like an abandoned puppy. “Would you go get me an espresso?”
“No,” she huffed. “I can’t believe you even asked after that stupid sexist tweet.”
“Why was that sexist? Okay, stupid, yes. But sexist? I didn’t say it because she’s a woman.”
“‘You’re so full of shit, if you ever had an enema you’d evaporate into thin air.’”
Dario laughed.
Celeste lifted her chin. “Valentino said that.”
Rocco frowned. “Who the hell is Valentino?”
“A character from a novel by Catherine Doyle,Mafiosa.”
