“No, no.” Peggy looked up, her red-rimmed eyes serious. “Not about the weather or what they want to eat for dinner. Not about the kids or the mortgage or if there’s gas in the car. I meanreallytalk to them. Tell them how you feel, your deepest thoughts. And here’s the big one, Ellie. Tell them what you’re afraid of. Because, I guarantee you, they are afraid of the same things. If you don’t do that, you’ll be worried about falling apart, and never realize it doesn’t matter as long as you do it together.”
“Okay, Mom. I can do that. I’m listening.”
“Good. Now,” said Peggy, wiping her nose and sitting up a bit taller. “Which scarf should I wear? We’re going to play Burraco withCinzia and Mario tonight and I’d rather people look at my scarf than my puffy face.”
“Your face is fine, Mom. I like the blue one. Wait, Cinzia and Mario?”
“If there’s one thing I know, Ellie, it’s that you never know.”
CHAPTER 20
Despite the cost, Cris was absolutely positive he’d made the right choice in renting an SUV to pick up his brothers. The thought of cramming all of the combined twelve and a half feet of the Conte twins into the Ovenwagen and trying not to sweat out every last electrolyte all the way back to Chiavari was absolutely horrifying. Instead, he cruised along the autostrada in a sleek, quiet Renault with the air conditioning cranked up to maximum. He tried to rehearse what he was going to tell his brothers, but his brain had other ideas and kept rerouting directly to images of Ellie’s mouth. Just as he would remind himself of why it was so important that he talk to the twins as soon as possible, his thoughts would slide right into recalling how soft Ellie’s lips were and how she tasted. Thankfully, his brothers’ energy level normally hovered around “nuclear,” and he didn’t have much space for wayward thoughts as soon as he picked them up from the airport.
“We are guest-hosting a New Year’s Eve party at Hakkasan in Vegas, we got invited to one of the private lofts at Superdome in NewOrleans for the Super Bowl, and dude—you’re not going to believe this—” said Ale Jr.
Leo cut his brother off. “When Teena told us, we didn’t believe it.” The twins were already deep into their typical tag-team style of conversation that made Cris wonder what either of them would do if they had to say an entire sentence without the other as a spotter.
“We didn’t. We thought it was a joke.”
“But then we got another email—”
“From the office of Donatella Versace herself.”
“And then we knew it was real.”
“Dude. We’re going to present at the Grammys!” Ale said, turning to face Cris for effect. “In Versace suits!”
“He’s very into fashion this year,” added Leo.
“You aresocoming. We already told them to make three of whatever they’re making,” said Ale, looking Cris up and down. “Except, maybe, like, in a bigger size than we thought.”
“That’s awesome. And the rest of the team is cool with the attention?” Cris couldn’t imagine a pack of surly water polo players being thrilled about extra cameras in their faces.
“We don’t allow cameras in the training center. We don’t mix the show with work, you know?”
“We’re discreet,” Leo agreed.
“I can see that,” said Cris, glancing back in the rearview mirror at Leo wearing a fluorescent yellow T-shirt and matching track pants.
“It will be easier for you since you’re not competing anymore. You can let the crew into your life since you won’t have any boundaries,” said Ale.
“Which is so much easier,” added Leo.
“About that,” said Cris, attempting to edge his way around the conversation about his diminishing boundaries being a benefit.
“Don’t worry about the, uh…” said Ale.
“The stuff they are saying about you,” continued Leo.
“No one believes it.”
“Even if they did, they won’t remember after seeing you on the show for a while.”
“Wait, but—” Cris interjected. He suddenly appreciated how his mother used to sometimes physically plant herself between them to get their attention when they were younger.
“We already told Ani that it was an off-limits topic,” said Ale.
“You talked about me with Ani?” Cris couldn’t believe he was already being discussed as a plot point with Ani Kasparian, the producer ofDouble Shot.
