How long?
“Um, I…” I brush my hair behind my ear nervously.
“How long have you been together?” Gemma clarifies.
Gemma is intimidating. She’s tall, slim, and drop-dead gorgeous. She looks every bit a mafia princess and her commanding demeanor tells everyone around her not to fuck with her. I’ve never felt beautiful, and I surely don’t process the features Gemma does. I can’t talk about my relationship with this beauty, let alone my relationship with her brother.
How am I supposed to answer that?
Well one day when I was helping my brother rob him…
“A month.” I settle on saying.
Was it the truth?
Vaguely.
“Wow.” Gemma mouthed. “That’s insane, I can’t believe he’s in a relationship.”
“Oh, no, I-”
What was I trying to say? No, we’re not in a relationship? No, he’s not committed? I have no idea what is happening?
“Yeah.” I settled on. “What are they talking about?” I change the subject, saving me from myself.
“Business.” Gemma waves a hand. “Always business lately.”
Our eyes meet for a brief moment like Gemma’s assessing if I know what “business” means.
“Oh,” I sip from my martini and let Gemma lead me back to our table.
“Ladies,” Gian greets when we return, drinks in hand. “Sorry about that.”
“No problem.” Gemma smiles, slipping back into her seat.
“Annie, one more person for you to meet. This is my father, Giuseppe.” Gio gestures to an older man, maybe late 50’s, with salt and pepper hair. He’s slim with a little bit of a gut wearing a crisp dark gray suit and black linen shirt. His hair is slicked back and he oozes confidence.
“You’re face,” I mumble, looking over at the familiar man Gio presented to me. “It’s on build boards, right?”
This caused laughter from all of them. “Giuseppe DelGado.” he extends his hand. “I’m a lawyer.”
Yes, that was it. His face everywhere, he was one of those lawyers with tons of billboards claiming to get you the money you deserved, to right the wrongs of others, and so on.
“Yes,” I smile. “Nice to meet you.”
Giuseppe is equally as handsome as his sons. His strong grip pulls me close so he can lightly kiss my cheek. “You as well.” He has an easy smile and I can see this is where Gio inherited his charm from. No wonder this guy wins court cases.
Who could deny him?
Who could deny a DelGado?
Surely, not me.
I’m hooked in their claws now.
Gemma was the baby and Gian is the oldest, I learned over dinner. Gio was the wild child. His father laughed as he told stories of raising them, Gio testing his patience the most. Gemma was cherished and protected, overly so. She told stories of her brothers chasing down her first boyfriend who broke her heart. The love in this family was clear to Annie.
It made me miss my family. Once upon a time when we were “normal”, when I had a mother and father, but those days were long gone.