“Ari? Arianna? What’s wrong? Who do you want me to meet?” she said.
But I couldn’t answer her. I could barely even breathe. Moisture formed in my eyes, and all I could do was bolt from the club, wanting to put as much distance between me and Giovanni Romano as possible.
He had made a complete fool out of me.
CHAPTER 16
Giovanni
The day had been just as long and busy as I had anticipated, but I pu
t up with it calmly and politely, hoping to prove to my father once and for all that I was worthy of having a higher position in the family business. I didn’t mention it again though, figuring that actions spoke louder than words. And considering that I had even gone as far as to agree with marrying a girl of his choosing, he had to know by now how extremely dedicated I was to our family.
At least that was my story, and I was sticking to it.
The fact that I had actually fallen in love with the girl was beside the point when it came to conducting business with my father.
I honestly couldn’t deny how happy I was with Arianna lately. She made me feel like an entirely new man. The moment I was able to leave work with my father, all I wanted to do was call her. But the hour was late, and late-night calls often led to late-night behavior. After Arianna had repeatedly told me that she wasn’t that kind of girl, I certainly didn’t want to risk treating her in any way that insinuated otherwise. We had jumped into things fast, and now I wanted to take it slow so that I could cherish each moment before she officially became my wife. I’m not even sure when it had happened, but at some point, I had gone from savoring my last moments of bachelorhood, to eagerly awaiting marriage. Meeting up and hooking up with Arianna wasn’t going to satisfy me for much longer; I respected her too much to keep treating her like something between my mistress and a friend with benefits.
To help me get through a night without Arianna, I decided to go out for a drink and vowed to call her first thing in the morning so that we could meet up and spend the whole day together.
So, I returned to my favorite spot, which now had sentimental value to it since it was where I’d met Arianna in the first place. Ironically, being there felt different now. Normally, I got my usual table in the back and used the view to scope out women. Now, however, I found that I wasn’t remotely interested in any of the women present, no matter how good-looking they happened to be. Some of them even boldly approached me and asked to dance, but I politely turned them down. After turning enough of them down, they eventually left me alone to finish my beers in peace.
I stared idly at the couples on the dance-floor, my thoughts far away and preoccupied with Arianna. That’s when I noticed another woman approaching me.
Here we go again, I thought to myself, ready to politely turn her down just as I had done with the countless others.
Yet, when she got closer, a smile spread across my face. I didn’t know how I hadn’t recognized immediately because I would remember that long dark hair, those big brown eyes, and that goofy grin anywhere.
“Well, hello there, handsome,” she said, grinning ear-to-ear.
I set my beer down and laughed as I stood up to approach her. She threw her arms around me, and I gave her a big bear hug, lifting her clean off her feet in the process.
“Maria, where’ve you been all my life?” I said, setting her back on the floor.
She laughed. “I’ve been around,” she said. “But it’s you, that’s been missing-in-action, cousin! What’s been going on?”
I pulled out a chair for her to sit and then retook my own seat. “Your uncle has been keeping me busy, as usual. You know how that goes.”
Maria laughed. “How’s Uncle Luca these days? I haven’t seen him in forever.”
“He’s the same as always. All about the money.”
Maria shook her head. “Well, son, you know—time is money,” she said, her expression growing stern as she mocked my father.
I laughed, almost choking on my beer. Even though it had been a while since I’d last seen her, my cousin Maria was the same as I always remembered her—loud and silly. She and I had been close growing up, and she had practically been like the sister I never had.
“So, what else is going on with you besides work?” she asked. “I know the infamous Giovanni Romano can’t be entirely all work and no play these days.”
I shook my head. “No, I wouldn’t say that.”
“Well, spill it then! I need to hear about something extravagant. My life has been far too boring lately. I need some excitement—or to at least hear about some.”
I raised my eyebrows. “You? Boring. Never! There has to be some tall, dark, handsome and unsuspecting poor fellow in your life, right?”
“Ha!” Maria said. “Sure, but they don’t last long. You know how that goes.”
I laughed. “Yeah, you can say that again.”