Cazzo!What’s wrong with me? I shake my head to clear it, then pull away from her. I pick up a rose and walk toward the casket.Rest in peace, Nonna. I’ll see you on the other side.
Two hours later, we’re gathered in the drawing room of Nonna’s home. Even though the rest of us called it the living room, she preferred drawing room, so... I guess I feel like it’s one small thing I can do for her. The rest of the mourners, including Nikolai Solonik and JJ Kane, left after sharing their condolences with us.
Cass, Michael and Karma’s housekeeper, who’s really more like family, walks into the room, her usually neat hair loose and disheveled. She rubs her palms down the dress of her skirt, then heads straight for the bar.
Adrian follows her. He walks around the bar, reaches for the bottle of wine, but she shakes her head.
"Whiskey." She points to the half-full bottle on the counter.
He raises his eyebrows, but doesn’t say anything. Instead, he pours her a healthy measure. She snatches up the glass, tosses it back, coughs a little, then points to the bottle. "More, please."
He frowns. "I won’t have you getting drunk."
"Oh, please," she scoffs, "stop trying to control me."
When he doesn’t move, she reaches for the bottle but he holds it out of her reach. "You’ve had enough."
Her entire body stiffens. She opens her mouth, no doubt to chew him out, when Michael walks over to stand next to her.
"How’s Gino?" he asks, referring to Nonna’s butler who’d been with her since she married into the Sovranos.
She draws in a breath, seems to gather herself, then turns to him. "He’s fine. Maybe too fine. He’s been silent since she passed. No tears. No outbursts. He refused to come to the funeral, and said he’d prefer staying in to cook the snacks for the wake." She runs her fingers through her hair. "He also says that he wants to return to his home in the village in the countryside. He feels his work here is done."
"Understandable. He can stay here as long as he wants. If and when he chooses to return, I’ll make sure all of the arrangements are taken care of. Either way, he will be taken care of."
She nods. "Thank you, Don. I’ll let him know." She turns to leave, and Adrian walks around the bar and toward her.
"I’ll come with you."
She scowls at him. "I don’t need you with me."
In answer, he brushes past her and heads for the door. Her scowl deepens. She looks like she is about to protest, then thinks better of it and follows him out.
"What’s up with those two?" Massimo murmurs next to me.
"Clearly, there’s some serious chemistry there, though neither of them seems to have acted on it," I muse.
"You’d think he’d just fuck her and be done with it," Luca scoffs.
"Cass is part of the family. He can’t just fuck her and be done with it." Massimo scowls at him.
"Well, then he needs to stay away." Luca raises a shoulder. "Although, the way things are going... What, with first Michael, then Christian and Axel, and now Seb is next in line to get married... If I were him, I’d stay the hell away from her."
"You do realize it was Nonna’s wish that we get married as soon as possible, don’t you?"
"I loved Nonna, and would love to fulfill her wishes, but marriage?" He shakes his head, "No thanks. Not for me. Not for a long time, if ever."
Massimo gives him the side-eye. "You do realize, it’s those who claim they’ll never get married who end up tying the knot first."
"Not me." Luca takes a step back, as if the very thought is repulsive to him. "I’m getting another whiskey. What about you, Seb?"
I shake my head, and he heads for the bar.
I turn to watch Elsa speaking with Karma. She grips Karma’s shoulder, and the two of them embrace. Theresa, Axel’s wife joins them, and the three speak in hushed voices. On the other side of the room, Christian and Aurora are talking intently, their heads bent, their arms around each other.
I turn to glance back at Elsa, and this time, she glances in my direction. Our gazes hold, and she seems to falter in the middle of her conversation with Karma. Karma glances between us, then bends and says something to Elsa whose cheeks heat. Karma walks past her and toward us. She slips into Michael’s side, and he wraps his arm around her and pulls her even closer.
Christian glances in our direction, then walks toward us, leading Aurora.