“You look pretty good yourself.” She ran her hands over my jacket. “I love you dressed-up.”
“I’ll bear that in mind and get fitted for more designer jackets.” I smiled.
“I like you in anything, Declan. My favourite being shirtless and…” A half-grin made her pretty eyes sparkle with cheek. “Without your pants. Okay, then, let’s just say naked.”
I played with her fingers and looking into her pretty eyes, I chuckled. “I’ll bear that in mind and be sure to walk around home naked. Only if you do.”
We giggled while entering the restaurant to meet my father.
I paused and turned towards her. “You haven’t given me an answer yet.”
“I will. Soon.” She stared up at me, and I read that same perplexed uncertainty that I’d grown accustomed to.
Photos of Southern Italian villages covered the walls, and with its check tablecloths and animated waiters speaking in Italian, we could have just stepped into a Neapolitan trattoria.
An aroma of cooked tomatoes, garlic, and herbs fired up my appetite.
I spotted my father, who waved at us, and we joined him and his partner at their table.
My father rose and hugged me and then kissed Theadora on the cheek.
“Lovely to see you again,” he told her.
Unlike my mother, my father put her at ease with his relaxed, inviting manner.
After we ordered and loosened up with a bit of small talk, I launched straight into it.
“Tell me about Reynard Crisp and mother.” I gave Luke an apologetic smile. “Family politics.”
“I don’t mind. Colourful families interest me. I wouldn’t be a lawyer otherwise.”
“Luke has moved into family law,” my father added.
“Oh, I thought you were in entertainment law,” I said. I hadn’t really spoken much to him. I was still unsure what to make of Luke. He seemed to make my father happy, which was all that mattered.
“I got bored with pop princesses and princes’ hissy fits. And their ‘do it now or I’ll find another lawyer’ taunts.” He chuckled.
A waiter delivered another bottle of wine, and Luke gave him a lingering stare, which I found a little inappropriate. But that was me, old-fashioned and surprisingly possessive, something I’d only just discovered thanks to my obsession with Theadora.
The waiter placed the wine down and walked off with Luke’s attention directed at the young man and his slight wiggle. I found myself questioning whether my father and Luke were exclusive.
I turned to my Dad. “Tell me what you know about Crisp and Mothers’ relationship.”
“They had a romance of sorts before I came along, and from what I gather, Rey broke her heart.”
My eyebrows raised. Their being romantically linked didn’t surprise. I’d seen my mother’s stolen glances directed at Crisp. Hearing how he’d hurt my unshakable mother, however, took me aback.
He ran his fingers up the stem of his wine glass. “Reynard broke a lot of women’s hearts back then. Good looking. Filthy rich and brimming in playboy charm.”
“I know he’s not the marrying kind.” A pang of sympathy swept through me. I might have resented her arrogance, but it pained me to know my mother had been hurt.
“He liked them young.” My father looked at Theadora.
“I’ve noticed.” I shook my head in disgust. “But Mother was young. She married you at twenty-two.”
“She was eighteen when she was with Crisp. They were together for a year or so. But your mother wanted marriage. To marry wealth.” He sniffed.
“I don’t understand this obsession she has for money. Weren’t her parents rich?” All we knew about them was that her mother and father died in a car accident when I was young. Even the photos she had were sketchy at best.