My father immediately waved him to follow, and he turned toward the hallway that led to his office. Apparently, he wasn’t wasting any time.
There was an awkward moment of silence while the rest of us stood there, then Mama cleared her throat and stepped forward.
“Please, do come in.” She forced a smile on her face and pointed to me. “This is my son, Elio.”
“Bria and Mariano.”
“Elio, show Mariano around, please.” Mama fluttered her hand at us. “Come along. We’ll go to the living room where we can chat.”
Then it was just the two of us. Normally, when I had to entertain, I did the same thing. I showed them around and then got us something to eat so we wouldn’t have to talk much, but to my surprise, Mariano started to laugh.
“Funny,” he followed me outside, “we’re nearly adults, and yet they treat us like children. Rather than being in there learning the family business, we are brushed off and sent to play.”
“I’m sure there’s a reason.” Relieved that he seemed easy to talk to, I handed him a beer from the ice chest near the grill, then waved for him to sit with me by the pool.
“I guess.” He shrugged, letting it go, but I saw his gaze dart to the family ring that I wore. “Lucky. How bad was the initiation?”
I admired the ring in the light as I remembered what I had to do to earn my position as an underboss.
“Not bad.”
“Did you look him in the eye as you pulled the trigger?”
“There wasn’t a trigger.” I eyed him and let his imagination run wild with how I might have done it. “He deserved it, and it’s one less bastard to worry about.”
“Were there any witnesses?”
I could tell he was more than ready to do the same as I had done to prove himself. He was as eager for details as I had been at that point in my life. Later, the faces became blurred, and you lost count of how many souls you had collected.
“Not anymore.”
“Nice.” He tapped his beer to mine.
For the next three hours, we chatted about everything from our childhoods to friends to girlfriends.
“Stella,” Mariano held on to his chest dramatically, “her body is shaped like an hourglass, and her lips are as full as the moon.” He smiled and touched his lips. “Not to mention the way she kisses me.” He rolled onto his side on the oversized lounge chair and finished off his third brew. “And what about you? You seem to understand what I’m saying.”
“Not really,” I lied not liking the idea of sharing anything about Sienna with a stranger, and I knew she wouldn’t like it either. I tucked an arm under my head and stared up at the late afternoon sky where the clouds worked to build mountains over our heads. “But I know she’s out there just waiting for our paths to cross.”
“She’s out there,” he agreed then moved to sit up. “Three brews and my bladder’s full.”
“Three doors down on your left.” I pointed to the house and bent to clean up the bottles. “I’ll meet you in there after,” I called to him, and he waved.
I was curious about what was happening with the meeting inside, so I made my way toward the living room where my mother seemed much more relaxed with the company than she had earlier. Then I heard my father laughing from his office, and my defenses lifted.
“There you are, Elio.” Mama beamed up at me as she poured a glass of white wine. “I was just sharing about how you found love by a pond in the middle of the woods.” She cooed like it was romantic, and I shifted uncomfortably.
“Sounds like Sienna is a very lucky young lady to find such a handsome young man.” Bria, who looked to be at least twenty years younger than her husband, crossed her legs and made a show of it.
“Thank you.” I shot Mama a glance, which she quickly picked up on and changed the subject. “Bria, have a little more of the cheese and pears. They are at their peak of ripeness just now, and we must enjoy them while we can.”
“I’d be happy to. They are delicious.” She leaned forward and gave me another show. I turned on my heel and hastily left, nearly bumping into Francesco, who stood by the entrance of the kitchen looking uneasy.
“Is everything going well, Elio?” he asked as I walked by.
“Please make sure I’m on the opposite side of the table from the wife.” I groaned and rolled my eyes.
“Only if you promise not to leave her alone with me either.” He chuckled darkly as he clearly had not enjoyed his own encounter with her.