“Right.” I gave her a dark smile as I heard the familiar beads clicking together.
“Hi,” Vinni leaned around me, “I’m Vinni, Elio’s cousin, and this is my mother, Noemi.”
“Carina.” She smiled at Aunt Noemi and held out a hand to Vinni.
“How did the two of you meet?” Vinni asked.
“My parents are friends of Elio’s.” She put her arm through mine, and I tried not to react as Nonna came to the doorway and peered over Noemi’s shoulder.
“What’s going on? I heard shouting.”
“Nothing.” Noemi held up a hand. “We were just discussing where Elio should take his date tonight.” She refused to make eye contact with me, which told me I needed to dig harder into my aunt.
“Who are you?” Nonna pushed Noemi out of the way to get a better look at my date.
“My date,” I gritted through my teeth. “Carina, meet my nonna, Greta Capri.”
“Lovely to meet you.”
“Are you any relation to the Coppola family?”
“The Coppolas?” Carina’s hand flew to her chest, appalled at the question.
“As always, Nonna,” I turned Carina around and pressed my hand against her lower back to urge her to my car, “it’s been a delight to see you again.”
Once on the road heading into town for dinner, Carina turned to look at me.
“Your nonna is positively terrifying.”
“Hmm,” I thought out loud, “she’s certainly been showing her true colors lately.”
“I do think you should have let me have a little more time with her. I can act, you know.” She chuckled to herself. “Yup, I played the best tree my elementary ever had.”
“Good to know.” I pulled out the back-up phone Vinni had given me and tucked it into the pocket between the seats. There was no way I would have ever left my phone in that house.
My heart dropped as I pulled into the driveway of the restaurant I had once taken Sienna to. This was our spot, and I never wanted to take anyone else here, but I knew that several headlights back, parked on the side of the street, was Abramo. He knew what this place meant to me, thanks to Niccola and Vinni’s loud conversation the night before.
“Wow,” Carina covered her mouth as she took in the scenery from the balcony, “this place is spectacular.”
I took a seat and looked in the opposite direction. If I was going to do this, I needed Sienna out of my head. Gusto, the owner, came out with a huge smile, but when he caught sight of Carina, it slipped a little.
“Mr. Capri, welcome.” Both his hands were in the air as he hobbled over. “I was hoping you’d come back to visit.”
“My apologies, Gusto. A lot has been going on.”
“I see, I see.” He motioned for the waiter to pour us my favorite wine.
“Please meet my date for the evening, Carina.”
“Lovely to meet you,” he greeted her, and his gaze swept back to me. “I’ll let you get settled, and I’ll be back with an appetizer.”
I watched him leave, knowing where his mind was because mine was there, too. Carina and I had zero spark, and anyone with a pair of eyes could spot it.
How was I going to pull this off?
“Elio?” Carina pulled my attention back to her as she moved her gaze to the building across the way. For a split second, I saw a dark figure move. “Dance with me?” She smiled. “You really need to smile, by the way. Your expression is rather sour for someone on a date.” She had a point. I stood and pushed back my chair.
“Elenora,” Oscar shadowed me as I moved rapidly through the hotel room, “I wish you would just stop and hear me for a moment.”