“Um, apparently, she’s just flown here in the Veneti’s private jet, and one of the Veneti soldiers has just driven her here from the airfield.”
“Ask her what the fuck she wants,” I ordered. We’d only left Staten Island today—it was far too soon for a visit from the in-laws.
I heard my soldier ask her the purpose of her visit in words more polite than I had just used. I hoped to God that she wasn’t going to be one of those clinging mothers who couldn’t bear to let her darling daughter go.
“Boss, she says she’s got some things to drop off for her daughter.”
We’d only be home for less than an hour and already the fucking Venetis were all over us. I clenched my jaw. “Let her in.” I would have liked to have refused her entry, but she was my mother-in-law now and we did need to preserve the alliance with her husband.
Sitting in my study, which was located at the front of the house, I heard the Veneti car pull up outside the house.
But after a minute, the doorbell still hadn’t rung.
Standing up to look out of the study window, I could see Ma Veneti loitering on my front doorstep, upon which a Veneti soldier had just unloaded six boxes.
I exited my study and strode to the front door.
As soon as I opened the door to the woman, she ran back down the front path and jumped into the vehicle driven by the Veneti soldier. I’d never seen her move so fast.
“What are you doing?” I called out to Ma Veneti. “Aren’t you coming in?”
“I’m just dropping off some more of Anni’s clothes!” she shrieked. Why did she have to be so fucking loud all the time? “I told Anni I’d bring them to Chicago for her because they probably wouldn’t fit on your plane!”
“But I’ve got a private jet,” I answered in bewilderment as the Veneti car sped away with screeching tires. Surely she must have realized that I had plenty of room for another six boxes?
I sighed, looking down at the boxes. How many more clothes did one girl need? And why the hell didn’t she just bring them on my plane today instead of getting her mother to make a special trip on the Veneti’s jet? I would never understand my wife or her crazy family.
I heard Anni’s footsteps behind me as she came to see who was at the door. “I thought I just heard my mother…?”
“She’s just delivered these boxes for you,” I sighed, “but I don’t think she had time to stay.”
Anni frowned at me. “You didn’t invite her in?” Her tone was distinctly accusing.
“She seemed to be in a rush. I don’t know why you couldn’t have just brought these boxes on my jet.” As I began to pick up the boxes, one burst open. “What the hell…?”
Two furry white ears and two glaring blue eyes burst out of the box.
As I looked down at it in disbelief, Anni’s face lit up. And I realized that the box did not contain more of Anni’sclothes, as claimed by Ma Veneti—not unless Anni bred creatures to make into fur coats for herself.
I was beginning to think that Ma Veneti might have problems with the definition of ‘the truth’.
“Fuck me, it's a living version of that fucking cat costume!” I exclaimed.
Anni rolled her eyes. “You’re being dramatic.” She scooped up the animal into her arms. “This is Wilbur.”
“Wilbur?” The creature had white fur, a round face, and intense eyes. “Why have you given him a human name? He’s an animal, for God’s sake.”
“He’s my best friend.”
“He’s a cat,” I replied bluntly.
“Yes, I know. But that doesn’t mean he can’t be my best friend as well.” She looked back down at the animal. “Wilbur, show how lovely and friendly you are by saying ‘meow’ to Lorenzo.”
The creature was resolutely silent as it looked disdainfully at me before flicking its head away and licking its large fluffy paw.
Oblivious to her pet’s overt hostility toward me, Anni turned her attention to opening the other boxes. My nostrils flared as I watched the contents being taken out. They were definitely not my wife’s clothes. Instead, the boxes contained beds, baskets, bowls, toys, and what I guessed could only be various other feline paraphernalia.
“I didn’t even know you had a cat,” I growled.