Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77579 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77579 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Then, yeah, he had me for dinner.
And we had each other on damn near every surface of the main floor before we fell onto the couch. Boneless. Satisfied.
“I’ll order in,” he said as his hand drifted lazily down my spine.
Cosimo - 3 weeks
“You’re gonna be fine,” I insisted as Halle fiddled with her dress for the fifth time in three minutes.
I’d taken her back to the store, wanting her to pick out some of the shit she hadn’t gotten the last time.
Including some bras, even if I stood by my belief that she didn’t need one. She’d reasoned that she did. If only for events like this.
She was meeting my ma.
Any time I talked to my ma since it came out that Halle was living with me, she was insisting I bring my girl to her table, so they could meet.
“Half the Family has met her, and I still haven’t,” she’d reasoned. “Even Silvano has met her before I have,” she added, sounding close to tears at the idea that I might deny her again.
I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
So here we were.
With Halle in a simple dark blue dress that she’d hemmed and hawed for hours before we’d left, despite Jeffrey having told her it would be perfect for a ‘meeting the mom’ type event. Pretty, but not demanding everyone’s attention. Modest, but not completely conservative.
She was holding a pie.
One we’d bought.
Since we both agreed that the culinary arts were not one of Halle’s specialties. Which was fine. There were plenty of women in the family who loved to cook, and were great at it. We would never be wanting for a hot, Italian meal.
“She’s gonna fucking love you,” I told her, my hand pressing into her lower back. “You have no idea how much she’s been waiting for this day. She had pretty much lost hope on seeing one of us bring a woman to her table.”
“She’s not going to hate me for not being able to cook?”
“No.”
“Are you just trying to appease me?” she asked, slitting her eyes at me.
“I’m not above that,” I admitted. “But no.”
“The fuck you standing out here for?” Silvano asked, coming up behind us. “Is the door locked?” he asked, then reached past Halle to push it open himself.
Sil struggled to read a room, but sometimes that worked out in my favor. I was sure we’d be standing outside the door for another ten minutes before she got up her nerve to go in.
“Hone—“ my ma started, arms outstretched toward Silvano. For all of two seconds. Before her gaze landed on Halle instead. “Oh, there she is!” she said, voice going higher. “Oh, you’re even prettier than Silvano said!” she said, making a beeline for Halle, arms still out like they were the oldest friends. “And you two look so nice together,” she added as she pulled Halle in for a hug. The big kind. Because she somehow knew that Halle would allow that more than her sons would.
The strangest thing happened, though.
All the stiffness left Halle’s body as my ma’s arms went around her, pulling her close. A split second later, Halle’s arms went around my ma as well.
I wondered if this was something she felt she’d been missing since losing her own mother. That some part of her was craving that maternal touch. If that was the case, I was happy to share mine with her. And, Lord knew, my ma would be over the fucking moon about the situation.
“I’ve heard so many amazing things about you,” Ma said, her hand going around Halle’s waist, and leading her into the kitchen.
“Nice to see you too, Ma,” Silvano said, shooting a smirk my way. “How long you think this is gonna satisfy her before she gets on my ass about not having a woman?” he asked.
“Oh, you probably have six months. Maybe a year.”
“She’s gonna have to get used to disappointment. I got no fucking interest in that.”
“Only got time and space in your life for dead bodies, huh?” I asked, but for once, he didn’t rise to the bait.
Something fundamental had changed between us that day when the brothers were found dead and the other arrested for their murders. No, we weren’t like some of the other brothers in the Family, but we were closer than we’d ever been. We still fought, but not with the bitterness of old. Hell, we even shared non-family meals twice.
My life suddenly had a lot of balance and harmony, and I really couldn’t place the praise on anyone other than Halle for all of it.
“Ah, Ma,” I called as she pushed Halle toward a pot on the stove. “I don’t think you want her cooking,” I added, getting huge eyes from my mother, who was clearly horrified by my behavior.
“Cosimo Costa,” she snapped, ready to sink her teeth into me. She didn’t scold us much, not even when we were younger. She knew we got enough of that shit from my father. But when she did, it was always about us being rude.