Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 248(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 248(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Vinny thought hard about how to respond for a few moments. “Right, well—”
Beep, beep.
The sound of the fire alarm going off had both men jumping to their feet. It was only a second later that the office door flung open.
What the—
Sal officially put an end to their meeting. “Fire.”
ELEVEN
UMW: ULTIMATE MAFIA WIFE
“He is not fixated on me.”
Adalyn made a shushing noise. “Careful, or they will hear what we’re arguing about.”
Noticing one of her bodyguards had moved closer and within hearing distance, they changed the subject to dress fittings for the bridesmaids as they arrived at the food court at the same time as Elle.
“What are you getting?” she asked her best friend with a smile.
Elle smiled even brighter at seeing her. “Chicken sandwich and chips. How about you?”
“A yogurt. We had McDonald’s before class.”
Chloe and Elle were sure to let Adalyn go first.
“Did Adalyn not get McDonald’s?” her best friend asked, listening to the huge order she gave.
Violently, she nodded her head.
“Then why—”
“They forgot her hotcakes,” Chloe whispered into her ear.
Elle nodded, understanding now. “That’s the worst.”
“Tomorrow, I’m going to suggest Burger King.” She could already picture the scene that would await McDonald’s drive-through window in the morning if they were to go there.
“If you’re going to get her away from those golden arches, you need to come up with a place better than Burger King.” Elle laughed. “But good luck with that. You won’t be able to help yourself when she starts pouting for her Mickeydee’s.”
Chloe’s shoulders slumped. Elle was right; she was a pushover. It was one of her many failings.
Noticing the sudden change in her best friend, Elle nudged her. “Hey, what’s that look for?”
“Nothing.” She tried shrugging it off.
Giving her a disbelieving glance, she moved forward to give her order before Chloe did the same. “You can grab us a table while we get our drinks.”
“Okay,” she agreed, taking the number stand from Elle.
Finding a seat in the busy food court wasn’t easy. She was beginning to think they would have to take the food to go when one of the bodyguards motioned for her. Two guys were shoving the last of their sandwiches into their mouths as she approached.
“Y-you don’t have to leave …” Chloe began, wanting to ease their frightened expressions.
“We were done,” one of them said, trying to rush. “We have class.”
Chloe didn’t believe him for a second and was going to say something to the bodyguard, but her friends’ arrival with the drinks stopped her. She would have to take it up with Lucca later.
“Are you getting excited about going wedding dress shopping?” Elle asked once they were settled.
“When is it?” Adalyn asked.
Chloe started to reach forward to take the double burger away from her. “Greasy food is warping your mind.”
“I was just kidding. I know when it is.” Adalyn defended her burger protectively. “You take everything so seriously lately.”
Staring down at her yogurt glumly, she had to admit that Adalyn was right. The day Lucca’s father told him he would be taking over the family business, Lucca had come home that night and told her he wanted to marry her in a month. Next thing she knew, Maria had walked through the door to begin planning with her. Everything since, in the last few days, had been a blur.
It wasn’t that Chloe didn’t want to marry Lucca, because she definitely did. She just didn’t understand the big hurry to get it done by next month and how the Carusos could manage to pull off a wedding in a month blew her mind every time she thought of it.
“Cut it out, Adalyn,” Elle butted in politely. “Chloe just wants the wedding to go smoothly.”
“How couldn’t it? She has you, Maria, Kat, Lake, and me helping her. It’s going to be the biggest wedding the city has ever seen.”
Chloe finally lost what appetite she had left and pushed her yogurt away.
“Adalyn! You’re not helping.” Elle’s politeness had worn thin. “Chloe is nervous enough without you making it worse.”
“It’s all right, Elle. I wasn’t hungry, anyway.”
Feeling bad, Adalyn pushed the yogurt back. “Eat. I won’t say anything else.”
Both Elle and she looked at Adalyn in disbelief.
“Okay, I’ll try not to say anything else,” she corrected.
Chloe didn’t start eating again until Adalyn started making a dent in the huge amount of food she had ordered. Luckily, Elle sensed her tension and started chatting about their political science classes.
Taking out her computer and notebook, she showed Elle the question she had wanted to ask the professor. “After your class, could you ask him this?”
“Sure, but why didn’t you just ask him yourself?”
“Adalyn was afraid all the hamburgers would sell out before she could get here.”
“I see.” Elle busted out in laughter. “I don’t mind. I usually come up with a question to talk to him about, anyway. This saves me the trouble. I want it to be hard enough he’ll think I’m smart enough to ask it, but not so hard I can’t understand his answer.”