Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 126060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Lucca and Salvatore had entered behind them, and both laughed, but Geno heard the underlying strain in their voices. They were just as leery as he was. The last two meals hadn’t gone well, and they had no idea what to expect. All three of them felt as if they were hanging on to Amaranthe by their fingertips when everything around them was trying to drag her away from them.
“I’ve never been a fan of long engagements anyway,” Lucca said. “Just get it done and over. Get the ring on her finger. Say the vows and you’re golden. She can’t get away.”
“Lucca,” Francesca protested. But she was laughing. Shaking her head, her eyes meeting Amaranthe’s as if to ask, what could she do?
Amaranthe laughed and sat in the chair Geno pulled out for her. “I’m going to eat fast, Taviano. I didn’t get to eat anything this morning, so I’m not making the same mistake this time. Everything smells delicious.”
“Don’t let her size fool you, Taviano,” Salvatore said as Taviano once again sat back down between Nicoletta and Francesca.
Salvatore took the seat on the other side of Amaranthe. Lucca took the chair beside his brother. Both greeted Nicoletta and Francesca with air kisses, simultaneously reaching for the bowl of angel hair pasta.
Amaranthe laughed, the sound one that unraveled some of the knots from Geno’s belly.
“Leave some of that for the rest of us,” he ordered his brothers.
Francesca’s laughter joined Amaranthe’s. “Believe me, Geno, I know how those two brothers of yours can put away the food. There’s plenty.”
“Geno, I owe you an apology. I’m sorry about this morning,” Taviano said. “I couldn’t speak up when I needed to. I would have avoided a lot of unpleasantness had I been able to do so. This isn’t Stefano’s fault. The failing is mine.”
Nicoletta shook her head. “No, it isn’t, Taviano.”
He smiled at his wife. “I should have been able to speak about it, but the subject caught me off guard and brought up bad memories I have a difficult time coping with. Once I start down that path, it’s very hard to pull myself back. I let all of you down, especially Stefano. Nicoletta and I went to Francesca to ask for her help. She seems to know how best to deal with Stefano when he digs in his heels. He’s determined to protect me as if I were still ten years old.”
Geno didn’t take his gaze from Taviano. His cousin didn’t look at him but concentrated on Amaranthe as if he were only speaking to her.
“We called my parents Eloisa and Phillip. We always called them Eloisa and Phillip. I referred to Eloisa as my mama to outsiders, but never to her face unless I wanted to annoy her. She didn’t raise us. She didn’t come to our room in the middle of the night if we were hungry or scared, even when we were infants. Stefano did. Even when he was just a boy. It was always Stefano. Eloisa detested children, especially her own children. Phillip was worse. They had children because it was expected of them, but they wanted nothing to do with us.”
That’s so sad, Geno.
But true. Eloisa was the bitch from hell. She made Emme’s life a living nightmare. She made all of their lives hell, but it seemed she spewed a lot of venom on Emme.
Taviano glanced at Nicoletta and then Francesca. “Stefano waited for his opportunity to train with the Archambaults in France. He’d been invited numerous times, but he didn’t go. He didn’t want to leave us alone with the parents.”
“They were that bad?” Amaranthe asked, her voice soft. Compassionate.
“You can’t imagine how bad,” Taviano said. “Stefano oversaw our training because Eloisa was extremely harsh. Especially when it came to Emmanuelle. Riders came from France to work with Stefano, but it wasn’t the same as twenty-four hours a day with the various instructors for months on end. We all wanted him to be able to go. We knew he’d sacrificed so much for us. At the same time, the idea of being without him was truly terrifying.”
Taviano indicated the bowl of spaghetti sauce. He had already managed to place the angel hair pasta on his plate, and he didn’t stint adding a generous serving of the meat and mushroom sauce over it. Nicoletta added two crispy pieces of sourdough garlic bread to his salad plate.
“At the time an Italian family had offered to host me for training. I was nine and certainly old enough to go, but Stefano didn’t want me to be gone while he was in France and couldn’t reach me. Eloisa insisted. If he went to France, she wanted me out of the house. In the end, he agreed I could go because he had our investigators thoroughly check the family out, and I think he contacted them and threatened them. He told Eloisa I was to come straight back after the month was up, and she agreed. She gave her word.”