Page 37 of Lorenzo

When I glance at the title of a particularly old-looking book, I gasp.

“Oh my God,” I say. “Lorenzo has an early edition of Pride and Prejudice.”

“Does a billionaire nightclub owner even know who Jane Austen is?”

“You never know.” I flip through the well-worn pages quickly. But I stop and read when I see one fragile page underlined in blue ink.

My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.

Lorenzo, a romantic?

“OMG!” I say, slapping my palm against my lips. “Listen to the passage he underlined!”

When I read it to her, Anna’s silent for a moment.

“This is deep, Em. And he must have read that book long before he met you. Do you think he was thinking about a certain girl when he highlighted that passage? If so, you definitely have your work cut out for you.”

Anna’s words give me pause.

Men, especially men like Lorenzo, don’t highlight romantic passages for fun.

The phrase must have had meaning for him.

And just my luck. I predicted off the bat I’d have to compete with gorgeous nightclub girls. And even ‘normal’ stunning daytime girls like the ones at the Equinox club.

Now, it looks like former girlfriends are coming out of the woodwork. And Lorenzo underlined romantic passages of Jane Austen in dedication to them.

Turning my attention to the book, I read a few more highlighted passages to Anna.

Could Lorenzo be a 21st-century Darcy?

I pose that exact question to Anna on the phone, reminding her of the romantic hero of our youth.

“Darcy?” she says. “Like, for modern-day?”

“Yes. As clueless teens, we loved Jane Austen’s depiction of Darcy. Today, readers would dismiss him as a ‘prig’ or an ‘alpha-hole.’”

“You’re certainly up on your Reddit slang,” Anna says with a little laugh.

“Hold the line. I haven’t checked into Manhattan Social all week. I’m curious what your hubby’s been up to.”

I wait while I hear Anna take a noisy sip of water on the other end of the phone.

“Here is the scoop! Look at this,” she says, flashing her phone screen at me. “Last night, your Lorenzo was caught in an embrace with the female lead of the new Star Wars pic.”

I examine the picture. My husband and the beautiful young star embrace.

Gut instinct tells me it’s a publicity-style shot for the cameras.

“So what? Entertaining celebrities is his job.”

“Right. Just saying, the ladies seem to love him. Hold the line a second. I got to answer the other line. Be right back.”

While I hold the line, I type in the URL for Manhattan Social so I can see exactly what Lorenzo does every evening in the course of his job.

CHAPTER 17

LORENZO