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A voice cleared from behind me and I stepped back to see Katerina standing there. She wore a huge smile. I was terrified this would make her dislike me even more.
“Congratulations, Gabriella. I’m proud of you.”
My chest tightened. “You are?”
She laughed. “Of course I am. I knew that day in your bakery you had it in you. You are a very talented young woman.” Her eyes swung over to Nic. “My son is very lucky to have found you.”
The room spun.
Did she say what I think I heard?
“He is?” I asked with a stunned expression. “But . . . I’m not . . . I’m . . . I’m not Greek.”
Katerina shrugged. “Some of us can’t all be that blessed, my dear.”
I couldn’t help but start laughing. I knew no matter what I did, I would always have that one thing against me that Katerina would hold over my head, but I was okay with that. As long as I had Nic by my side, everything else was a walk in the park.
The red phone rang and my heart stopped.
It never rang.
Ever.
I slowly made my way to the drawer and pulled it open. With shaking hands, I reached for it and took a deep breath.
“Hello?”
“Gabriella, my sweet girl.”
“Daddy? Is everything okay?”
He laughed. “It is. I wanted to make sure you had everything ready for the trip.” I breathed a sigh of relief. In the last four years I’d only spoken to my father twice. Once was to tell me my aunt had passed away. Not being able to go to her funeral was hard.
“I’m all set. Are you sure this is safe?”
“Antonio and I wouldn’t allow you to come if we didn’t feel that it wasn’t.”
“Are they still watching the house?” I asked while I nervously bit my fingernail. My arm wrapped around my stomach to try to settle it. An image of my old boyfriend, Dante, flashed through my mind.
“Not in two years. Nor have they had anyone trail us to Italy. If you ask me, the man is an idiot. He has no clue what he is doing.”
I thought I had loved him at one time.
How wrong I was.
Dante thought my family was naïve. He had no idea who Antonio really was. My brother was always at least two steps ahead of him.
I stayed silent for a few moments before he broke into my thoughts.
“Antonio said you were worried about someone last month.”
Frowning, I nodded. “Yes. Someone came in and ordered a large number of cakes, but it turns out it was for an office party. It was nothing. Me being overly paranoid.”
“That is what has kept you safe the last six years, Gabriella. Don’t let your guard down now. The more you stay out of the public eye the better.”
My stomach dropped. I wasn’t sure if I should tell him about the picture or not. I decided it was probably best I do. If I’d put my life in danger last week at the cooking competition, my father needed to know.
EXHAUSTED WASN’T EVEN the word to use to describe how I felt. I finally had a day off and the first place I was going was Gabi’s. I didn’t even care that it wasn’t her day off. I needed to see her. Feel her in my arms. Plus, I needed to brief her on the family dinner tonight.
Rolling my eyes, I let out a sigh. Picking up the phone, I hit my mother’s number.
“Nicholaus, it’s about time you called your mother.”
“I talked to you two days ago, Mama.”
“How am I supposed to know you’re okay if I don’t hear from you?”
Pulling into the guest parking spot at Gabi’s place, I put my truck in park and sighed. “No news is good news.”
“Nonsense. Now, what time will you be bringing Gabriella over?”
“Why do you insist on calling her that? Her name is Gabi.”
My mother laughed. “Because Gabi sounds like a stripper’s name.”
Scrubbing my hand down my face, I sighed. “Mama, how would you know what a stripper’s name sounds like?”
She laughed. “Oh, I know.”
My eyes rolled again. “It’s only the immediate family . . . right?”
“Define immediate, Nicholaus?”
I groaned. “You, Dad, Thad and Phoebe, and Thano, Kilyn, and Kira.”
“Yes.”
Relief washed over me. The last thing I wanted was to scare the living shit out of Gabi with the whole family.
“Sounds good. We’ll see you later tonight. I’ve got to get a few hours’ sleep, I’ve been at a stand-off for the last twenty-eight hours.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure your father is on his best behavior.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell her I wasn’t worried about him . . . it was her I was worried about.
“See you later, Mama. Love you.”
“I love you too. Tell Gabriella the family is looking forward to meeting her.”
Before I could correct her on the name and get her to explain who she defined as family, the line went dead.
