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Cass and Elsa stare at me.
"Forget I said that," I squeeze my eyes shut. "Damn it, it’s so mortifying."
"Are you in love with him?" Cass finally asks.
"Of course, not," I open one eye, "I barely know him, how can I be in love with him?"
"She’s in love with him," Elsa declares.
"You aren’t confusing him with Xander, are you?" Cass asks softly.
"No. Yes." I shuffle my feet. "I don’t know, okay? I mean, rationally, I know he is not Xander. But then he’ll say or do something that’ll remind me of Xander. I mean, his accent is different, of course, and so is his build, but there is so much more about him that is so familiar. Then I have to remind myself that Xander is dead and that simply breaks my heart." My features crumple.
"Oh, sweetie," Cass closes the distance between us and hugs me. Footsteps sound, then Elsa hugs me from the other side. I sniffle as the tears run down my cheeks.
"Damn it, I am tired of being sad. I don’t want to spend all of my time mourning Xander. I need to let him go. Besides, he’d hate to see me cry over him. He’d want me to move on with my life. He’d want me to be happy."
"And that’s what you are doing." Cass leans back so she can see my face. "You’re fighting your way forward. Although, I admit, your methods are unconventional, but at the same time, I don’t blame you. If I were in your shoes, I’d probably do the same thing."
"And you, Elsa?" I turn to her, "Now that you know exactly what kind of situation I’m in, what do you think?"
"I…" Elsa shakes her head, "honestly, I am still getting my head around it." She walks over and sinks down into the seat. "I’m not really surprised that you’re a part of the Cosa Nostra."
"You’re not?"
She shakes her head, "I mean, you managed to buy the space for the flower shop."
"There are others who could have afforded it too."
"Outright," she reminds me. "You wouldn’t have been able to do that, unless you had help."
"I am sorry, I sort of lied to you about that."
"You know how bad of a liar you are; I wasn't fooled for an instant." She tosses her head. "And then, more recently, you had all of those people dropping you off and picking you up, and they had Mafia stamped all over their tailormade suits."
"Who are we talking about?" A new voice says from the doorway.
I turn. "Karma," I cry out, "you came!"
"Of course, I came."
"But I didn’t leave you a message when I called."
"I saw your missed call, then heard what had happened from Michael."
"Ah," I hunch my shoulders, "so you heard about my—"
"Upcoming nuptials, yes." She grins and as she walks toward me and I can tell that she’s mentally taking measurements. "Figured you’d need my help with the dress."
"Oh, my god!" I peer into her face, "Can you believe this? I am going to get married. I am. Going to. Get married." I shake my head, "What the hell was I thinking when I proposed to him?"
"Holdonasecond," Karma stares at me, "you proposed to him? YOU proposed to a Sovrano?"
"Yes?" I say tentatively.
Her gaze widens, "And he agreed?"
"Technically, he didn’t have a choice, but... Yes?" I venture.
