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Karma laughs. "Oh, sorry, that’s Andy. He’s convinced he’s a dog." She bends and picks up the cat. She snuggles him against her chest, and the animal stares at me with unblinking eyes.
"He’s gorgeous." I scratch him behind his ear and he purrs at me. "Where have you been hiding him?"
"Lately, he seems to prefer hanging out in our bedroom, even though he has his own cat-cave in my studio."
"He has a cat-cave? Does he have a cat-mobile, too?" I smirk.
The girls all laugh at that before Karma answers, "No, but what a great idea.” She starts to stroke her chin like a comic book villain might do. “I wonder if I could design a kitty mask for him so he can be the masked-cat?”
I chuckle. "That’s funny."
"Thanks.” She giggles. “If you think that’s funny, you should meet my sister, Summer. She has this amazing comedic timing, and she weaves film trivia into her conversations, which is—"
"Wait," I interrupt, "you’re Summer’s sister? Summer West’s sister?"
"Now Summer Sterling, but yes. Why, do you know her?"
"Oh, my god, it’s such a small world. I went to school with her."
"You did?" Karma tilts her head. "I mean, of course you did. Of course, I could tell by your accent that you’re English, but what’re the chances that two Brits meeting up outside of the UK, will end up knowing someone in common?"
"That is weird," I laugh, "but maybe not that unusual, considering we are both here in Italy, and in Palermo. How many other Brits do you know living here?"
She shakes her head.
"Exactly. We met, thanks to the Sovranos. It stands to reason we have more than them in common. Not that I knew Summer that well, but we were in the same class and had a shared passion for reading books, which is why we ended up hanging out together a lot. How is she, anyway?"
"Oh, I haven’t seen her in a few months." Karma’s laugh is forced this time. "It’s just, meeting Michael and getting married... All of it took place so quickly. And then I was in an accident, and lost the child I was carrying.”
"Oh, my god, I’m so sorry for your loss."
"Thank you." Her eyes glimmer with unshed tears. "It wasn’t easy, but I survived, and it helps that I’m pregnant again."
Aurora jumps in, "And the pregnancy is going well so far, although you definitely need to take the weight off of your feet more often."
"Not now, Aurora." Karma cuddles Andy closer. "This is Elsa’s day—"
"It’s actually Nonna’s day," I remind her gently.
"True, and it was Nonna’s wish that Seb get married soon, so she must be very happy, wherever she is. And if she were here, she’d encourage me in what I’m about to do now."
"Which is?"
"Give you all of the support you need, because marrying into this family can be a bit of a rough ride in the beginning." Karma rubs her cheek against Andy's head.
"The Sovranos don’t make it easy on their women," Aurora warns.
Theresa nods. "They tend to put you through the wringer, and when you think they must be the biggest assholes—"
"Alphaholes," I cut in.
The three women look at me, then burst out laughing.
"What? What’s so funny?"
"You calling them alphaholes," Karma sputters.
"Well, I don’t know about the others, but Seb can sometimes be a completely full-of-himself asshole. Somehow, I’ve made it this far without slapping his face."
