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“Yes,” Wyatt leaned back when the server placed his food in front of him, “I pitched an interview with Elio and Sienna to talk about the rise of their empire. We think it would be a great opportunity to shed some light on a modern syndicate. It would be a chance to explain away some stereotypes that not all organized crime families are as ruthless as they were in the fifties through early nineties. That through respect, and maybe a little fear,” he smiled, “a country can be run successfully. Of course, we’ll keep all the business aspects out of it, but it would be nice to show how you support your people, church, other industries…”
“That actually might be a good way to show that you two are a power couple, and maybe you could flush out some old faces,” Andrea said with a glance at Piero, who nodded.
“Yes,” Piero said thoughtfully, “I would perhaps mention a location, give a date and time, a specific place to be.”
“It could all work in your favor as long as Elio could,” Wyatt eyed my husband, “tame his ‘I’m going to saw you in half and sell your body on the black market’and add a little more‘I love my wife and I’m a good man’ when talking to the host.”
“Saudi Arabia,” Elio corrected him. “I’d sell her parts in Saudi Arabia.”
“Right there.” Wyatt pointed his fork at him, making us chuckle. “You can be all nice and sexy mafia boss, and the next moment, bam! You’ve taken a dark turn.” His face scrunched at the thought. “So, let’s dial it up a little lighter,” he lifted his hand in the air, “so I can keep this job and not have to take the one you so lovingly offered me last year.”
“I thought you’d be good at crime scene clean-up.” Elio shrugged, knowing Wyatt would rather eat dinner in a public restroom than clean body juice from a carpet.
“I can’t with you,” he muttered dryly then looked at me. “Would you, please?”
“Yes, yes, I’ll keep him in check.” I waved him off and looked at my husband, whose grin showed he was more than happy whenever he could get a rise out of Wyatt.
“What?” He shrugged.
“So, when will this happen?” Andrea asked, once again getting back on topic.
“Next week,” Scott chimed in. “I hope that will give you enough time to prepare?”
“It’s plenty,” Elio assured him. “Mama, are you able to watch the kids while we’re gone?”
“Is that even a question?” She smiled warmly, and we all went back to our dinner. I loved that I caught Wyatt as he glanced quickly at Vinni, who refused to look in his direction.
It was sexual tension at its finest.
Later that evening, after Piero and Andrea had retired and Ugo had left, Elio, Vinni, Wyatt, Scott, Niccola, and I swapped old stories about everything from New York, to the tour, to the wedding. It felt so good to laugh and relax with friends and family. A few times, Wyatt would drop a comment, and I knew the secret about which twin came out first was killing him. I also knew that from the day we’d met we had always had one rule. We never kept anything from one another. So, when Niccola and Scott were in the middle of a story, I reached over and took his hand in mine.
“Remember my first shift at the bar, and I spilled that really expensive bottle of whiskey down my shirt?”
“I do.” He eyed me oddly, and the others felt the change in the atmosphere and stopped talking.
“Remember who came in to ask for a drink, and it turned out they were shooting a movie down the street?”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.”
“Okay, so now you know.”
“Oh!” He smiled wide, and I knew that our friendship just became that much stronger. “Thank you.” His face flushed with emotion. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” I grinned up at Elio, who just smiled back to show he knew Wyatt would take that secret to the grave.
The week flew by, and my time with Wyatt was just what I needed. I loved hearing about his new job, and I enjoyed watching Scott as he navigated around Vinni.
By the time we arrived in New York the day of the interview, we had pretty much ironed out all the dos and don’ts of what we could speak about, and as the interview was later in the day, I decided I wanted a little time alone with Elio. We excused ourselves from the others and walked down to a little café.
“Here you go.” Elio placed a glass of juice on the long steel table then took the stool next to me. We sat facing the street. I loved to people watch. He sipped his espresso and then looked at me funny. “Are you feeling all right? I’ve never known you to pass up on one of those fancy coffee drinks that you and Wyatt love.”
“It’s probably best I skip caffeine for a while.”
“Don’t be nervous,” he assured me. “You’ve covered much more than a simple interview.”
“No, it’s because caffeine isn’t good for the baby.”
He dropped the plastic lid of his coffee and turned back to look at me.
