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Jasper and Arianna have met a few times briefly, but she’s only just learned about her family's business and is playfully bitter about being kept in the dark. She pretends she’s mad that he knew before her. That’s what he tells me anyway.
“Manners, Arianna,” Lorenzo says sarcastically. Katherine is at his side, dressed to the nines in a red dress that hugs every curve perfectly.
Luca, I’m assuming, and Gio get to Arianna’s side at the same time, both pinning her with a look of disapproval. “Don’t run off again or I’ll-” Gio starts, only to be interrupted by the beautiful blonde man next to him.
“Hey Dixie, I’m Luca. Heard a lot about you,” he says, giving me a quick side hug and kissing my cheek in greeting. His eyes are almost too blue to be natural. “We haven’t met yet, so you don’t know this, but I’m the group's favorite. We voted.”
“We were intoxicated during that poll,” Katherine argues.
“Still counts,” he maintains, grinning.
“Let’s argue about the legitimacy of the vote after we order appetizers, I’m starving,” Arianna pouts.
“You ate an hour ago,” Lorenzo tells her, keeping the humor in his tone obvious.
“Iknowyou aren’t making fun of me while I’m growing your nephew.”
He holds his hands up in mock surrender.
Luca gets everyone to finally sit down, taking the seat next to me, telling me he’ll save me from some of Arianna’s questions. Jasper takes my other side, sitting next to Lorenzo, while Gio takes Arianna’s other side next to Katherine. The round table is quite roomy in the sophisticated restaurant. Apparently a close friend of Gio’s family owns it and they serve excellent traditional Italian meals. Arianna rambles off four different appetizers for the table after the waitress takes our drink orders.
This is the strongest feeling of welcome I’ve ever experienced in a group like this. Everyone is picking on each other and laughing and we’ve barely been seated for ten minutes.
“So, Dixie,” Arianna starts, “is this your first time in Italy?”
Sipping on the crisp white wine Luca poured for me, I nod eagerly. “It’s my first time outside of the U.S. Jasper had to get me a passport.”
Katherine snorts. “It’s not as necessary as you think.”
Lorenzo bites back a smile. “Jasper is a clean businessman, despite present company.”
“I don’t know,” I muse playfully. “He sure skates the line of bribery a lot.”
Arianna gasps. “What ascandal. And you Dixie, any devious crimes you’ve committed?”
Jasper jumps at this question. “She stole a pair of scissors once.”
I nearly cough on my wine, setting it back down to avoid repeating the act. “It was hardly stealing. They were Pam’s. You pay her.”
He smirks. “She stole them so I’d cut her clothes off of her.”
And now my face is redder than my hair. Gio shakes his head with a smile while Luca gives me a playful surprised look.
Arianna just says, “You should try a knife next time. Much higher pressure situation than using scissors.”
“I second that notion,” Katherine chirps.
“I need a stronger drink,” Lorenzo grumbles.
The waitress takes our orders, each of us getting a different dish. I went with a classic pasta in some sort of vodka sauce that Katherine recommended. The appetizers come out steaming and smelling like buttery herbs. Arianna practically devours the dish of Bruschetta, leaving the Caponata, Stromboli,meatballs and bread for the rest of the table.
“You keep calling the baby a boy,” Jasper says. “Do you know yet?”
“It’s a boy,” Gio says at the same time Luca says “No.”
Katherine finds this hilarious. “Gio thinks he’s too manly to make a girl. We’re pretty sure this one is his.”
“Not too manly,” he argues. “Genetics. Colombos have boys. It just happens. Over and over and over again.”
