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“What about Leonardo?”
“Ugh,” Maggie groaned.
“Okay, okay. Cleopatra?”
Janine laughed into her napkin. “Queen of the Nile?”
“We could call her Cleo,” Alyssa said. “Or, if one of them is a baby boy, we can call him Plato?”
“Plato’s from Greece!” Maggie shot back. “Neither of those last two work with your Italian theme.”
“It’s all Greek to me,” Alyssa said, waving her hands.
“Funny joke.” Maggie rolled her eyes.
“That reminds me,” Janine interjected. “I just got a weird text from your grandmother. Apparently, she wants to visit next week— and bring a friend along.”
Alyssa and Maggie leaned over the table, captivated.
“What kind of friend?” Maggie demanded.
“What do you mean, what kind of friend? Grandma knows how to work it. Don’t you remember her at your wedding? She flirted with everyone!”
“But she really hasn’t been with anyone since Neal died,” Maggie offered tentatively. “And if this is a romantic interest, it’s a big deal. Really big.” She nodded toward Janine, who felt similarly.
“I texted Carmella about it,” Janine said. “Apparently, they all met him at a family party, and he seems great. And—” Janine drummed her hands on the table for dramatic effect. “He’s Greek.”
“What!” Alyssa and Maggie said in unison.
“How did Grandma meet a Greek guy in Martha’s Vineyard?” Alyssa demanded.
“Apparently, she met him while out for a glass of wine with Carmella and Elsa at the Aquinnah Cliffside Overlook,” Janine said. “Carmella says he’s handsome and seems to really like her a lot. He’s visiting family in Greece, and they decided to say what the heck and fly across the Atlantic together. He hasn’t been in Venice in a while, and he wants to explore with us, spend the night, then head to Greece.”
“Incredible,” Maggie said. “It sounds too good to be true.”
Suddenly, from across the piazza came the sound of Alyssa’s name. Alyssa burst around, her hair flying, and stared toward the source of the sound. Janine followed her gaze to find a familiar and very handsome man striding toward them— the tour guide from the museum.
“I can’t believe he remembered your name,” Maggie whispered, taking the words right out of Janine’s mouth.
But already, Alyssa was up, adjusting her shoulders behind her. Unfortunately, this only served to press her pregnant belly out even more.
“Nico! Hi!” Alyssa smiled.
“I thought that was you! Good thing, too, since I just yelled your name in front of about fifty people.” Nico cackled at himself, his cheeks reddening from embarrassment.
“I’m sure you’re used to embarrassing yourself,” Alyssa said. “You’re a tour guide at a museum, remember?”
“Actually, that’s the place in the world where I embarrass myself the least. Everyone defers to my knowledge and doesn’t question me. Out in the real world, on the other hand? I’m a lost cause.”
Alyssa giggled as, over the table, Janine and Maggie locked eyes and shared a secretive smile.
“Have you made it to the Mauricio Giannocaro house yet?” Nico asked.
Alyssa shook her head. “No, but I went to the library yesterday and checked out about a million books about the family and the secret society, hoping to get a better sense of the connection to the Cacciapaglias.”
“Oh. Nice.” Nico paused. “But you don’t speak Italian, do you?”
“I’m using a translation service,” Alyssa said. “It’s taking quite a while, obviously.”
