AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ryan takes a steadying breath and grits out, “Gina very well knows that I have no plans to hop on a jet to hear the fucker’s sentence, not when his days are numbered anyway.”
Silence. Then, “They don’t have to be.”
Oh wow. Antonio is willing to spare the man? Gina must be doing a number on him. Even Alex had refused to “get involved in one of Antonio’s revenge quests” when I’d mentioned the man’s resolve to kill Don.
Ryan snaps “Well good for you. Was there anything else?”
I whisper, “Baby, he’s trying. Cut him some slack.”
There’s another long silence at the other end. I shake my head at these two stubborn men.
“Hey Antonio, it’s Stella.”
“Hello, Stella.”
“Could you remind Gina that Harriet is turning seven in three weeks? Or better still, bring her? Sometimes Gina gets lost in her work and forgets these things.”
Ryan’s jaw is tight, but he doesn’t say anything.
“I’ll be sure to, thanks, Stella.”
He disconnects, and I look up to meet Ryan’s gaze.
“Why did you invite him?” Ryan grumbles.
“Let go of the grudge already. Antonio’s made it past the six-month mark. Besides, I think he’ll fit right in.”
“Stella,” Ryan warns.
“Yes, his trigger finger might be a little twitchy, but you said it yourself, the man has a million other talents.”
Ryan huffs, his jaw tight. “I don’t like him.”
“Well, tough. Gina loves him, and he loves her back.”
“How? The grouch hardly speaks.”
I have to laugh. “That’s got nothing to do with anything. And it so happens that he’s very well-spoken, baby. Gina says he can do perfect Scottish and Australian accents. And apart from English and Italian, he also speaks—”
Ryan shoots me a sour look that makes me rethink gushing over the man.
I put my hand up in surrender. “Okay. But to be fair, Ryan, I didn’t see you for the first two months of living with you. You hardly even looked at me, and wouldn’t kiss me, and I still fell in love with you.”
“Hey, I wasn’t that bad, surely?”
“Like I said, I think I was already in love with you long before then, I just didn’t know it.”
A slow smile spreads across his face. “Since when?”
I roll my eyes. “Geez, I’ve told you this a thousand times, but yeah, since that first day in your New York office.”
“You mean that very moment I called you my queen.” He smirks.
Since Ryan’s mood has lifted considerably, I press Gina’s case. She’s just as eager as I am to get the two men seeing eye to eye. “Anyway, I’m sure you’ll find something in common with Antonio.”
He shoots me a doubtful look, then heads back inside and toward our shared bathroom. “I’ll always think he’s a jackass.” He tosses behind him but leaves the door open.
“Well, of course, he stole your baby sister’s heart and then committed the ultimate crime of not being a choir boy.” I follow him, leaning against the bathroom doorframe and watching him wash his hands. “I already feel sorry for Harriet’s boyfriends, you know.”
