AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I get to my feet and offer her my hand. “Come on. We’re going out.”
“Where?”
“This little hole-in-the-wall place down in Little Italy. They’ve got the best damn gnocchi you will ever put in your mouth.”
She gives me a shaky, watery smile. “Well, how can I say no to that?”
“This is the place you had in mind?” she asks as we walk into Stefania’s. Her eyes rove over to me questioningly. “Doesn’t really strike me as the kinda place you’d put so much as a toe in.”
I arch my eyebrows. “And what is that supposed to mean?”
She flashes those pretty little dimples of hers. “Nothing. I mean, it just seems a little, shall we say… humble for you.”
“I can be humble.”
Wren just snorts. It’s enough of a comeback all on its own.
We navigate to the back of the restaurant and I pull out a chair for her. A waft of her scent—citrus and sandalwood—rushes over me as she sits. Just like that, I’m hard as steel.
“I used to bus tables here when I was a teenager,” I explain.
She twists around to gawk at me as I take my own seat. “You, bussing tables?”
“Don’t look so surprised. Manual labor is not beneath me.”
Wren snorts once again. I can’t decide if it’s more amusing than it is irritating, or vice versa.
“It was part of my father’s plan to make a man of me,” I add.
“Waiting tables is supposed to be some kind of initiation to manhood?” she asks in disbelief.
“No. Kicking me out of the house was.” I gesture over to the tiny spiral staircase that winds upwards to the second floor. A lopsided STAFF ONLY sign hangs from one of the banisters, rusted with age. “I used to sleep in the storeroom upstairs.”
Her jaw is practically scraping the table. “Why on earth would your father kick you out?”
“Honestly, he had plenty of reasons. I was a smartass. I talked back, questioned him constantly, refused to listen. I was trying to assert my dominance. Problem was, I wasn’t the alpha.”
Her eyes soften in what can only be genuine sympathy. “That must have been hard for you.”
“No.” I shake my head. “It was a way for me to prove myself. And I did. I showed my father that I didn’t need his money or connections to survive.”
“So he came back for you?”
“Walked in six months after I started working here and told me to pack up my shit and come home,” I confirm. “He didn’t say anything, but I knew he was proud.”
Leaning back in her seat, she whistles softly. “And I thought my family situation was complicated. Yours is straight-up medieval.”
Before I can respond, a new voice interjects. “There he is, my favorite busboy!” Stefania sashays up to our table in all her colorful splendor: a bright red dish towel hooked into her canary yellow apron, jet-black hair cascading down over her olive skin. When she sees Wren, her plucked-to-within-an-inch-of-their-lives eyebrows fly up her forehead. “And he brought a friend, to boot!”
I rise to my feet and greet her with a bump of kisses. Her waist has expanded over the years, but her cheeks have caved in. “How’ve you been, Stef?”
“Lonely,” she retorts, swatting my arm. “It’s been months since you last visited me. Months, I tell you!”
I place my hand against my heart. “My apologies. I’ve been busy. Stefania, this is Wren.”
Wren smiles shyly. “I’ve heard amazing things about your gnocchi.”
“A friend and a suck-up.” Stefania winks back playfully. “Flattery will get you everywhere, tesoro. We’ve got pumpkin stuffed tonight. How about I get you two bowls? Sit tight. I’ll be right back.”
