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“Sure, but can we take the baby? I like him.”
“Of course.”
“I want to keep him as my baby brother.”
Muse’s laugh filled the room and she bowed to kiss the top of Romina’s head in a very motherly move that made me smile involuntarily.
“Well, he’s my baby, so that might be a little tricky. How about if you come and visit anytime you want.”
“He’s yours?”
“Yes.”
“You made him in your belly?”
“I did.”
Apparently, this blew Romina’s mind. She looked up at Muse with huge wide and hopeful eyes.
“Wow,” she whispered. “You are awesome.”
I noticed Gino standing in the door and by the grin on his face I figured he caught most of that conversation. No one else noticed him until he cleared his throat.
“Yeah, my wife is pretty awesome. Girls, would you mind giving me a second with Roman?” His wife nodded and she came to give me a hug, reassuring me we were good. Frankly speaking, I needed that. It was one thing to go against Gino, but I didn’t want to be on Muse’s bad side. “And someone give Ignazio the full story. I can see he’s dying to know.”
Everyone left, including the kids, and Gino and I were face-to-face, alone.
“If you’re here to fight me, don, you should know that I’ve already apologized to your wife.”
“Good. Never go after her like that. I swear to God, Roman…” He stopped to take a breath. “I guess this proves your point. Look, you trying to walk away from your duty – and family – was crap, but I’ll have to put it past us now. Because now you have a daughter that I will love like she’s my own.” I knew he meant that. “And her mother will have the respect she deserves. You’re back together with her, aren’t you?”
“I never said…”
“Roman, just give it to me now so I have time to digest the thing.”
“I’m going to marry her so fast, she won’t know what hit her.” I smiled just thinking about it. “She’s mine Gino. She’s mine the way Muse is yours. When I told you to think twice about marrying Muse, you asked me what I’d have done if it was Salva instead and now I’m asking you the same thing. What if it was Muse? Would you think twice about forgiving the past?”
I didn’t need his answer because I already knew it.
“So, when do I get to meet this future sister of mine? I think it’s long overdue.”
“She’s flying in tonight. There was a mix up at the airport and I had to take the girl and come the other night.”
“Ok. Are you picking her up? Do you need a babysitter for Romina? Because Muse and I are the best in business.” And we were back. My brother was on my side again.
“Paul’s got it covered, but I’ll take you up on that offer. Come on, let’s find some food because I’m starving.”
~~~
The rest of the day went great. Romina had a good time stealing everybody’s hearts, I got to relax a little and enjoy some downtime, but my mind was occupied counting the minutes. I only felt relief when the sun went down and the time to go get Salva finally arrived. Romina was already in bed, exhausted after running around the whole day and pretending Hugo was a dragon – which fit him very well – while her and Catherinelle were the princesses. I told Paul to stay around and to watch her with hawk eyes until I was back with her mom.
The JFK airport was as busy during the day as it was now in the middle of the night. It was only natural for the busiest city on earth to have the busiest airport. I spent my time watching the people around me coming and going until there was a confirmation on the board that Salva’s plane landed, then I started searching for her face in the crowd. Something must have happened that kept her busy at the gate because thirty minutes had passed and she still didn’t show.
After some time, I checked my watch again to see I’d been in this damn airport for almost an hour. Could she have walked past me? I decided to not just sit there like an idiot so I found the airline info point and tapped into the window to get the attention of the woman behind. She didn’t look particularly interested in doing her job, but when she looked up at me, she took me in from head to toe, then smiled and pushed her boobs forward. This was not a new reaction for women to have around me. It also wasn’t a new reaction for me to not give a shit.
I pushed the sheet of paper that had all the info about Salva’s flight under her nose.
“I’m looking for someone who was on this flight. Is there some reason that might have stalled the passengers?”
