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“Well, I saw the sun. I got that much.” Color crept up Joshua’s cheeks. “Art’s not really my thing. But if you want to buy commercial real estate, you let me know.”
Talia laughed. “That’s a deal. Have a good night. And I hope that, ah, Apollonia’s poop comes out okay.” She scrunched up her face. “Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever said that to anyone before.”
As Arianna and Joshua left, Tony checked his watch. “I really thought Sandro would be here by now. I guess I should check my phone. He might’ve left me a text— Speak of the devil. There they are.”
Mickey appeared through the crowd first, or maybe it was just that he was so hard to miss. Upon seeing them, his face split in a grin that threatened to swallow his entire head. He wore an unfortunate shiny gray tuxedo of the type last seen when the Temptations appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, and yet it was somehow perfect for him. The fire engine-red tie was a startling accessory.
Tony made a face and rubbed his eyes. “You need to give me a warning, man.”
Mickey’s grin never faltered. “Don’t hate. You look fantastic, Talia. What’re you doing with this punk when there’s a man like me in the world?”
“I ask myself that every day,” Talia replied solemnly. “Is that Sandro behind you?”
“This is Sandro.” Tony pulled his twin in for a hug, and they slapped each other on the back. “What the hell, man? You folks were supposed to be here an hour ago.”
Sandro, who wore a standard black tuxedo, thank goodness, shrugged. “Bad weather out of D.C. And I left you a message, which you’d know if you ever checked your phone. Is this the famous Talia?”
“This is Talia,” Tony said, feeling an unwelcome twinge of…unease.
Which was ridiculous, he knew. True, his former fiancée, Skylar, had taken one look at Sandro and fallen out of love with Tony, but that was a whole different situation. He and Sky had been caught up in a whirlwind romance that had been intensified by his pending deployment, and they’d never known each other as they should. And his feelings for Talia now versus what he thought he’d had with Sky?
No comparison. Not even close.
So it was ridiculous to feel uneasy just because Talia and Sandro were now shaking hands and smiling at each other.
Completely ridiculous.
But the thing was—
Skylar’s falling in love with Sandro had been a nasty pinch to his ego.
If Talia left him, on the other hand…
Whoa. Ugly filled him up inside. He didn’t even want to go there.
Talia seemed to know something of what he was feeling. She kept her free hand around Tony’s waist and gave him a squeeze as she teased Sandro.
“The less attractive and talented Davies twin. So nice to meet you at last. I don’t know why we never met when you dropped Nikolas off for his art lessons.”
“Weird, huh?” Sandro laughed, taking the ribbing with good grace. “I like this one, man.”
“Don’t like her too much,” Tony muttered.
Still laughing, Sandro slung an arm around his teenage son, Nikolas, and pulled him into the conversation. “You remember Nikolas, right, Talia?”
“Of course.” Talia accepted Nikolas’s kiss on the cheek. Nikolas, who was wiry and seemed to have grown a foot every time Tony saw him, had switched his hair from red to blue. No wonder he and Talia got along so well, Tony thought. “How’s the painting coming, Nikolas? You’re still painting, right?”
Nikolas shrank into the typical teenager slouch, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. “Pretty good. I’ve been doing some work with charcoals.”
“And photography,” Sandro added. “He’s been doing some great work in black-and-white. Taking pictures of all the national monuments. Tell them, Nik.”
Nikolas almost smiled at this praise from his father, but then he caught himself and reverted to an indifferent shrug. “I’ve got a new Nikon. It’s pretty cool. You know.”
“I’d love to see your pictures.” Talia beamed at him. “I’m so proud.”
“Get a grip,” Nikolas told her, still working on stifling his grin.
