Page 79 of The Don

“Once they see that, I think they will. And if they don’t, that is also okay.”

She shakes her head.

“It is, bella. You do not have to make everyone happy. You could not if you tried.” Her body tenses against me. “But you do not need to try to make me happy. Every minute with you is better than the last. Every day with you is my dream come true.”

Her eyes begin to water. “I really love you,” she whispers.

“Ti amo tanto. And once we are done here, I will remind you just how much.”

Her eyes soften like molten brown lava. “Yeah?”

“Si.”

“Shae, hurry up!”

We both frown and turn to see a woman standing in front of a building down the street.

“Who is that?”

Shae sighs. “My cousin Symone. The Aunties must have sent her because we’re late.”

“We aren’t late.”

Shae sighs and pulls out of my grasp. “Auntie Pearl says being early is on time, being on time is late, and being late is uncouth.”

“I—”

She grabs my hand and pulls me forward. “Don’t worry, babe. You’ll get the hang of their quirks eventually.”

We rush the rest of the way down the street.

“Hey, Symone,” Shae waves.

Symone frowns at Lorenzo in what looks like confusion before turning to Shae with a smile. “Hey! Welcome home.”

“Thanks. What’s the mood up there?”

Symone smiles. “I think you’re good, but Zoe told me to tell you if you think things are going south, just put your hand over your stomach and remind them you’re pregnant. You know how they are about shit like that.”

“Oh, that’s smart.”

Symone nods quickly. “Um…who are these guys?”

Shae looks at me with wide eyes. “Friends,” I lie easily.

Symone blinks slowly. “Sure. They can come in the apartment, but not in the room when you meet with the aunts.”

Federico starts to say something, but I hold up my hand. “That is acceptable.”

“Great accent. Can you make it thicker?”

I smile. “I can see the family resemblance now.”

That seems to be the exact compliment Symone wanted to hear. She stands up straighter and beams at us. “Thanks. He’ll be good. Let’s go.”

Symone turns on the point of her feet and leads us into the building. “Wewill be fantastic,” I tell Shae.

She kisses me and covers her stomach with her free hand. “If things go south, just start speaking in Italian,” she whispers.