Page 21 of Claiming Vanessa
The server is a woman in her mid-forties who has worked here as long as I’ve been coming. She smiles at Giulio. “Good morning. I’d ask if I can bring you your usual, but…”
Giulio laughs. “You do know me, Estelle. You can bringhimhis usual, but I’ll have the egg white omelet, extra mushrooms, extra spinach. Oh, and a large latte.”
“Gotta be fancy,” I say, rolling my eyes. I don’t correct him, and Estelle confirms the order with all the confidence a server of her experience has gained. I take a sip of my own coffee before grimacing and adding another generous helping of half and half. I’m used to shitty coffee, unlike Fancy-Ass here, and this rates far above what I’m used to as it is.
Once Estelle is gone, Giulio lets out a long sigh and leans back in his chair. “Man. It’s nice to be back where the food is good, at least. Fucking Benton was so dead. Damien wouldn’t go out with me either, so I had to find my own entertainment.”
“Poor baby,” I say, deadpan, chasing my words with another drink of coffee. “Having to entertain yourself alone.”
“Yeah, laugh it up, but I don’t see you taking any day trips down to that boring city.” Giulio picks up his napkin and starts twisting it around. “I did get to chat with some of the old man’s acquaintances there. The place is a disaster on that front too. I thought things would pick up a bit, given the whole… gas leak… in that one building, but nope. Everybody was cowering, afraid of what my old man would do.”
“Gas leak, huh? That doesn’t sound suspicious at all,” I drawl. Such a boring way to execute people. Sure, it works well for the news and gets all the officials’ panties in a twist, but it’s just so predictable. “I heard something about it but figured it was all part of the plan.”
“Not my old man’s plans.” Giulio starts laughing. “I wasn’t kidding, by the way. Best wedding I’ve ever been to.”
Estelle returns with Giulio’s coffee right as he finishes speaking. “Oh, you went to a wedding? How was it? My son is getting married soon.”
No one cares, I want to say, but of course Giulio has to go and be personable.
Giulio drops the ripped-up fetters of his napkin onto the table and smiles at her. “Yeah? Congrats to him! When’s it happening? Actually, does he have a wedding registry? I’ll send something.”
Estelle tries to demur, but somehow Giulio coaxes the information out of her and he’s typing the registry website into his phone. It all takes for-fucking-ever, until I finally growl, “Hey, do you think our food’s about ready?”
“Oh! Sorry, let me go check on that,” Estelle quickly says, rushing away.
Giulio shakes his head at me. “Would it kill you to be a bit nicer?”
“Yes,” I snap at him, draining the rest of my cup of coffee before snatching up the carafe to pour another. “Would it kill you not to try to ingratiate yourself to everyone in the fucking world?”
“I’ll have you know, I was very, very good at getting on my old man’s bad side.”
There’s a split second where Giulio’s smile drops, and I wonder if he’s actually broken up about the death.
I doubt it.
“Anyway. I just wanted to see how things are at work,” Giulio says. “Since I’m going to get a bit busier from here on out, and I’m going to need all the support I can get to fix the mess my old man left behind. Fuck, I’ll have to announce his tragic death. Plan a funeral or something.”
“Sounds thrilling.” I shrug. “Work’s no worse than usual. I have a few things lined up, but nothing that’ll keep me from helping you where I can.” I flash a grin at him. “Though if you want to discuss more favorable terms now that you’re on top, I’d be open to that. You know, a few bonuses, maybe some of the girls from Ruby’s…”
“Ooh, don’t push your luck. You know Ruby’s is for discerning customers only.” Giulio smirks at me. “I gave you a bonus last night, didn’t I? She was fucking sweet. Possibly worth more than the Ruby’s girls.”
“Oh, she was a real peach, one I wouldn’t mind having again and again. Yeah, I guess she’s better than the girls at Ruby’s that I can’t even fucking touch. I can see why you want to put your babies in her,” I tell him, then consider. “Or is that just Damien’s hare-brained idea?”
Estelle returns with our plates, setting my bacon and eggs in front of me and Giulio’s egg white nonsense in front of him. “Here you go,” she says cheerfully, as though I hadn’t been rude to her moments earlier. “Enjoy.”
She takes the hint from the look I give her and quickly departs, and I stab my fork into my bacon before looking back at Giulio.
“He has a point,” Giulio says, carefully cutting into his omelet. “It’s only me now. I should think about what’s going to happen to everything after I’m gone. And, y’know, it could be fun! Being a dad.”
I snort. Between bites, I tell him, “Yeah, when the brat isn’t sick or needy or whatever. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see the girl knocked up, but… it sounds like a lot of work. A lot less time forfun.”
Giulio gives me a strange look. “You think I can’t handle the serious stuff?”
I blink at him. “Of course youcan, but why would you want to take on more than you already have to? As it is, you have to pick up where Emilio left off and deal with any loose ends in Benton. Are you going to have time to raise akid?”
Giulio eats quietly for a bit, which is so out of character for him that I wonder if I’ve actually insulted him.
“Damien’s going to do most of that stuff anyway. And Vanessa, I think. If she ends up useless, I bet Elena would help out.” Giulio taps his fork against the edge of the table, because he can’t sit still for five minutes. “But I thought about it last night. And I chatted with Elena. She thinks I should have kids too. She wants me to experience the joy of parenthood, as she put it. I mean, she’s fucking glad she never had my old man’s kids, but she’s sad she missed out in general.” Then he glares at me. “That’s not an invitation to knock her up.”