Page 14 of The Fixer
“Leo and I had a fight.” Rosa laces her fingers with mine. “I thought it was a relationship-ending one.” She looks up at me, a smile in her eyes. “But then he showed up.”
She really is a good actress. Everything about her performance is pitch-perfect. “To apologize,” I add. “And grovel. You were right, principessa. You‘re always right.”
“I’m going to remember you said that,” she quips.
Her father walks into the room just then, wiping his hands on a rag. “Youdidwork on that car with your nice shirt on,” Elaine says, throwing up her hands in the air in exasperation. “But never mind about that. Ben, look. Rosa has a boyfriend.”
“I’m Leo Cesari.” I shake his hand. “Good to meet you, Signor Tran.”
Ben Tran surveys me with narrowed eyes. No doubt he’s noticing the grey hair at my temples, the lines on my face that clearly telegraph that my youth is in the past. But he doesn’t say anything about my age, not yet. “Rosa has a boyfriend? Since when?”
“We’ve been dating since December,” Rosa replies.
Her mother opens her mouth to ask anotherquestion, but Rosa jumps in first. “I thought Leo could join us for dinner.”
“Dinner?” Hugh Tran finally makes an appearance. “You sure that’s a good idea?”
I give him an assessing glance. Rosa’s brother looks extremely young. He’s twenty-two, Valentina said, but he looks younger than that. His expression alternates between fear and bravado. “Hey,” he says. “I’m Hugh.”
“Leo.” I shake his hand. “I’m Rosa’s boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend? But I thought?—”
This idiot is going to ruin everything. “Yes,” I say firmly. “Boyfriend. Dinner sounds excellent.” I glance at my watch. “Rosa tells me your reservation is for eight-thirty. We should go, yes? I’m afraid I’ve already delayed Signora Tran’s birthday dinner.”
“Not at all. And please, call me Elaine.” She gives me a long look. “After all, we’re practically the same age.”
It was only going to be a matter of time before the age gap between Rosa and me came up, but still.Ouch.
Rosa takesa seat across from me at the restaurant. Elaine is next to me, and Ben sits across from her. Hugh is at the head of the table.
The waitress fills our glasses with water and hands us menus. I grab her attention and order a couple of bottles of wine for the table. I barely have a chance to glance at the menu when the questioning begins. “Tell me, Leo,” Elaine says. “How did you and Rosa meet?”
A slight smile tips the corner of Rosa’s mouth. She predicted questions, and she was right. I’ve never had to ‘meet the parents.’ Patrizia was the girl next door, and I knew her mother all my life. I have no need to impress Elaine or Ben—I’m not desperately in love with their daughter, and I don’t need their approval—but their scrutiny still feels discomfiting.
“We met through a mutual friend,” I reply. “Valentina Linari.”
“The one who just got married?” Elaine asksRosa. “The one who set up the website for your little business?”
She puts business in air quotes. “Yes, that’s her,” Rosa replies.
If she’s bothered by her mother’s dismissiveness, she doesn’t show it. But I’m nowhere as calm as she is. I’m angry on Rosa’s behalf. Fashion is a brutally difficult business, one that chews up designers and spits them out, but she has more than held her own. She has a boutique in Dorsoduro, one of the trendiest parts of Venice, and every time I walk by, it’s filled with shoppers. According to Valentina, dozens of women are lined up for a custom Rosa Tran wedding gown.
“Rosa’s little business, as you put it, is doing extremely well,” I say, keeping my voice mild with effort. “She’s so successful that she’s got a waitlist for her services. I’m very proud of her.”
Rosa’s head snaps up in shock. Elaine gives me a rather strained smile. “So are we,” she says placatingly. “What do you do, Leo? Do you also build websites?”
“No, I work in private security.”
“What does that mean?”
“When celebrities come to Venice, they’ll sometimes bring their own bodyguards, but most of thetime, they contract out for protection.” The lie falls easily from my lips. This is my standard cover story. “My firm handles the details.”
“Is there a lot of demand for that kind of thing?” Ben asks skeptically.
“You’d be surprised,” I say blandly. “I do okay.” It’s a real job, the one I’m describing. My friend Zade owns a company that does this kind of work, and he makes an extremely good living.
“And why are you dating a woman half your age?”