Page 25 of Ciao Bella

“Yeah, well, tell your wife that. She thought it was ‘cute.’ I don’t understand women. Never have, never will.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

It seemed an endless task of pushing men away from the women. Once they caught sight of their husbands, they ran in the other direction but always with a smile, wave, and ciao bella! Exhausted by having to run them off, they decided to head back to the villa for dinner.

“I’m going to go shower and change,” said Erin.

“Same,” said the other women. The men just nodded, pouting as they took their seats, and the staff brought them drinks and appetizers.

“Guys,” smiled Faith, “those men meant nothing by those comments. We are guests in their country. When in Rome and all that. They didn’t hurt anyone by whistling at us. Just relax and appreciate the beauty of what we’re experiencing.”

“They nearly hurt themselves turning their necks so far and whistling so hard,” said Antoine. Faith just laughed, shaking her head.

“Look, it’s different, but it’s not hurting anyone. Don’t let this ruin our time,” she said, smiling at the men. Ian kissed his wife as she walked away, and one of the young chefs brought out another tray.

“Anything else, sirs?” he asked. All of them spoke English very well, thank goodness, because none of them spoke Italian very well.

“Son, what’s your name?” asked Ghost.

“Enzo, sir.”

“Enzo, you don’t have to say sir to us. I’m Ghost.” The young man smiled, nodding at him. “How old are you, Enzo?”

“Twenty-five.”

“Let me ask you something, when you’re walking down the street and see a beautiful woman, what do you do?”

“Well,” he blushed, “sometimes, I speak with her if she’s alone, or I’ll whistle at her and call her beautiful, or…”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” said Ian. “You just whistle and shout out ‘beautiful’ even though you don’t know her?”

“How else will I get to know her?” he asked with confusion.

“I don’t know,” growled Alec. “Maybe talk to her, ask her what her name is, ask her for coffee, something like that.”

“That takes far too much time,” frowned Enzo. “If she likes me, she will turn and say something. She might yell at me, or she might smile and invite me to walk with her. My way is much faster than yours. But sometimes, I whistle just to let the lady know she is appreciated for her beauty. It has nothing to do with age. I would whistle at your wives all day long, no offense. I whistled at a grandmother the other day because I could see the beauty and wisdom in her face. It made her feel good about herself. After she yelled at me.” They all laughed, nodding at the young man.

“Thank you, Enzo,” frowned Ian.

“Yes, sir. Dinner will be in one hour. Tomorrow, arrangements have been made for you to visit Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. It’s spectacular. You will like this very much.” Enzo headed back into the kitchen, laughing as he told the other chefs how upset the men were. They could hear them all laughing and frowned.

“I guess we’re the assholes in all of this,” said Ian. “The girls are right. Those kids didn’t do anything wrong. I need to loosen up. I trust my wife, and I know that she’ll let me know if there’s anything wrong.”

“You’re right,” nodded Mac. “I don’t like it, but you’re right. I keep waiting for bad guys to poke their heads out from around every corner. We’re going to miss out on an amazing trip if we’re not careful.”

“Mac’s right,” said Miller. “Let’s enjoy this. I mean, look around you. We’re in the middle of a 15th-century villa and grapes for as far as the eye can see. The last time we were in Italy, we sunk a ship.”

“Oh, man,” laughed Rafe, “could we do that again before we leave? It’s been a while.”

“Don’t tell Kari, but there are ‘supplies’ on board the plane,” smirked Miller.

“No sinking any ships,” said Nine with a sly grin. “We made a promise to the girls, and we’re going to keep it. We overreacted to the whole whistling thing, obviously. They’re smart women, and they know what to do and what not to do, and they know how to take care of themselves. I trust Erin like I trust all of them. Let’s chill and enjoy.”

“Here, here,” said Gaspar, raising his glass. “Here’s to enjoying this amazing trip.”

“What are we toasting?” asked Montana, taking a seat on Luc’s lap.

“Having an amazing trip,” smiled her husband. “We were just saying that this is an amazing opportunity for all of us, and we couldn’t be in a better location.”

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