Page 18 of Ti Amo

“I have no right to ask this of you, but I’d like to keep it.”

“Of course.”

“Grazie.”

Mira turned from the awkward moment between them and went to the kitchen. When Lorenzo said Eve had taken Giovanni down the hall she had an idea why. She found the two of them near the pantry. Giovanni had sat her baby on the counter and put the bag of cookies in her lap. Her daughter was eating cookies out of both hands.

“Giovanni? You can’t give her that!” Mira marched over.

“She likes it,” he laughed. “Besides she stops sucking that plug when you feed her. We should get rid of this thing.”

“Just try it. She’ll raise such a hissy fit you’ll beg me to give it back to her.”

“What does hissy fit mean?”

“She’ll cry, okay?” Mira pried one cookie from her daughter’s hand. Eve howled at her mother. Giovanni looked between them both amused. “See? She’ll eat them until she’s sick, and she’s not potty trained.” Mira put the pacifier back in her daughter’s mouth. Eve let fat tears roll down her cheeks and released the other cookie, while whimpering. Once the realization dawned on her daughter that the cookies were gone for good she let go another scream.

“You made her cry, Bella. Was it necessary to be so stern?” Giovanni lifted Eve and held her out in front of him. She wailed noisily. He studied her as if she was some new creature brought to the planet in a spaceship.

“Don’t hold my baby like that,” Mira reached for her.

Giovanni brought Eve back into his arms. He kissed her face until she blinked at him, curious over the affection, and again touched his beard. “So this plug. You put it in her mouth to keep her quiet?”

“I told you it’s not a plug. It’s a pacifier. She loves the thing.” Mira started cleaning the mess they made. It was stupid since she was leaving, but still it made her feel a bit in control over the situation.

“I understand. I will buy her a hundred pacy-fliers.” He rubbed Eve’s back, staring at Mira. She felt his gaze as she put the cookie bag up. “Your boyfriend leave?” he asked.

“Siete un asino.” She called him an ass. When she glanced over she saw the amused look on his face. She didn’t want him to discover she’d learned Italian this way. However, she couldn’t keep a smirk from forming over her lips.

Giovanni watched her go. Did she tease him? He thought she might have even smiled. Maybe not. Eve felt still in his arms. He leaned a bit to get a look at her. She turned her face toward his, resting it again on his shoulder. Her eyelids were droopy, she looked tired. She sucked on the plug in her mouth. He could hold her forever.

“Gio?” Dominic stuck his head inside the kitchen. “We need to be leaving soon. What do you want the boys to do about the Chinese man?”

“Put someone on him. I want to know his every move. Something about him I don’t trust. He lives for now. I have what I want.”

Dominic nodded. “I take it Mira and thebambinaare coming with us?”

“Yes. They belong to me.”

Dominic entered. “May I speak freely?”

“Don’t you always?” Giovanni asked, rubbing his daughters back.

Dominic approached. He peeked at Eve and touched her cheek. “She’s the mother of your child. That changes everything Gio.”

He nodded. “I agree.”

“I suggest you go a little easy on her. If you want her again, she needs to know it’s not by force. I saw what losing her did to you.”

“She turned to another man, and she kept my child from me. I can’t necessarily forgive that.”

“He saved her life when you couldn’t. Think of it that way.”

Giovanni patted Dominic on the shoulder. “Forever looking out for me aren’t you?”

“Eve is beautiful. She named her after your mother. It looks to me she hasn’t completely cut you from your daughter’s life.”

Giovanni nodded. “Yes. She did. She never forgot about me. That’s a start.”

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