Page 47 of The Sweet Life

She turned to see her sister on the phone. “Who are you calling?”

“James.”

“Do you really think that’s necessary? I’ll drive you home if you’re nervous,” she said as they walked back inside the restaurant.

It didn’t matter what Gia thought. Her sister’s husband clearly thought they were in danger. As they found out five minutes later when an SBPD cruiser pulled up in front of the restaurant with sirens blaring and lights flashing.

“Madonna santa, Eva! This is crazy. We didn’t need the police. They’re going to wake up the entire neighborhood. What did you tell James?”

Her sister made a face as the inside of the restaurant lit up with swirling red and blue lights. “I might have told him that Spicy Eggplant had found us and was sitting outside the restaurant,” her sister said, referring to one of their top fans whose creepy comments had gotten creepier over the past few weeks. They called him Spicy Eggplant because he ended his posts with fire and eggplant emojis.

“How did I survive growing up surrounded by drama queens?” Gia muttered as she headed to the door to let the officers in.

“Remember how I said you would come around to Cami joining our La Dolce Vita partnership? This here, right now, is why. Growing up, you took care of us as much as Ma did. You were always there for us no matter what. No-Drama Gia. The strong one, the diplomatic one, the one we could always count on in a crisis.” She joined Gia at the door, placing her hand over hers. “I know you’re going through something, just like I know you’ll come out the other side, and when you do, you’ll remember the good times that you, me, and Cami had. You’vealways believed in second chances. Give her one, Gia. For your sake, for her sake, but most of all for our family’s.”

“I’m tired, Eva. I’m tired of being the strong one, the one who always gives in.” She lifted a shoulder. “To be honest, I’m not feeling all that strong anymore.”

What she’d been feeling, she realized in that moment, was alone. She’d always been close to her daughters. She used to see Willow every day before Noah and Cami came into her life, and up until this year, she could count on talking to Sage at least once a day and seeing her once a week. But now she rarely saw or heard from either of her girls. And as close as she was with her sister and mother—they saw one another every day—they rarely did anything outside of work anymore. Eva had James, and her mother had Bruno, and as much as Gia was happy for them, it didn’t make it any less lonely for her. And then Flynn had come into her life. Flynn who she was afraid to open her heart to.

Gia turned the lock and opened the door when the officers reached the walkway. “I’m sorry, Officers. My brother-in-law is overprotective, but we’re all good.”

“It doesn’t hurt to be cautious. You’ve had issues with stalkers before. Mr. Sinclair said you have a photo of the vehicle?”

Gia nodded, pulling up the photo on her phone. She turned the screen to the officers. They looked at each other and nodded.

“Do you recognize the car?” she asked.

“It fits the description of the vehicle your sister said followed her home from here this evening.”

“Is Cami all right?” Gia asked, pressing a hand to her suddenly racing heart.

“She’s fine, and she played it smart. When she realized she was being followed, she went to a friend’s instead of going home,” one of the officers said.

“As a precaution, we suggested she stay with the Monroes for the night. Hopefully we’ll have some answers for all of you by the morning. In the meantime, be careful and don’t hesitate to call if you see something suspicious,” the other officer cautioned.

They thanked them, and then Gia closed the door, ignoring her sister’s intent gaze as she turned the lock. “I don’t want to talk about it.” She walked to the bar, knocked back the sambuca, and then nearly choked to death on one of the coffee beans that she’d inadvertently swallowed. “So much for bringing me good health.”

Arms crossed, her foot tapping, Eva asked, “Would you really prefer if the stalker broke in while our sister was alone at the beach house?”

Willow’s fiancé, Noah, had given Cami his family’s beach house. He’d bought a home for Willow and him closer to town.

Gia got a bottle of water out of the bar fridge. “We don’t know that it’s a stalker, and even if it is, they’re a stalker, not a murderer. I doubt they’d break in—”

“How do you know they’re not going to murder Cami in the shower or in her—”

At the sound of a loudthumpnear the door off the deck, Eva whipped around, and Gia grabbed a bottle of wine. Darting out from behind the bar, she positioned herself in front of her sister.

It wasn’t a stalker.

“Cara, are you all right?” Bruno crouched at their mother’s side, cradling her in his arms.

“Ma!” Gia and Eva rushed to the back of the restaurant.

“What happened?” Eva cried.

“She overheard you talking about someone murdering Cami in the shower!” Gia knelt beside her mother and patted her hand. “Ma, Cami is fine,” she said, then explained what had happened and that her sister was spending the night with Flynn—her ex-boyfriend and the father of their child.

Eva returned from the bar with a sheepish look on her face and a glass of water. “Sorry, Ma. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

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