Page 24 of Ciao, Amore

“Mr. Donahue? Get outta here, call me Pop.”

The oldest girl, with her shoulder-length dark-brown hair and big brown eyes, still stared at her. Dani knew her name was Isabella but couldn’t keep track of the smaller kids, who were all close in age. Nico was busy struggling with the little cloud of chaos that had descended on him.

“Where’s everybody else?” he asked, pushing someone’s foot out of his face.

“Your ma and the girls are still tired from the flight yesterday, so they went to bed early.”

Dani presumed “the girls” were Nico’s sisters-in-law.

“Your grandma’s asleep too, but your grandfather’s in his office. He wants to see you when you’re settled in.” Pat frowned at that, then waved his hand in a sharp, dismissive gesture before addressing her again. “How was your first day in Italy, sweetheart? You excited for the festival?”

“Rome was awesome. And yes, I’m very excited for Tuesday. I’m glad we’ll have tomorrow to relax a little first,” she answered.

“Good. The girls are going down to the beach tomorrow. You should go with them.”

It was surreal to have this conversation with a man whose New York accent was even thicker than his son’s while they stood in a beautifully decorated four-hundred-year-old room. There was a coat of arms over the massive fireplace, with swords—actual freaking crossed swords—mounted above them. The Donahues must have been paying a good amount each to afford to rent this place for a whole two weeks.

Nearby, Nico was trying to pry the kids off him. By then, even the cool kids had joined in, but he managed to free himself and stand up from the luxe carpeting. A maid wearing a traditional black uniform with a white pinafore had appeared from a hallway and was quietly waiting with her hands folded, smiling at Nico and shooting small glances her way. He went to kiss her on both cheeks, chatting with her in rapid Italian. Whatever he said made her blush and giggle. She was around his father’s age, in her sixties, maybe, and patted Nico on the cheek like he was a kid.

“Cetta, this is my girlfriend, Daniela Grazia,” he said in Italian, drawing Dani over to the waiting woman. “Dani, this is Cetta. Cetta, Dani understands some Italian, but please speak slowly, okay?”

“What a beauty. It’s nice to meet you,” Cetta said, dutifully speaking slowly enough for Dani to understand her perfectly. She kissed Dani on both cheeks. “It’s so nice to see our Nico bring a girl home.”

Cetta must have been his grandparents’ home care attendant. That made sense since they were in their late seventies and, from what Nico said, didn’t have a lot of extended family up north—at least none they cared to interact with much.

“Before I take you to meet Nonno, let me give you a little tour of the house,” Nico said, taking a quick look around. “Follow me.”

“But what about them?” Dani whispered, glancing back at the men near the front door. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to them?”

“They know who you are. Later.” Nico seemed like he was in a hurry to get her alone, so she shrugged and followed.

“Alright, kids. Back to the playroom,” Patrick said, winking at Nico.

When he thought she wasn’t looking, he gave his son a big grin. She pretended not to see it, but it was a relief to know his brothers and his father approved of her as Nico’s choice, at least so far.

Nico was about to lead her upstairs, most likely to see her bedroom, but the sounds of his brothers stomping back and forth and laughing made him shake his head. “We’re not going up there. Let’s go this way.”

They crossed the expanse of the living room, with its rather formal dark furniture. Beyond that was a smaller room branching off into various hallways. This room was more comfortable, with deep, plush leather couches and a series of small marble tables with games still in play on their surfaces. There was a huge television over the fireplace, rows of bookshelves, and cozy lighting. She could easily picture Nico here relaxing between vanquishing his enemies at chess or cards.

“You’ve got the run of the villa. There’s a theater room and a gym on this floor. Would you believe there’s an old dungeon down in the basement?”

“A dungeon? Gotta see that.”

Nico nodded. “Yeah, it’s creepy. Behave, or I’ll tie you up and spank you. Just kidding.”

At the far end of the room were glass doors with two outer doors made of wood. They had carvings of fierce faces and looked ancient and heavy with circular iron pulls. Definitely originals. All the doors were open and led outside to a terrace.

Nico was looking at her the same way he had been every time she was introduced to a new environment. Like he cared what she thought and hoped she was enjoying herself. That was touching, and she let him know how much she appreciated all of it by grasping his hand and smiling at him.

“This is gorgeous,” she breathed. “Thank you so much for bringing me here and letting me experience all of this.”

“You’re very welcome,” he answered with a soft smile. Their eyes caught and held for a long moment. Before she could let that smile touch her too deeply, she turned to look across the waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea below.

Even at night, the view was stunning. She turned in a slow circle to take in the city of Naples, with its twinkling lights rising toward the left and the dark waters of the Bay of Naples stretching to the right. In the distance, she could make out the shadow of Vesuvius, an eternal symbol of power, danger, and creation. Above them, the ink-blue sky was starry and perfect, the air cool and tangy with salt.

“Think we should try a little acting? Pop and Isabella might be spying, waiting to report back to everybody else.”

“Go for it,” Dani replied. A sizzle of energy reawakened her body at the thought that the real “job” was about to begin. “But if kids are watching, keep it G-rated.”

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