Page 48 of Ciao, Amore

“Come on, we need to get going. Merry and the kids are driving me fucking crazy, and I need to get there already and have some fun. Everybody’s ready but you,” Tommy whined, eyes glassy.

“Could you get out and let Dani get dressed? We’ll see you downstairs.”

Tommy left, bumping his shoulder on the doorframe on the way out and laughing. Dani shook her head in disbelief.

“Are they like this back home, too?”

“We don’t all live in the same house anymore, but…yeah. I can’t catch a break,” he admitted, running his hand through his hair. “I can already seehe’sgonna be fuckin’ fun tonight.”

“Sorry to give my unsolicited opinion, but I think they’re used to having a little too much access to you. It’s none of my business, but you need to get them in check, for real. Except for Angelo. He’s cool.”

Bristling at her comment, wondering why the mood was suddenly so tense between them after the softness of the night before and this morning, Nico said, “Stop changing the subject. We were talking about a baby. About us.”

“Right, the baby you’re expected to have because it’s what your family ‘does.’ What about what you want? You joined the fire department because that’s what your dad wanted. Then you quit the fire department because one grandfather asked you to take over the barbershop. Now you might quit the barbershop because another grandfather wants you to take over the winery.”

Nico scoffed. “That’s how family works. That’s how I was raised, to think about other people besides myself. Maybe it was easy for you to pick up and leave your family and do whatever you want, but it’s not for me, okay?” He tried to keep his voice neutral but even he could hear the anger in it.

She shook her head. “Right, I don’t give a fuck about my family because I’m trying to figure out my own life. Thanks for pouring on the extra layer of guilt like I’m not feeling it already. At least I’m not contemplating a whole fake relationship with a real baby to ‘fit in’ and prove myself.”

“That’s not what I’m doing.”

A pulse flared inside him at the truth he finally had to face. He hadn’t brought her here to fake a damned thing, not since he’d laid eyes on her.

“It’s not? You bring me here because Nonno wants to see you settled down, and now you’re talking about us having a whole-ass kid because he randomly made a comment at church today. Do you hear yourself? Me and you having a kid to make Nonno happy is crazy.”

He watched her go back and forth like a ping-pong ball on acid. By the third trip, he’d figured out the pattern: dresser, bed, armoire, dresser, bed, armoire. Picking up clothes and toiletries and accessories, rearranging them, and putting them back down.

“It’s not crazy. And I already said that’s not the only reason why. You said you wanted a family, and I’m offering it to you. Am I missing something?” he asked.

Dani stared at him again. He could see it in her face that he was right; she did still want it, despite her wonderful new plan to give up on her desires. “Dude, for real. It’s been four days.”

“Technically, we met a month ago.”

“You say that like it’s not still just a month.”

“Every day, Dani. A month of talking to you every day,” he said, his voice low, throat full of gravel. That made her stand still. “I can’t go a day without talking to you. We’ve shared more with each other than some couples share in a lifetime. Daniela, you know me.”

She turned her eyes away,again, her arms around her body. Full-on self-defense position. It was at that moment that Nico began to suspect she might be even worse at this emotional shit than he was.

“A month is still fuckin’ crazy to even bring this up. What’s the matter withyou?”

“Crazy? You’re here, on another continent, on a vacation with my family, pretending to be my girlfriend,” he retorted, slapping one hand into the other. “We sped past crazy about three thousand miles ago, sweetheart.”

“Yes, your family. Nonno’s a fan, but what about your mom and Nonni? Even if I lost my mind and did entertain doing something like that, a kid with me isn’t going to be as popular with everybody as you’d like to believe.”

The truth burned. She wasn’t wrong. Nonni and Lina hadn’t warmed up to her the way he’d hoped.

“Look, I get it. My mom and my grandmother haven’t given you the best reception. I’m not gonna lie, it hurts that they don’t always support me the way I’d want them to. But at the end of the day, it’s not up to them what I do. Dani, I don’t want this to be pretend anymore. I want you.”

It was as though invisible fingers slapped her across the face. She was at a loss for words until finally, she blurted, “Nico, can we stop talking about this? I just want to have fun tonight without somebody trying to play me or somebody else gettin’ punched in the face. No more baby-mama talk. There aren’t enough first-class tickets toanywhereto convince me that that would be a good idea.”

He stared at her, willing her to face him, to acknowledge the truth between them. To his embarrassment, he realized he couldn’t control his goddamned voice. It was unsteady, too hoarse, but he couldn’t stop himself. “Dani, did you hear what I said? I want you.”

But it was beyond her, everything he was asking for, everything he suddenly needed. It was written all over her lovely, stricken face that he’d gone too fucking far, too soon.

“I have to get dressed.” Biting her lip, Dani took her clothes to the bathroom and shut the door between them without another word.

Fuck.

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