Page 59 of Ciao, Amore

“How didyoufind out that anybody knew anything?” Tino asked.

“Steffi and Brizio told Dani. They said they were told to come so Steffi could get her last shot with me and Brizio with her. They were told it didn’t matter since it was fake anyway, but they felt bad about it after they met her and realized something was going on with us. Dani came home last night so upset she was about to fucking pack up and leave. I had to convince her to stay till I straightened this shit out.”

“Dammit, Steffi,” Tino swore under his breath.

“DammitSteffi? For telling the truth? At least Brizio had the grace to apologize for what he did. Steffi also said there was something about a bet, but she didn’t know all the details. So what’s that about?”

“Fuck,” Tino swore, shutting his eyes.

“Tell me what the bet is for, Tino, and you better lay out every-fucking-thing you know,” Nico said. Restraining himself from strangling the truth out of Tino, he kept his arms folded tight.

“Alright, alright. Back in March—”

“March?” Nico shook his head with his eyebrows drawn. “I met Dani in August.”

“Do you want to hear this or not?” Tino asked. “Back in March, when you said you were thinking about asking ya fuckin’ lyin’ hoe ex, Tracy, to get married, me and Tommy made a bet. I said you wouldn’t go through with it; he said you would. Then when she broke up with you, we changed the bet. I said you’d meet a new girl and you’d be married or engaged by the end of the year because, you know, shit like that happens when you break up with losers and get a clean slate. Tommy bet you’d be single forever. When I found Dani, I thought ‘I got me a winner,’ you know? Because she’s, like, fuckin’ perfect for you.”

Danielawasperfect for him. That resonated in Nico’s heart, through every cell in his body. Tino was messy. He was chaos personified, but he’d been right about this one thing.

“As for everybody else, when Vanessa told them the real deal, they got in on the bet for their favorite. Nonno bet on Dani when he found out she was movin’ to Italy because he wants you here. Nonno fights dirty, yo. He made sure she stayed in your room so you could, you know, finally do your thing.”

“Wait…that’s why Nonno locked Dani out of her room? It wasn’t because of the leak?”

At the look of embarrassed shock that was surely on his face, Tino quirked his lips.

“That wasn’t obvious? Yeah. And he had help.”

“Cetta?”

“And Pop said spending money on me to go to college would be wasted. You’re a little slow for an NYU guy.”

Nico tightened his fist and made a short lunge at Tino, who twisted in his chair with a laugh to avoid the blow.

“Don’t hurt me. Anyway, Nonni bet on Steffi because she obviously likes beatin’ a dead horse into the ground. I didn’t know it until after the dinner, but Tommy got Brizio involved so he could take Dani, and you’d stay single likehe’dbet. Tori and Ma are bettin’ it won’t work. Ma’s got somebody else she’s gonna bring around when we get back, her friend’s daughter from Long Island. Pop and Angelo and the other girls aren’t bettin’ anything. They like Dani.”

Nico could have broken Tino’s chair with his hands, just snapped the wood in half and thrown it off the side of the garden wall.

“Tommy went that far to make sure I’d lose her for some cash? He gets all the money he wants from Nonno. Why would he do that? I don’t understand.”

“Nico, I’m sorry. The bet was just a stupid thing, you know how we are. I mean, we put money on a game of Connect Four against the kids. We like her. We really do.”

Tino popped up out of the chair and looked at him imploringly as Nico slammed the door open so hard it bounced against the wall. Tino followed, still talking fast as Nico stomped down the stairs.

“It looks good to me, what you guys have goin’ on. And I’m not saying that because I stand to win a good chunk of money. I mean it. Don’t let us fuck this up for you, bro.”

“Trust me, the last thing I’m gonna do is let you all fuck this up. What Iamgonna do is get Daniela, bring her back, and make sure she gets an apology from you and everybody else who owes her one.”

“What’s goin’ on?” Patrick was at the entryway carrying beach gear with the kids and the nanny as Nico strode across the foyer, headed for the front door. “What’s with the loud voices? Santino, what did you do to your brother?”

Lina appeared behind them, staring with her blue eyes wide and her hand to her throat.

“Tino told me everything. The little bet they had going that Dani would disappear, and I’d go back to Steffi or end up…”

When he saw Tommy and Merelys come out of the formal room, his anger towered higher.

Fixing his gaze on Tommy, he muttered, “And you. I know what you did to Dani. What you tried to do to me. It’s one thing to bet on me ending up alone, because that’s what I thought I was headed for too, but you actuallytriedto make it happen?”

Tommy’s lips parted in a grin, but his eyes showed fear. “I only told Brizio to flirt with her. I didn’t know he would get out of hand like that, Nico.” He offered a jerky, nervous shrug. “And what fucking difference did it make? She’s a fake, so what are you getting so upset about?”

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