Page 79 of Ciao, Amore

Nico snorted a laugh at her ridiculous list of possible new careers. Then he sobered. Maybe it was better that they talk about something other than the reason he’d sought her out, at least for now, surrounded by a roomful of revelers who had no idea that they were anything other than two strangers making small talk at a party.

“I’m in Parma.” A shadow crossed his face. “I’ve been throwing myself into the business as well as I can. I’ve been managing, but it’s been tough acting like there isn’t a whole other life I’ve left behind. I’m still sorting it out.”

From what little he’d heard from Andrew, Daniela was doing the same. He’d heard talk about London being her next solo destination.

Not if he could help it.

“How’s home?”

Nico lifted a shoulder in a matter-of-fact shrug. “Oh, you know them. Drama, drama,” he said ruefully. “Gina had her baby. It’s a boy. He looks a little less like Yoda every day, so that’s something.”

“Aw, Uncle Nico is even uncle-er,” she said with a grin. “Pics, please.”

He shrugged, feeling pleased at her remark and the demand for photos. It was surreal, suddenly, that he was sitting next to her about to show her baby pics like they hadn’t been apart for months. Like he hadn’t spent every day agonizing over whether or not to go to her.

“I’ll take Uncle, for now.”

Thinking it wise to refrain from suggesting she make him a daddy roughly fifteen minutes after seeing each other for the first time in months, Nico kept that joke to himself. He was absolutely not going to say or do anything to fuck up this slim window of opportunity to get back in her good graces, back in her life.

Withdrawing his phone from his pocket, he opened his gallery. Dani leaned closer to look while he scrolled and settled on a photo of his chunky baby nephew asleep in a bouncer.

“Oh my God, he’s so sweet. Look at all that hair and those cheeks. Go Gina.”

“Say hello to my little friend, Baby Gino.”

“Aw. Tell her I said congratulations, Scarface,” Dani murmured. Her eyes on the photo, she paused with a wistful smile.

“I will. Gina’s an awesome mommy. Tired, but happy. I stuck around a little longer so I could be there for the birth, but after that, I had to come back to Italy.”

“It must be tough to be so far when he’s this little. They change so much every day.”

She glanced over at her family to see Kiki toddling while Andrew scrambled to catch up. Didi and Terri were looking back at them and whispering, smiling hard. Nico waved, hoping they’d give them more time to chat before coming over. He held the phone and swiped to show Dani a few more photos.

“Precious.”

When she lifted her head, she seemed to realize how close they were. So close, it was easy to get lost in those dark eyes. An array of images flickered through his mind one after the other, remembering staring into that gaze during so many moments. How they looked when she was happy, quietly content, or storming. When he was inside her, demanding entry into her soul. That amazing night when she’d finally given in and handed him the key.

She pulled back, perhaps suddenly remembering those moments as well, and where she was now. She was supposed to be on her grand journey in Italy, not bouncing around from there to this country and next to England. Had he been the ruin of her plans? The same way she’d toppled over the structure of his life and left it in pieces on the ground?

“Why are you here, Nico?” she asked quietly. The smile was gone, replaced with a shadow of doubt, a lingering pain.

“My dominoes story isn’t working for you?” he wisecracked, but she didn’t smile this time. The pulse in his throat beat so hard, the words almost couldn’t pass through. “Because New York, Italy…neither one feels right without you.” His voice went deeper, thicker when he said, “No place works without you.Idon’t work without you.”

He didn’t want to express to her what those months apart had been like for him. Days spent sleepwalking through a persistent, heavy fog of disbelief, at times unsure that she’d been real, and their time together had actually happened. Nights when the realization would crush him that everything he’d experienced with her had in fact been among the most impactful moments of his life.

It all came to a head the day he’d received her ring in the mail.

That had been a bad day.

Dani’s lip quivered. “I tried calling. I tried texting you, videochat. I did everything I could to let you know I was still there, and I needed you but you cut me off. Like I didn’t mean anything to you. All I asked was that you respect my need to take it slower and you flipped on me.”

“Dani,” he exhaled. “I’m sorry about how things went down that last night together. I’ve had time to think about it. Fuck, I haven’t been able to concentrate on much else. As much as I hate admitting this, you were right about some things.”

She smiled at that, despite the deepening pain in her eyes.

“You admitting you’re wrong? I’ve got to hear this,” Dani quipped, a catch in her voice.

“Do you think we could go somewhere a little quieter and talk? After I say hello to your family, of course.”

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