Page 31 of The Betas: Rene
“Berto Salvaggi took care of Apuso for my stepfather,”Frankie told René over the Mate Link andRené blanched.
Frankie’s father continued, not knowing he had been interrupted by the side conversation over the Mate Link. “Gemma Salvaggi has recently come over from Italy. She was sent by her mother to take care of Lamberto, but Lamberto lives in a one-bedroom apartment and doesn’t need a housekeeper. She’s been sleeping on his couch. He wanted his sister in a good situation away from the olive oil business. When Carmen retired, it happily solved two problems.”
René glanced at Frankie. His Mate nodded, mollified.
Brigit smiled brightly. “We’ll see how she does. Frankie, she made the cake and pastries. I believe she said she made Italian cheesecake and cannoli. You like Italian cheesecake. Every time we went to your father’s restaurant when you were a boy, that’s what you ordered.”
Frankie broadcast over the Mate Link to him,“I hope hers is better than Carmen’s. But Dante hired her. He wouldn’t be taken in by a sad story like Mom was with Carmen.”
“Frankie says you’ve lost your mother…” Brigit regarded him expectantly.
“Yes, I lost her at an early age. My father was the President of DuBois and Goodman and was visiting their new office site at the Twin Towers on nine-eleven. He and thirty-six others died. Mom died a year later of grief.”
“She must have loved him very much.” Brigit’s eyes went soft.
“She did. They were well matched.” Frankie reached over and squeezed his hand.
“I almost lost myself in grief when Frankie’s father died. I wanted to die, too, but my Dante pulled me away from the brink. We recently celebrated our twenty-first wedding anniversary.”
Dante got up from his chair and patted Brigit’s shoulder, giving her a kiss on the neck, while watching Frankie.
Frankie bristled. René’s eyes sparkled.“What is good for this gander is good for that gander.”His Mate settled down.
“Congratulations. I hope Frankie and I will see the same happiness.”
Dante glanced over at Frankie as he sat back down.
“Let me ring for the cake.” Brigit picked up a beautiful crystal bell. It tinkled. “I feel so uppity ringing the bell, but Dante doesn’t want me in pain, and it’s easier to ring the bell than it is to go down to the kitchen, and I hate to shout. Now, how did you meet our Frankie?” Brigit crossed her hands over her lap.
René lowered his eyes to her knuckles and fingers, which were gnarled from her disease. “We met at a wedding reception. We were introduced by a mutual friend, Julien Bellaire. Mr. Ferone did some work for Julien recently.” René glanced over at Frankie, willing him to be civil.
Dante said, “You didn’t say you knew Mr. Bellaire when we did that work for him. If I knew he was a friend of yours, I wouldn’t have charged him.”
“I knew him from the clubs before he met his husband.” Frankie kept a straight face.
“You’re spinning a rather tall tale. Maybe I should write this down for everyone else.”René grabbed his hand again and kissed his ring.
“You can tell The Alpha. He’ll make sure the rest of them know. After all, I can’t exactly tell him we met two days ago, and we’re going to marry on Saturday. From what I understand, The Alpha Mate told his friend Tony the truth, and Tony is still suspicious of The Alpha and barely speaks to Sean. We can’t have Dante looking too closely, so I told a story he would buy.”
“I used to go by myself and often ran into Julien, Martin, and Edward. I met René at a wedding. Julien introduced us. We gravitated toward each other right away.”
“Where will the wedding be held?” Brigit asked. “We could have it at Dante’s restaurant.”
“Because Frankie will have such an important job with Mr. La Marche, and because he will be handling the finances of most of the Board of Directors, Mr. La Marche has decreed that it be at his Greenwich Village townhome so that all the Board of Directors and their Lieutenants can attend. The Lieutenants wouldn’t feel comfortable somewhere else,” René said with emphasis.
Frankie seconded him. “They rarely go out with their bosses for social occasions. It would be awkward for them to be social anywhere else. But Mr. La Marche holds the Christmas parties, etc. so they are at home there. There are fourteen others besides Martin that hold the same level of responsibility that René has and they are all friends and are planning to attend. Mr. La Marche lives on Washington Square and has a ballroom that holds seventy-five.”
René added, “In addition to the two lieutenants, the directors each have a housekeeper and a factotum. In Mr. La Marche’s case, since his affairs are so varied, he has an assistant?that would be Frankie?and another gentleman, Pierre, who acts as his chauffeur, butler, and manservant.”
“Aside from my family,” Frankie said, “all of our friends come from the Garou circle and most of the men attending will be René’s friends. We expect to have fifty-five to sixty. It’s funny you hired a new housekeeper today. René and I hired a couple before we came here, Annie and Alphonse Eustis. Because we will be working so much, they will maintain the house for us and prepare our meals so we can eat when we get home instead of eating fast food, or at nine at night.”
Frankie’s mother looked up in alarm. “Dante, I just had a thought, you have to tell them right away if you’re bringing Mr. Salvaggi and Mr. Amato. For a wedding, you need to get the right numbers for the caterer.”
René smiled. “No need to get upset, Brigit. Mr. La Marche’s housekeeper, Meg, and the other cooks are catering the event. They usually do a buffet, and there is always plenty of food. This crowd can eat.”
“Other cooks?” Frankie’s eyebrows drew together and he squinted in apparent confusion.
“The housekeepers and cooks of the other members of the board. From what I understand, Isabel particularly wants to give us a good send off.”
