Page 36 of Beautiful Desire

The table erupts with laughter, leaving me utterly confused.

Marco reaches over for my menu and turns it over. “There’s an English version right here, blondie. Or if you’d like, I can order in Italian for you.”

He ends with a wink, and I reach out and smack him on the arm.

“Well, you might have to, because newsflash: I can’t speak in Italian, either,” I tell him, exasperated.

And once again, the entire table starts laughing. I’m starting to get really annoyed with being laughed at.

Unable to stop my irritation from showing, I huff out, “What now?”

This time, Fabi replies with a soft chuckle. “Everyone here speaks English, Elle.”

“Wait, they do? How do you know?”

“Because this is a big tourist destination, and most European countries speak English to accommodate their guests.” He says it so matter-of-factly, but that still doesn’t explain why he spoke in Italian before.

“If they speak English, why did you speak to the hostess in Italian?” I ask Fabi, crossing my arms over my chest, quirking an eyebrow, and awaiting his response.

“Why, to mess with you, of course,” he replies and flashes me the biggest smile.

“Jackass.”

He just shrugs and says, “I’ve been called worse.”

Touché, my friend. Touché.

* * *

Brunch goes on rather well. Great food, great people, great conversation. We’re just finishing our coffees and desserts when Gia speaks up.

“It’s a shame Dom couldn’t be here with us. I hope everything’s okay.”

I can feel my face heat up at the mention of his name. As much as I don’t want to talk about him, Iamcurious as to why he left without even saying goodbye.

Fabi shares a glance with Marco before he puts his arm around his wife’s shoulder.

“I’m sure everything is fine. He just had a major work issue that needed tending to, and unfortunately, he couldn’t do that here,” he says before reaching for his glass of water and taking a sip.

Hmm. Interesting. He’s lying.

Most of the time, Fabi has a great poker face, and I can never read his bullshit radar. But when it comes to Gia, he has a tell because he hates lying to her. His entire demeanor changes and he shifts his body somehow, which he did when he put his arm around her. He always finds something to stop him from talking, like grabbing something to eat or drink, as if he has a bad taste in his mouth after feeding her this lie. The only question is, why? What is he hiding?

I don’t get to probe him because Gia speaks up.

“So, you and Dom seemed to spend a lot of time getting to know one another yesterday.Andhe escorted you back to the villa last night, huh? Care to share with the table what you two got up to, or do you prefer this to be just a one-on-one convo?” She gives an exaggerated wink, making it look like she has something in her eye.

Here goes nothing, I think to myself, hoping I can play it off.

“Nothing to share, G. We had a couple of drinks, we danced, we talked, and then we went back to the villa and went our separate ways,” I tell her with a nonchalant shrug.

My stomach turns at the lie I just told her.

“Okay, guess we’ll talk about it later,” she singsongs, giving me a suspicious look.

“G, there’s nothing to talk about. He was on his phone the whole time in the car back to the villa. He said goodnight to me once we got back. I went to my room, and he went to his, never once lifting his head from his phone to pay me any attention. I guess now I know why. Because of his work emergency, like Fabi said.” I make sure to throw that last part in to see what he does, but he sits there looking at me, uninterested, giving nothing away.

Damn it, Fab.

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