Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 82121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“He’s back at the house. Do you want me to get him?”
Her eyes go wide. “No, god, no, please don’t. I’m sure he doesn’t want to see me.”
“Why?” Then I remember. “Oh, right. Because you’re Renzo’s wife.”
“I figure his anger works on the transitive property. He’s pissed at Renzo, which means he’s also pissed at me.”
“I don’t think he really works that way, but I get it. You came all the way out here to talk to me?”
She takes my arm and steers me over toward the houses. An older couple walks by with two little yappy dogs.
“Renzo’s been a mess since everything went down. You should see him moping around the house. He named Dante as his acting underboss, but he hasn’t made it official yet. I think because he wants Saul to come back.”
“That’s good, right? I mean, Saul’s the same way. He’s really messed up over what happened.”
Maddie sighs and squeezes my arm. “I hate this. The boys were so tight. They grew up in freaking hell under their asshole dad, and now they’re growing apart because of some stupid misunderstanding.”
“He won’t listen to me. I’ve been telling him to go back home and talk to Renzo for weeks, but it’s like he can’t hear that name without getting all stressed.”
“Same with me and Renzo. I’ve been pleading with him to come out here and apologize, but he’s too stubborn.”
“How can we fix this?”
“I don’t know.” Maddie leans against the house, looking glum. She stares at the ground and I join her, feeling powerless and empty. But at least she cares too, and it’s obvious Renzo’s as broken up about this as Saul is.
“There has to be a way. Both of them want to get past this fight, they’re just too proud.”
“Maybe Gian and Carlo can mediate somehow.”
“Gian tried that. Saul basically threw him out.”
She sighs and rubs her face. “Carlo’s been doing the same with Renzo. They’ve had a few shouting matches over it.”
“Everyone wants this feud to end, but the two people that can make things right are too stubborn to make it happen.”
“Welcome to the Famiglia. Where shit happens and nothing makes sense.” She grins at me but there’s a real sadness in her eyes. “Brando misses his uncle.”
That breaks my freaking heart. “Saul misses Brando. He misses everyone.”
“I could bring him over. Would that be okay? I mean, just for a little visit. Maybe in a few days?”
“I would love that, but I don’t know. I’m not sure how Saul would feel about it.”
“Yeah, okay, that’s totally fine.” She slumps forward for a second then pushes off the wall. “I should let you get going. My driver’s blocking traffic.”
“Here, take my phone number.” We swap really fast. “Text me if you think of a way we can get these stupid boys together.”
“You do the same.” She hesitates, and I get the feeling she’s afraid that this might be the last time we talk to each other in a while. On impulse, I give her another hug, and this one is much warmer than the first.
“I’ll be honest, I want Saul to get over his fight with Renzo for selfish reasons too. I really like you and Allegra. I want to be a part of the family, you know?”
“We want that too. I mean, another Rossi guy got married. It feels wrong that there aren’t three wives at the house.”
“Soon. Hopefully.”
She nods and pulls herself away. I watch her get in the car and wave as it drives off.
But I’m left feeling even more empty. Because even though I know Renzo wants this over with, and even though I know Maddie’s on my side, I still feel like I’m a million miles away from Saul and I’m not getting any closer to giving him what he needs.
Chapter 33
Molly
I find Saul in the office he set up for himself in one of the guest rooms. He’s arranging a desk, getting it aligned just right against the far wall. I knock on the doorframe and he looks over. I love the way his face brightens whenever he sees me—that expression of pure joy never gets old.
“You’re home,” he says. “How was work?”
“Oh, you know, slinging burgers and fries is good for a girl’s health.” I walk over and kiss him gently. “I ran into Maddie on the way back from Nana’s.”
His eyes narrow. “You ran into her? As if it wasn’t on purpose?”
“Don’t get mad. She wanted to talk about you and Renzo patching things up.”
His jaw works and for a second I think he’s actually going to talk to me. But instead, he steps to the side and looks over at the closet. “Speaking of patching, there’s a hole I wanted to cover over. It’s pretty important. Maybe we can talk about this later.”
“Absolutely fucking not,” I say and it comes out harsher than I intended. But that gets his attention. He looks over, surprised. “You’ve been dodging me for weeks. Now you’re going to listen.”