Page 65 of Lorenzo

Gina doesn’t laugh.

“This is serious. You could have been killed.”

“Like I said, I’m okay,” taking my place at the kitchen island. Ciro serves me my coffee hot and black.

“The important thing is what I discovered at the restaurant.”

“What was that?” she asks, stroking Biscotti.

“You were right about the pizza. It was unique and delicious.”

“Excellent! So my research paid off.

“Yes. But Antonio Rodriquez is not the right chef for us.”

She frowns. “Why is that?”

“He’s a prima donna. We definitely do not need that kind in our kitchen. Lorenzo would not be able to work with him a single minute.”

“But going forward Lorenzo won’t have time to work in the restaurant. After the little guy is born,” she says, touching her belly, “I’ll be in charge.”

“Of course you will. But why make more work for yourself by forming an association with an argumentative chef?”

Gina’s silent for a moment. I feel like I’m getting through to her.

“Think about all the time and effort you spent creating your murals. And how painful it would have been if you had to argue every brush stroke to a boss or professor.”

“But you don’t understand. We can’t serve ‘simple pizza.’ For the restaurant to stand out, we need to be bold and innovative. So we need Antonio Rodriguez.”

“Wrong,” I say firmly. “We need to be bold and innovative without the baggage of an egotistical chef bent on building their own reputation.”

Gina looks at me.

“But we need his reputation. Antonio Rodriguez attracted attention to himself with his blistered crusts, fermentation techniques …”

“That’s all marketing bullshit. We’ll find some innovative angle and publicize the hell out of it. Just leave it to me.”

Gina looks up at me, a smile forming on her face.

“Does that mean you’re going to stay and help me run it?”

I hesitate. Committing to the restaurant means committing to a life in New York I had never planned.

And committing to Lorenzo as well.

Both huge decisions that are far too soon to make.

But then I remember Aunt Jane’s golden words.

“Just live life day by day, Emily. It’s the only way to make it out alive.”

“I don’t know how long I can stay. So I can’t commit to anything now. But I will tell you that whether I stay or go back to Boston, your restaurant problems are solved.”

“How so?”

I signal Ciro to pour me another cup of black coffee and tell her about Mike.

“I met him last night at Antonio Rodriguez’s restaurant. He was there to spy, just like me. He’s the former general manager of a large pizza chain that folded last year due to no fault of his own. It’s him that we want to hire.”