AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“For me, also no.” But not for the same reason. I’m already married. To the restaurant.
Growing up as the son of a pizza shop owner, I always knew I wanted my own place. But not like Dad’s. Somewhere to showcase all of my parents’ recipes. Some that came with them from Italy, others my mom has tried out over the years. Unlike my nonna, God rest her soul, she likes to experiment with food.
So no, I can’t imagine getting married. I can’t even keep a girlfriend who gets the fact that we can’t go to dinner on a weekend. Or that I have very little free time.
“I’m happy for him, though,” Gian says with a swig of his beer. Sometimes it’s hard to believe only five years separate my little brother and me. Twenty-seven going on twenty-one. He’s something else.
“I am too,” I agree. This time when I glance at the groom, Enzo catches me.
“What are you two talking about?”
“You.”
“What about me?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
It would be easy to tell him we were talking about him and Chari, but Enzo and I don’t make anything easy. Some might call it a healthy brotherly rivalry. Our mother would say I was being astronzinoto tease Enzo on his wedding day.
“I’m not worried about it.”
“Then why did you ask?”
“Your mother is watching,” Chari gently reminds us.
Sure enough, from the table closest to us, she’s giving Enzo and me the evil eye. I smile in a way that I know will pacify her, and Mom shakes her head.
I can hear her silent thoughts as if she’s saying them aloud.
Not today, Tristano.
But what Mom doesn’t get, or maybe she does, is that, despite the constant ribbing, I love my brother. Despite the fact that he bought my building after I told him not to, repeatedly. The cost of the property that is now my restaurant is a drop in the bucket for my billionaire baby brother, but that’s not the point.
I’d been saving to buy the damn thing myself, and he knew it.
“I’m going to grab a beer. Anyone need one?” Gian asks.
“Yuengling for me.”
And then I wait for it.
“You know we made the lager formula specifically for you, asshole.”
I try not to smile as Enzo takes the bait. “I know. But I’m in the mood for a Yuengling, if that’s ok with you.”
With a glare, half serious and half exasperated, Enzo turns back to Chari.
It really is too easy. Enzo’s beer—or fake beer, as I like to call it even though it’s very much real—actually tastes pretty good. Normally that’s all I drink these days. Their proprietary “Angel pill” that works in conjunction with the formula Enzo invented takes away the negative effects within an hour. Drink their brand of alcohol with the pill afterwards, no hangover. But sometimes I like to play with my brother a bit. And I really do like Yuengling too.
Without thinking, I find my gaze wandering back to the same place where the woman walked in during my toast. She’s talking to Zara Donovan, still drinking champagne.
I wonder what she’s talking about that has her so clearly excited. My mystery woman is even prettier when she’s smiling. Who the hell is she? I need to find out. Obviously she must know Chari since I’ve never met her before. But I can’t ask my sister-in-law. Not in front of my brothers.
I’ll bide my time.
But before the end of the night, I will know her name. And I will ask her to dance.
There are a lot of things I’m not good at. Poker, for one. Skiing, for another. Hate it, actually. Chari and I have that in common. We both despise the cold.
