CHAPTER 16
Giovanni
The day had been just as long and busy as I had anticipated, but I put up with it calmly and politely, hoping to prove to my father once and for all that I was worthy of having a higher position in the family business. I didn’t mention it again though, figuring that actions spoke louder than words. And considering that I had even gone as far as to agree with marrying a girl of his choosing, he had to know by now how extremely dedicated I was to our family.
At least that was my story, and I was sticking to it.
The fact that I had actually fallen in love with the girl was beside the point when it came to conducting business with my father.
I honestly couldn’t deny how happy I was with Arianna lately. She made me feel like an entirely new man. The moment I was able to leave work with my father, all I wanted to do was call her. But the hour was late, and late-night calls often led to late-night behavior. After Arianna had repeatedly told me that she wasn’t that kind of girl, I certainly didn’t want to risk treating her in any way that insinuated otherwise. We had jumped into things fast, and now I wanted to take it slow so that I could cherish each moment before she officially became my wife. I’m not even sure when it had happened, but at some point, I had gone from savoring my last moments of bachelorhood, to eagerly awaiting marriage. Meeting up and hooking up with Arianna wasn’t going to satisfy me for much longer; I respected her too much to keep treating her like something between my mistress and a friend with benefits.
To help me get through a night without Arianna, I decided to go out for a drink and vowed to call her first thing in the morning so that we could meet up and spend the whole day together.
So, I returned to my favorite spot, which now had sentimental value to it since it was where I’d met Arianna in the first place. Ironically, being there felt different now. Normally, I got my usual table in the back and used the view to scope out women. Now, however, I found that I wasn’t remotely interested in any of the women present, no matter how good-looking they happened to be. Some of them even boldly approached me and asked to dance, but I politely turned them down. After turning enough of them down, they eventually left me alone to finish my beers in peace.
I stared idly at the couples on the dance-floor, my thoughts far away and preoccupied with Arianna. That’s when I noticed another woman approaching me.
Here we go again, I thought to myself, ready to politely turn her down just as I had done with the countless others.
Yet, when she got closer, a smile spread across my face. I didn’t know how I hadn’t recognized immediately because I would remember that long dark hair, those big brown eyes, and that goofy grin anywhere.
“Well, hello there, handsome,” she said, grinning ear-to-ear.
I set my beer down and laughed as I stood up to approach her. She threw her arms around me, and I gave her a big bear hug, lifting her clean off her feet in the process.
“Maria, where’ve you been all my life?” I said, setting her back on the floor.
She laughed. “I’ve been around,” she said. “But it’s you, that’s been missing-in-action, cousin! What’s been going on?”
I pulled out a chair for her to sit and then retook my own seat. “Your uncle has been keeping me busy, as usual. You know how that goes.”
Maria laughed. “How’s Uncle Luca these days? I haven’t seen him in forever.”
“He’s the same as always. All about the money.”
Maria shook her head. “Well, son, you know—time is money,” she said, her expression growing stern as she mocked my father.
I laughed, almost choking on my beer. Even though it had been a while since I’d last seen her, my cousin Maria was the same as I always remembered her—loud and silly. She and I had been close growing up, and she had practically been like the sister I never had.
“So, what else is going on with you besides work?” she asked. “I know the infamous Giovanni Romano can’t be entirely all work and no play these days.”
I shook my head. “No, I wouldn’t say that.”
“Well, spill it then! I need to hear about something extravagant. My life has been far too boring lately. I need some excitement—or to at least hear about some.”
I raised my eyebrows. “You? Boring. Never! There has to be some tall, dark, handsome and unsuspecting poor fellow in your life, right?”
“Ha!” Maria said. “Sure, but they don’t last long. You know how that goes.”
I laughed. “Yeah, you can say that again.”
“So, I take it things have been pretty much the same for you too in that department, huh? Still jumping from one girl to the next?”
I smiled, shook my head, and reached for my beer.
Maria narrowed her eyes. “Wait—what? Did you just shake your head? What does that mean?”
I smirked. “It means I can’t quite agree with that statement. That I’m still just jumping from one girl to the next.”
Maria’s eyebrows show up, she leaned back in her seat and clutched her chest. She shook her head. “Oh…my…goodness. What are you telling me, Gio? Really? Are you honestly telling me that some woman out there has managed to do the impossible? Someone has put a stop to your old ways? How? How is that even possible? I seriously didn’t think you would ever be capable of being a one-woman man.”
I laughed. “It’s a long story. And goodness, cousin—you don’t have to sound so surprised. You just had no faith in me, huh? Like I’m the family whore or something.”
“Your words, not mine,” Maria said, laughing heartily. “And I want to hear this so-called long story. I’ve got time, and I’ve got a drink.” She raised her glass in the air. “I’m all ears.”
“Fair enough,” I said with a chuckle. “All right. Well, like I said, my father is all about business as usual, so he’s been wanting to get into the Marino family for quite some time now. Have you heard of them?”
Maria slowly nodded. “Marino—yeah, that rings a bell. They’re loaded, right?”
“You can say that again,” I said. “So obviously, you understand why my father was so anxious to get in good with them.”
“Yep. That certainly sounds classic like Uncle Luca.”
“Right. So naturally,” I continued, “he figured the perfect opportunity to get into the Marino family was through linking me to the Marino daughter…”
“Woah…wait…are we talking about an arranged marriage?”
I nodded.
Maria’s eyes widened. “And you actually agreed to it?”
I nodded again. “Yeah, I did. And it initially didn’t take me long to regret it either. The very night I made the agreement, I came here to drink myself into a stupor over what I had just committed myself to. But then I met her…here.”
“You met her here?”
“Yep. And I had no idea it was her.” I laughed. “Apparently, she was out celebrating her last official night as a single woman. I just happened to randomly spot her when I saw some sloppy drunk guy harassing her. I jumped in to break it up, and afterward, we just hit it off. I mean really hit it off. Then the next morning, my Dad calls waking me up at the crack of dawn telling me to hurry up and get ready because I’d be meeting my future wife soon. My folks had invited her and her family over for dinner. I can’t even describe how shocked I was when she walked into the living room that evening. It was crazy. I just kept thinking about how she had been right there, in my bed, when my Dad was telling me to hurry up and come over to get ready for the evening.”
Maria shook her head and burst into a fit of laughter. “That’s what you call stranger than fiction. So, how did she take it when she saw that she was being set up with you later that day?”
“Not good!” I shook my head. “She absolutely hated me in the beginning. Even though we were getting along pretty damn good at the club—not to mention later on at my apartment—she was pissed when I had essentially kicked her out that morning. I didn’t mean to be rude, but it came off that way to her. You see, she’s led a pretty sheltered and pure life, so she felt sorry for what had happened between us, to begin with.”
Maria raised an eyebrow. “So, you corrupted that poor girl’s virtue, and then she found out the following day she had to marry you. Yeah, I can see how that would mess with a girl’s head!”
“Hey—I didn’t corrupt anybody. You know that’s not my style. She was out that night looking to corrupt herself. She willingly left with me. Hell, she started it! She kissed me first.” I shrugged my shoulders. “But anyway, it all turned out for the best. That’s why I couldn’t figure out why she was so ticked off about it at first. But we’re good now. And as an added bonus, it turns out that I’m crazy about her. I swear, I’ve never felt like this about anyone before. I realized that after I took her out to dinner a few days later. I swear, Maria, there’s just something about her. She’s so sweet, yet feisty when she wants to be. And she’s so beautiful, inside and out.”
“Damn, cousin. I never thought I’d see the day, but you are positively whipped.”
“As much as I want to deny that—I can’t.” I laughed and took another sip of my beer. “Anyway, like I said, it’s all for the best. I get to do my family a favor, my father gets what he wants, and I get to actually be happy in the process. This whole arrangement could have been a complete disaster, but instead, it turned out to be a miracle.”
“Wow,” Maria said. “I need your kind of luck. Does she have any cute brothers or cousins in need of that kind of an arranged marriage?”
“Once I’m officially in the family, I’ll find out for you.”
“Yes, you do that. And don’t think I’m going to let you forget! I’m holding you to your word.”
“I’m sure you will.”
We both laughed, and Maria tossed back the last of her drink. “So how much longer are you staying here?”
“Not too much longer. I’m beat,” I said, stifling a yawn.
“Well let me go to the little girls’ room, and then I’ll leave with you. You can walk me to my car.”
“All right,” I said.
I found myself glancing around the nightclub again. It felt weird to think that I may be giving up such a lifestyle soon, in favor of spending my nights at home with my wife.
At that precise moment, my eyes landed on a curvy dark-haired beauty. Stunned, I couldn’t believe it was her. Arianna.
I laughed to myself, finding it ironic that I’d just spent so much time describing her to Maria without knowing she was right there under the same roof.
Maria came back towards me from the ladies’ room, smiling. “Well cousin, it’s been great catching up with you. We’ve got to start getting together more often, you know that, right?”
“Definitely,” I said, hugging her. “But I don’t want you to leave just yet.”
“I’ve got to work in the morning. Besides, I thought you said you were about to leave too?”
I grinned. “Yeah, but I want you to meet someone first.”
I looked toward where Arianna had last stood, but she was no longer there. I glanced around the nightclub, but she was nowhere to be found. Just as I was about to describe her to Maria and ask if she had seen a woman fitting the description in the women’s restroom, I finally spotted her.
Something was wrong though. She looked furious and was heading straight for the door, with a friend scurrying behind her.
I frowned.
“What is it?” Maria said. “Who do you want me to meet? Gio?”
“I…I thought I saw…” My voice trailed off. I considered whether it was possible that I’d just been seeing things—or perhaps had only seen a woman who resembled Arianna. But I knew that wasn’t the case. There was no doubt in my mind that it was her. I would recognize her from a mile away at this point.
I glanced around again, wondering if someone had been bothering her. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell so that I could call her. But as luck would have it, my battery was completely dead. I’d been so busy working with my father that I hadn’t charged my phone all day and forgot to do it before coming out to the club. And I couldn’t even ask to borrow Maria’s phone because I had yet to learn Arianna’s number by heart.
“Okay—earth to Giovanni.” Maria snapped her fingers in front of my face.
I swore and shook my head. “Nothing. Never mind. I thought I saw someone…but, maybe not. I, uhm…I think they left.”
“Have you had too many beers, cousin?”
I forced a laugh. “Maybe so. Come on, let’s get out of here.”
Maria and I tipped the waiters and then headed out. In the parking lot, I glanced around in search of Arianna again, just in case.
Maybe I really was just seeing things, I thought. But I still felt unsettled. I tried to brush the feeling aside though and vowed that I would call her first thing in the morning, just as I had planned to begin with.