Real Love, Fake Marriage by Vesper Young

Author:Vesper Young [Young, Vesper]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-10-15T16:00:00+00:00

***

Lunch it was. The place Deacon chose was a lot more lowkey than I’d expected, but he explained it was a favorite of Donna’s. In the hours before our arrival, he’d peppered in details about her. He didn’t share easily, and I was tempted to take a crowbar to his brain to get some hint of who this woman was.

I’d learned she was an Italian citizen by birth, though her family emigrated to the states when she was young. From the sound of it, she’d pretty much raise Deacon. She’d probably be insulted she hadn’t been invited to the wedding. They were close, or as close a Deacon got to anyone. He liked her. How could he not, when she’d pretty much been a mother to him?

I made a face at the thought. Not everyone liked their mother. I knew that firsthand.

The only other tip he’d given me was she liked thin mints. As far as I knew, cookie season was over, but apparently, when you had an eight-figure net worth, you could get said cookies on short notice.

So I entered the dinner after Deacon, armed with my box of cookies. He looked around for a moment before heading off. Our arms were hooked, so where he went, I followed.

He led us to a booth in the back. There was someone sitting there, but I could only see the back of their curly-haired head.

The woman turned as if sensing our arrival. Seeing Deacon, her face lit up and she stood to greet us.

“Buongiorno, bambino.”

She pulled Deacon in and landed a smacking kiss on his cheek. Then she turned to me. Her expression didn’t quite lose its exuberance, but there was no mistaking the caution there.

“And hello to you. You must be Mindy? Frederick told me all about you.”

That was surprising. Truthfully, I hadn’t expected her to know I existed. I disentangled myself from Deacon and extended a hand.

“That’s me. It’s great to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you as well.”

She grabbed my hand and pulled me in for a hug.

“No need to be so formal! Come, I’ve ordered some appetizers.”

We sat down opposite her.

“Oh, these are for you,” I said, remembering the cookies.

She took the bag I offered and pulled out the box.

“My favorite! How thoughtful.” She beamed.

I smiled back.

The food arrived. Mounds and mounds of greasy appetizers. Mozzarella sticks, fried calamari, bread, chicken tenders, and a pitifully small salad.

“Eat, eat,” she told us.

Deacon served me a bit of everything and then himself. Donna took single cheese stick.

“So tell me, bambino, how have you been doing?”

Deacon glanced at me. I looked back.

“Well, things have been a bit different. After everything that’s happened, I did some thinking on what was important.” He carefully avoided mentioning his father’s death. “One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I proposed to Mindy.”

“I said yes. And that I just couldn’t wait to get married. So Deacon got a loaner for a jet and took me to Vegas to make an honest woman out of me,” I chimed in.

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