Chapter 7
Fabio
I didn’t think it would be so awkward sitting beside Cyndee in the backseat of my G-Wagon. The tension was indescribable. I couldn’t tell if it was good or bad, but something told me I would regret ever asking her to be my fake girlfriend.
When she appeared in the clothes my sister had picked out, I couldn’t speak. Or breath. Or think. Cyndee was absolutely stunning. She smelled incredible and I was nervous as fuck to be with her.
I wasn’t prepared to be so attracted to my cleaning lady.
“Mr. Ferrari, what should I expect tonight?” she asked in a soft voice. “I wish you would have prepped me beforehand. I don’t want to look like an idiot.”
“Well, you can’t do that.” I appreciated her breaking the ice and was ashamed of myself for not doing it first.
“What?”
“You can’t call me Mr. Ferrari. I’m Fabio. Your boyfriend.”
“Oh, right.” Her cheeks turned pink. “That’s going to take a little time to get used to.”
“You have ten minutes before we arrive at the opera house.” I took her hand to test her. As I expected, she stiffened and tried to pull away, but I didn’t release her hand.
“What are you doing?” Her breathing picked up, telling me she was just as affected as me.
“Holding my girlfriend’s hand. What does it look like?” I laced our fingers and noticed her nails and the ring I picked out for her. Zia wanted to buy her diamonds, but I said absolutely no to a ring and suggested earrings.
The only diamond ring I would ever buy was an engagement ring.
“Right. I guess we should practice that. We need to appear comfortable with each other. But no kissing.” She didn’t even need to go there.
“Of course, not. We’ll be at public events. Making out would be tacky. Maybe fun but a Ferrari doesn’t behave that way.”
“No worries. I’m not a PDA person. I’m way too shy for that.” She laughed and it was a nice sound.
I released her hand, not sure how to reply. It was like she had unknowingly challenged me to kiss her in public. I hated to be told I couldn’t do something because I liked to piss people off. I would do the very thing they didn’t want me to do just to spite them.
Cyndee would never be my real girlfriend, but dammit, I would kiss her long and hard just to push her out of her comfort zone and piss her off.
Yeah, I could be a dick like that.
We sat in silence until Ross stopped in front of the opera house.
“Are you ready?” I asked her.
“No, if I’m honest. I’m just glad there won’t be any talking during the performance.”
“I’ll do my best to control the narrative.” Since nobody will ever see her after Christmas, I’d just make up answers to the questions my family would ask.
Ross opened my door. I got out and extended my hand to help Cyndee.
“Thank you,” she said. “Gosh, I’m nervous. Do I look okay? I should have checked myself before getting out of the car.
I took a step back to admire her better. “You look good. Nobody will ever think you’re my cleaning lady.”
She smiled but it didn’t seem genuine.
“Let’s go in. I’m certain we’re late.” Of course I wanted to arrive after everyone else, so we didn’t have an opportunity to chat before the performance started.
“Oh, no. I thought it started at seven.”
“It does, but I didn’t want to get here when my family arrived.”
“Right.” She nodded.
We entered the building.
“Oh my gosh, this is gorgeous.” She stopped and took it all in, mesmerizing me as she turned in a circle with glossy eyes.
“Are you okay?” I whispered, taking her hand and drawing her toward me. “You look as if you’re about to cry.”
“Sorry.” She turned her face away to hide. “When I’m overwhelmed, I get a little emotional. I’m sure the beauty and holiday magic doesn’t affect you because you’ve been here a lot.”
“I usually rush through to get to my chair.” I let my gaze move through the building and Cyndee was right. It was beautiful. “You don’t need to hide from me.”
She turned back and looked up at me. “And you might want to take a minute to enjoy life, because one day you’ll look back and be twenty years older.”
“Twenty years would make me fifty-three.”
“You’re ten years older than me.” Her mouth gaped.
I glanced down at her. “I assumed you were older than twenty-three. At least, twenty-seven.”
“Nope, I’m not that old. Not sure if I should be insulted.” She seemed annoyed with me, and I liked it.
“This way.” I led her toward the doors to where we’d be sitting.
“Good evening, Mr. Ferrari.” The person at the door opened it and waved us through.
“Thank you,” I replied. Then I whispered to Cyndee, “Your age doesn’t bother me.”
“Well, if we weren’t pretending to be together, your age might bother me,” she said in a serious tone. She was irritated and wouldn’t look at me. “Like you, your age doesn’t bother me since this is just a job.”
“Is this our first fight?” I asked, teasing her.
She stopped and faced me. “I’m not fighting. I would have to care about you to fight.”
I studied her face. Really looking at her. If we’d met on different terms and she was someone my family would approve of, I just might fall for her.
“Why are you staring at me?” she asked.
“Zio!”
“It’s Zio Fabio!”
I heard familiar voices calling me uncle in Italian and peered over my shoulder. My nieces Amara and Allegra were standing behind me with my brother.
“Why are you standing here?” Remo asked. “The show is inside.”
“Yes, and why are you not inside?”
“We had to go to the bathroom,” Allegra answered for her father.
“Yeah. The Nutcracker is a long show, Zio,” Amara said.
“Yes, I know. Look how big you’re both getting.” I opened my arms to my nieces. They happily hugged me, while my brother checked out Cyndee.
“And who is this?” Remo asked.
“Cyndee.” I released my nieces and put my arm around my fake girlfriend’s waist. “Tesoro, this is my brother, Remo. And these cuties are my nieces Amara and Allegra.”
“It’s nice to meet you all.” She smiled sweetly and directed her attention to the girls. “I love your dresses. Are you excited to see the ballet?”
“I’m excited to see Zia. She’s the Sugar Plum Fairy this year,” Amara said.
“Me too.” Allegra nodded.
“Good. Then we should go in before it starts without us,” I said, leading Cyndee away. Knowing Remo, he had a million questions to ask. It would be challenging to keep him away from Cyndee.
Naturally, everyone perked up in their seats when they saw Cyndee on my arm. I waved to my single brothers, and Remo’s wife, Anna. Why she hadn’t taken her daughters to the bathroom was beyond me. She was a horrible mother.
“Hello, Mama” I kissed her cheek and kissed my sister’s. “Lettie, glad you could make it.”
“So am I. Who did you bring?” Lettie asked, wiggling her dark eyebrows.
“My friend.” I backed away and showed Cyndee her seat, far from my nosey family. Once she sat down, I reached my hand out to my father to shake.
“Late as always,” he said.
“I was a little preoccupied.” I nodded toward Cyndee. “You’d be late too.”
My father grinned, finding my response acceptable.
“We’ll meet your new girl at the restaurant.” It wasn’t a question but a statement. He expected me and Cyndee to dine with the family after the performance and there would be no getting out of it.
“Assolutamente, Padre.” Absolutely we’d be there. I knew the drill and my father knew that I knew the drill. But I sensed he wanted Cyndee to hear what his expectations were.
The lights deemed then blinked alerting us that the show was going to start.
“Now you can relax until intermission. I’ll whisk you out of here before my family corners you,” I whispered in her ear and took her hand, knowing many pairs of eyes were watching us.
“Okay,” Cyndee replied as the lights deemed fully, and the orchestra began to play.
This very well might be the longest, most challenging night of my life.