21. Antonio
Antonio stands in front of the wall mirror on the first floor of his loft, leaning over the console table. No matter how many times he corrects it, the top left edge of his bow tie flaps over like a dog’s ear. He’s ready to rip it in half. “What kind of defective shit is this?”
“Just use a safety pin,” Frankie says, over by the windows while buttoning his left sleeve.
“Does it look like I have those lying around?” Antonio gives up and moves on to his shoes. “I can’t believe I let her talk me into this.”
“This” meaning turning preparation for the Ball into a grandiose ceremony. Yuna and Alex displaced Frankie to Antonio’s loft hours ago. He showed up outside his door, unannounced, like a kid whose parents dropped him off at grandma’s house because they had plans. Frankie even had a backpack in tow, which Antonio immediately recognized as the one he bought for Alex. It had a note attached that read, “Alex’s Sleepover Bag.”
Frankie smirks and moves on to his right cuff. “Hm.”
Jeez, thatis annoying. “What?” he asks brusquely.
“I don’t know, brother. I guess I’m curious. What happens after this? Or I mean, what do you want to happen?”
A shoelace whips the leather of Antonio’s Oxfords. “I don’t know, man.”
“You get married, have babies, grow old?”
“Aren’t you skipping about a million steps?”
Frankie exaggeratedly cups a hand over his mouth. “So, you’re saying there’s a chance?”
Antonio sighs and sits on his couch. “I’m saying get off my back. I found a cool girl to talk to like you wanted. I’m out of my head and enjoying myself like you wanted. Why do we need to look beyond that right now?”
“Yeah, I can say Alex is a cool girl. But so’s Stefanie. And Luca’s math teacher, Ms. Warren, that’s one cool girl. Lucille, the person who delivers our mail, she puts packages behind the bushes when we don’t answer the door. I’d say she’s a cool girl. But I don’t think I’d ever call Yuna a cool girl.”
“So don’t.”
“You knucklehead.” Frankie rummages through a small black bag and pulls out a safety pin before walking over and handing it to his brother. “Just humor me, then. ‘Cuz we’re almost two months in, and if I’m being totally honest, I didn’t expect you to get this far. So you seriously have no expectations? Just more hanging out one-on-one like you’ve been doing?”
Antonio can think of something else to add to the list, but he’s not about to say it out loud.“I guess?”
“Can she do that with other people?”
Antonio’s forehead wrinkles. “Other people like who? Why would she?”
“I’m not saying she would. I’m asking, in this thing you’re doing, could she? Or would you want to be exclusive?”
“If that’s how you need to frame it.”
“Hm.”
“Again with the fucking hm, Francesco. Say what it is you’re trying to say.”
“I’m saying, Antonio, intentionally, solely going out with the same woman for the foreseeable future? You just described a girlfriend. Those of us who use our brains know that.”
Antonio shakes his head vehemently and tries not to poke himself with the pin. “That confirms you’re the reason Ma asked about who I’m bringing tonight. She called yesterday to ask about this girlfriend.”
“No. You’re the reason,” Frankie says while fixing a button on his jacket. “You’re gonna have a beautiful lady on your arm at a very public event and you thought, what? You’d hide her from Ma all night?”
Antonio wasn’t thinking about his mother at all. Just “being around” Alex. That aurous speck flickering in that left eye. That contagious laughter. And how she’ll probably find a way to make one of the more boring occasions of the year one of the best.
The brothers conclude their preparations, with the younger continuing his unsought guidance all the way to his house. An empty foyer makes his voice seem exceptionally loud.
“Who’d you pawn the kids off to?”
Frankie rolls his eyes. “They’re at sleepovers.”
“Well, don’t you two clean up nicely?” Ben asks, moseying down the staircase. “Not as nice as I would have, but a close second and third.”
“Well, now ya gotta tell us who’s in which place?” Frankie laughs. “Are we still too early?”
“No, they—”
Without warning, a sparkling gold hem appears at the top of the steps.
“Damn,” Frankie mutters, meeting Yuna halfway and giving his hand to escort her. He kisses her on the cheek and whispers something that makes her giggle.
Then she motions to Antonio. “Hey, Prince-kinda-Charming. Princess Alexandra should be coming down in three, two—oh, wow.” She drags her neck backward, her smile brightening even further as Alex appears. “I didn’t expect that timing to actually work.”
Aw, fuck.
Antonio does feel like he’s in the presence of royalty. Alex isn’t wearing a crown over her elbow-length curls, but it’s like she’s wrapped in this regal aura—warm, bright, and gorgeous. And the gown, red and bold, is so sexy. There’s a split just above her right knee, and Antonio cannot wait to explore beyond it. He has to reluctantly tell his dick to calm down, quelling its throbbing with deep breaths.
Frankie clears his throat and then there’s a moderately forceful blow to Antonio’s back. He trips up to Alex and holds out a hand. “Hey, gorgeous.”
“Hey, boo.”
She smiles and he squeezes her hand before they head to the limo waiting out front.
“So, uh… I feel like I do have to warn you,” Antonio says after they settle in the booth.
“Oh my God, no. Warn me about what?”
“A certain brother of mine told our mother…about you.”
“Told her what about me?”
“She knows—” Antonio stammers and drums his fingers on his knees. “She knows that we’ve been spending a lot of time together, and she wants to meet you tonight.”
Alex expels a puff of air. “Well, you’ve met my dad; I guess it’s only fair. But just know, I’m still internally screaming. Thanks, Frankie.”
“Yeah, thanks, Francesco.”
Yuna sniggers. “Good job, Frankie!”
“Ay, for the last time, the shit isn’t on me!” Frankie barks. “If you answered Ma’s phone calls, she would never have to ask me about you, and I would’ve never had to tell her about Alex. But when you think about it, I helped you because now there won’t be an ambush tonight.”
“Nah. Just a one-woman army.” Antonio looks down at Alex, whose eyes get wider. “I’m joking.”
“I hope so. But I doubt she could truly be any more extreme than Victoria Agneau. I think I’ll be OK.”
“And I know you will, babe. Laura and I get along just fine. I’m sure it helps that I’ve given her grandbabies, but I think she was nice to me the few months before we knew I was pregnant the first time, too.”
Antonio snakes his arm around Alex’s waist, pulling her closer and brushing his nose against her ear. “She’ll love you,” he whispers. “She can be intense, but she means well.”