Page 5 of Samson

“Hey, Luca.” She kissed his cheek. “What a great place you have. The articles I read do it more justice than you do. This place is impressive.”

He clasped his hands in front of him. “I don’t like to boast. Especially when things are going so badly for you.”

“Please don’t tiptoe around me. The only reason I agreed to take this job was because you had no hint of pity in your voice when you offered. I don’t need your charity.”

Except she did. After they took her house and her car, and everything in between, she had little choice.

“You are here as my special guest. And your help is greatly appreciated. I am overwhelmed.”

“Now you’re gushing.”

“You don’t like gushing either?” He pouted. “You’re a tough woman to please.”

“You’re family, Luca. That’s enough. If you want to gush, you can gush about your restaurant.”

“It is spectacular, isn’t it?” He turned in a wide circle, taking it all in. “But magnificence doesn’t come cheap. The marble cost a fortune.”

“Marble?”

He pointed to the strips of veined stone in the wall. “I always get comments about it, so it was worth it. But leave it to my own flesh and blood not to notice.”

“It looks great. And it’s not that I didn’t notice, I just hadn’t gotten around to seeing it yet. I’ve been too busy admiring everything else. You’ve done a great job with the place.”

“You should see it at night. When it’s full of the people and the music’s playing, something magical happens.”

Delilah lifted a skeptical eyebrow. “Magical, huh?”

“Just wait. You’ll see.”

“Where’s Trish, by the way? I thought she’d be here.”

“Trish moved to Chicago.”

“Moved? When?”

“A few weeks ago.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You had enough on your mind.”

“Does that mean things are over between you two?”

“They sure are. We had an all-out brawl in here, so everyone knows. Two fiery personalities clashing in one momentous eruption. It wasn’t pretty.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I liked Trish.”

“Everyone liked Trish. She was a likable person.”

“Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?”

He shrugged. “I should be sadder, but I think it was over for me a month or two before things came to a head.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, but enough about that. How was your trip?”

She let her backpack fall to the ground as she let out an extended groan. “It was long. So long.”

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