Page 51 of 4 Weddings and a Feud

“Nothing at all, boss. He got another job. Something more exciting, he said.”

Alex wasn’t sure how to feel about that. It was good that Dante was working, but he’d never known the kid to keep a job for more than six weeks. He’d ask Joey about it the next time he saw him.

“Here’s hoping he keeps this one.”

“I’m just glad he’s out of my office,” Lev said. “Kid always had bandages on his hands, which meant it took him forever to type up anything. Then he spilled a soda in my filing cabinet. I had to send the whole cabinet out to a document conservation service.”

Alex winced. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay. I added it to your bill.”

Alex snorted and disconnected the call, but he didn’t set down the handset. Instead, he punched in his mother’s number. He’d visited her last Saturday morning after they’d returned from San Diego, and he’d go back tomorrow, but he had an urge to speak with her now, and he always went with his gut. Thinking about his grandmother must have pulled her to the front of his mind.

“What a surprise!” she said instead of hello. “The casino must have burned down.”

“Mama.” He chuckled. “I was only thinking of you.”

“Thinking of your poor old mother while you’re at work? Is Mary there?”

He’d told her about his fledgling relationship with Mary last weekend. When he was a kid, his mother looked down her nose at the blue-collar Forzas with their faded school uniforms and driveway full of torn-up cars. Now that their business had grown into a respectable one under Mary’s leadership, she seemed to have changed her mind. She’d only sniffed and told him he could date whomever he wanted.

“No, Mary’s not here. But we’re going out tonight. Her brother and his fiancée are in town.”

“Not one of the greasy mechanic brothers. The other one?”

“The one who lives in Ohio. The CEO.”

“Ah.” Approval colored her tone. “You could do worse than Mary Forza. She went to college, you know.”

“I know. She’s smart.”

“You’re smart, too, my boy. I wish…”

He wished a lot of things too. But they couldn’t change the past.

“You’ve never dated a settling-down type before,” she said.

“Sure, I have. Cierra is getting married later this summer.”

“No, I mean someoneyoucould settle down with. Like Mary.”

“Settle down? I’m not ready for that,” he scoffed. Besides, she was too good to settle for someone like him.

“You’re thirty-six. If you wait too long, you’ll miss your chance to have a family.”

“Who says I want a family?”

“Don’t you?”

Dammit, she was right. And Mary was the type to want a family, too. He imagined her with a pair of dark-haired kids. Or maybe three, like she’d grown up with. She’d make all of them feel like they were the center of her world. Not a nuisance like his dad had done with him. His heart twinged in his chest. “Families make you weak,” he grumbled.

“They can also make you strong. Your father tried to take the right path after the Family threatened you.”

“He didn’t try long.”

“No. But that was because he was weak to begin with. You’re a better man than he ever was.”

“That’s a low bar.”

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