Page 13 of The Beast of London & His Pet

“I don't care. She is Italian, and you want to marry her, that’s good enough for me,” he grunted.

“All those years and rumours I heard about you that no mother should need to hear. I am glad that a woman will finally make an honest man of you,” my mum said with a frown.

“Wait, what rumours? Actually, never mind,” I said, thinking on my wilder years and sexual exploits in the BDSM world.

“Is this the girl he needed the Viagra for?” my dad asked, turning towards my mum.

“It fits the timeline,” my mum said.

“You shouldn't need those pills at your age, Alessio,” my dad said as we reached the top of the stairs.

I messaged Armando to tell him he was dead when I saw him before I knocked on the door. Francesca’s grandfather opened the door with a frown as he looked me up and down.

“We don't need your Jehovah literature. We are all devout Catholics in this house,” he said before he tried to shut the door.

I shouldn't have gone for the black suit.

I shoved my foot in the door and quickly began to talk.

“Mr Nardini, I am Alessio Caruso, and I came to ask for your granddaughter’s hand in marriage.”

He pulled the door back and looked past me to see my parents.

“Gavino?” he said in shock before the door opened and the old man embraced my father. “As I live and breathe, Gavino Caruso.”

I glanced at my mum, but she shrugged her shoulders.

“Vittorio, you vanished off the face of the earth, my friend. It must be over twenty years now,” my dad said as he hugged Francesca’s grandfather.

“How do you know one another?” I asked, but they exchanged a strange look before my dad spoke.

“It’s a long story for another time. I want to meet your granddaughter, Vittorio,” Dad said with a jovial laugh. “What a wonderful coincidence.”

I watched them go inside with my mum following them, leaving me to wonder how many times Francesca had surprised me in the last three weeks, and now it was catching on with her family. I stepped inside and closed the door, hoping my father’s association with her family was good. After all, I learned everything from my dad, and we had a lot of enemies.

Francesca stood beside her grandmother in a hooded pink fluffy robe. Her mouth was open, and I could see the fear and anxiety in her demeanour as she tried to be polite. Her Nonna took over and chatted with my mother while I slinked across the room towards Francesca. I was almost there when my father beat me to it.

“Oh, you were a tiny baby when I last saw you. How did you meet Alessio? This is fortuitous,” he said before he kissed her on both cheeks.

Her grandfather gave me the evil eye.

“Yes, how did you meet my granddaughter?”

“Nonno, it was through work. We actually had a misunderstanding and got into a fight,” Francesca said with a tight smile.

“How long ago was this?” he said, glaring at me.

“Can you at least let our guests sit down and have a drink before you interrogate the boy?” her Nonna snapped at him and inadvertently rescued me.

“Hmm,” her Nonno said with a noncommittal tone before he looked me up and down suspiciously.

I kept a tight smile on my face, but I had a good idea of where Francesca got her cattiness from.

“May I see you for a moment, Alessio?” Francesca said in a strained voice.

I was beginning to think that I wasn't welcome here.

She grabbed my wrist and dragged me into the hallway until she pulled me into a room and slammed the door shut.

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