Page 42 of Hello Goodbye Amore

Chase growled, and Paolo put his hands up. “I joke.”

“You better be. Gemma deserves someone to be good to her.”

Paolo turned to him. “How you know what she deserve?”

Chase shook his head. “Because all women do. Sheesh. Is he another one like your cousin Lorenzo?” he asked Antonello. Tio explained in Italian, and Paolo put his hands up again.

“If he does something like that, his mamma will make sure the family line stops with him,” Tio explained, and Chase nodded.

“I think I wanna meet his mamma sometime.” Chase grinned, and Paolo slipped off the desk.

Paolo smiled. “She’d probably cook for you, and if you make Antonello happy, she’ll love you forever.” He patted the top of the desk. “My mother always adored Antonello here, and she’d want him to be happy.”

“Doesn’t she want you to be happy?” Chase asked. Maybe it was the language barrier, but sometimes he didn’t understand these people even when they were speaking English.

“What my mother wants is grandchildren—lots of them. And she is determined to get me married so my wife can start providing them for her.” He groaned and shook his head. “At least Tio has an excuse.” He went to the door.

“You know, maybe the four of us could go out sometime,” Paolo said, and Chase nodded. He’d like that a lot, and Tiowas even smiling. “What? Did you think I’d throw you over or something?” He rolled his eyes. “Hell, bring on the gay guys. That leaves more women for the rest of us.”

“I’ll be sure to tell Gemma that when I see her next time,” Tio said. Paolo made what Chase figured was a rude Italian gesture before leaving the office.

“I really thought he’d flip out,” Tio said softly, looking after his friend. “So far things have been okay.”

“Well, you haven’t really dealt with your mother yet,” Chase said.

“No, but she did say to come to dinner on Friday, so that is a step in the right direction. I think she wants to talk with you.”

Chase groaned. “Your mother wants to roast me over a spit and pick my bones before throwing them out for the dogs in the street.”

“Really vivid.”

“But accurate. She would be happy if I disappeared so she could determine if Ricky was her grandson. And if he was, I bet she would figure out a way to have him raised in the same repressive way she raised you. And that isn’t going to happen. I’ll meet your parents and play nice, but I’m not backing down or giving up my son.”

Tio closed his office door. “Of course you aren’t. Now I think we need to finish up the workday. Then we can go to your place, and at your kitchen table, you and I will figure out options and a plan for dealing with all of this.”

“I see.” Chase hadn’t ruled out getting the hell out of the country, but he was keeping that in reserve at the moment. Still, he intended to be prepared for Ricky’s sake. He was the most important person in this whole situation. Chase returned to his office and closed the door, cursing Elaine quietly for leaving him in this mess in the first place.

“If you had been up front with us, then none of this would have happened and we could have avoided the entire situation.” But then he would never have crossed paths with Tio again. He sat at the desk, holding his head, knowing now that having Tio in his life had so far been worth it.

Chapter 18

“YOU EXPECTme to just let our grandchild go?” Antonello’s mother asked as though it was the most ridiculous thing in the world.

“Papa, help me,” Antonello said, shaking his head.

“We don’t know that this child is Antonello’s, and even if he is, this is something that he needs to work out.”

She seemed about ready to explode. “You do realize that if this is our grandson, then he gets to inherit everything from Antonello. That we can basically cut our idiot nephew out of the line of inheritance, and we don’t need to worry that his wife is pregnant. This is important in securing the family legacy going forward.” Her eyes blazed as she set her Aperol glass on the table.

“We realize that,” his father said.

“Then do something about it.”

“What?” Antonello snapped. “Rip him away from the only family he has ever known? If this is your grandson, then you need to love and care for him, not treat this boy as though he’s a commodity, the way you treated me.” He drained the last of his drink. “I won’t have it. Chase has agreed to come to dinner tomorrow, and I expect both of you to behave and drop this Catherine de’ Medici act or else I’ll tell him that it isn’t safe here and that he should return to the States for his and Ricky’s best interests.” He had kept that little threat in reserve, and it had the effect he’d been hoping for. His mother paled, and his fatherslowly sat down. Antonello didn’t look away from his mother. “You need to realize that you are not the one in control here. I am.”

“But if you let him go….”

“There are more important things than the family inheritance,” he said softly. “I happen to like Chase, and Ricky is an amazing child. If he’s my son, then I’m a lucky father, because he’s amazing. And a lot of that is because of Chase.” He swallowed hard as warmth radiated through him.

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