Page 72 of Meet Me in Montreal

Leaving the shop with her candles and the heart-shaped rose quartz stone, she now knew what her answer was going to be to Santino’s question about their future. In the meantime, she wanted to keep that in the vault for a little while longer. Keep him on his toes and make him put in more of that delicious work to win her over.

24

FUNNY THING

SANTINO

Santino was in their suite on the floor, taking turns sketching and gazing out the window of the living room. He had mixed feelings about his day out with Bobby. On the one hand, he was glad Bobby had come around and wasn’t going to give him anymore shit about his reunion with Vanessa. But the other information, about Ling, Zoe and his marriage, had left Santino feeling a creeping sense of dread.

He found himself wondering if he should tell Vanessa theyshouldtake off and go somewhere on their own to finish out the week. Someplace no new trouble could find them and trample on the tender growth of their budding remarriage.

Vanessa, on the other hand, must have had a great day because she was practically floating when she returned to the suite.

“Ciao, mio tigre. How did things go with Bobby?” she asked, leaning down to give him a slow kiss. “Did he give you a hard time?”

Santino was momentarily shocked at the nickname.Tigre. Here tiger. Hearing it now flooded him with warmth. When she sat beside him, he took more kisses from those tender lips and smiled into her eyes.

“We talked. It started off a little rocky, but we’re cool again, I think.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Hm. Did he talk at all about what’s up with him and Zoe? The vibes seemed way off last night, especially when she kissed that guy and he kept staring at Ling. Did you notice that at all?”

Santino was momentarily tongue-tied. “Um, a little, yeah.”

“Is this a new thing? Have theybeendoing this?” she mused.

“I don’t know. He said something about having to keep up with expectations. Wonder who that sounds like?” Santino said, stroking her cheek with his fingertip.

Startled, she drew back and made a scoffing sound. “What expectations? He’s the golden child. He and Zoe have already met and surpassed all expectations and then some. Anyway, I had spa time with her. Bleh. Then I ran into Ling, and we had a nice cup of coffee. And then somethingcrazyhappened when I was out by myself.”

She crossed her legs and enthusiastically proceeded to tell him about meeting Panthro at the Mohawk shop and how he sang her a little song. She also mentioned Marcie’s recommendation of an Indigenous-run casino on her reserve.

“Too bad, that place sounds fun. But we already made reservations for the restaurant at Casino Montreal. Unfortunately,” he said, bracing himself, “Bobby overheard me talking to Virgil about casino night.”

“No. He invited himself out, didn’t he?” Vanessa said with an exasperated face.

“Sorry, but I couldn’t tell him not to come. He’s your brother. We’ll have dinner with them one more time and that’s it.Anyway, that’s wild that you got to meet Panthro after all. He sounds cool. That must’ve been the highlight of your whole trip.” Santino smiled up at her when she rose to go put her purchases away.

She rolled her eyes but grinned, that dimple he worshipped appearing in her cheek. “If this is your way of changing the subject, fine. There’ve been acoupleof memorable moments.”

“Yeah, more than a few.” He pulled her back down with a tug of her hand for another kiss. “But I’ve been sittin’ here thinking now that you’ve seen Panthro in concert and actually got to meet him, maybe we should take the next couple days and see a little more of the country like you suggested. Just me and you.”

“Yessss,” she hissed, pumping her fist. “I do need to get back to New York to start trial prep again before Jace flips out, so we can’t go far, but I’d love to check out Toronto. We could go back home on Sunday.”

“Wecould go back home. I’m liking the sound of that,” he said and loved the coy look she served in response. He closed the sketchbook and picked up his phone. “I’ll call Virg and find out if there’s a Li Hotel over there or if he can at least recommend something good. I want to book it before we go out tonight.”

“Look at you, all planning our next stop,” she teased. “Anyway, call him and then we should start getting ready for dinner and the casino thing. I think we need to take some clothes off, don’t you?”

“That sounds good to me,” Santino answered, giving her a devilish grin.

Vanessa went to sort through her clothing while he talked. Virgil affirmed there was another Li property in Toronto.

“If my brother has to throw someone out to make room for you guys, it won’t be a problem.”

“Thanks, man, I appreciate your help again,” Santino said. “By the way, I know our thing tonight was for four, but my brother-in-law wanted to come hang out. So, I redid the reservation for six. Hope that’s cool.”

“It’s actually better than cool.” Virgil gave a laugh that seemed a little sheepish. “But…. think you can call them and make it seven? I happened to mention casino night to my buddy Scott, too. He was at the party last night, but he said you guys never spoke. Two Bronx bros in town definitely have to meet. I hope it’s okay that I told him he can come.”

Immediately, Santino stiffened and not in that good way, like when Vanessa was touching him. It was clear to him, all at once, that this wrangling for an invitation was Malone’s doing, his way to muscle into their evening the same way he’d realized after the fact that Bobby had muscled his way in so he could see Ling.

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