Page 12 of Vincenzo's Promise
“That’s me.”
He nodded and handed me the roses. “Have a good day, ma’am.”
He turned on his heels and left.
I closed the door and walked towards Cheryl with flowers in hand. It had been a while since I’d received flowers from anyone, and the large, long stem roses were the most beautiful I’d seen. I plucked the card from the large bouquet.
“Who are they from?” Cheryl asked, smelling them when I placed them on the glass coffee table in my living room. “They look like they cost a fortune.”
“Vincenzo.” I clasped the card against my chest. His gesture surprised me, but it also sent a surge of intense emotions through me—nervousness, happiness, longing for affection and attention I’d been deprived of for a long time.
“Who’s Vincenzo, and what’s the occasion?”
“Vincenzo is the man I’m supposed to marry, and he wants to take me out on a date. He gave me his phone number to let him know when I would be free.”
“So, are you going?”
“With men like Vincenzo you can’t say no, even if you wanted to.” I sighed. “Give me a few minutes and let me call him.”
She placed her hand on top of mine. “Bella, if you don’t want to go through with this, you have options.”
I nodded, even though Cheryl was wrong. I had only one option, and that was to go along with whatever Vincenzo and my father decided. Although I didn’t know much about how my father and Vincenzo lived, I’d been around my father and brothers enough to know questioning men like them was not the way to go. It was best just to say yes; they were relentless and didn’t take no for an answer. Men like them always got what they wanted, and apparently, Vincenzo had made his decision when it came to me.
“I won’t be too long.”
She looked at me with sympathy. “Take your time.”
I entered the bedroom, took a few deep breaths, and pulled out my cellphone, dialing the number on the card. “Here goes nothing,” I mumbled.
Why am I so nervous?
After several rings, his deep baritone sounded, with authority. “De Maio.”
“Hi, it’s Isabella. Isabella Lombardo.”
“Hello, Isabella, it’s nice to hear from you. I see you got my gift?”
“I did. Thank you, they’re beautiful.” I sat down on the end of my bed. “I haven’t gotten flowers in a long time.”
“Well, that’s something that needs to change, Bella. Is it all right if I call you Bella?”
“Um…sure, if I can call Vincenzo?”
“Sure, Vincenzo or Vin. That’s what my family calls me. Anything you want is fine with me.”
“Well, since your family calls you Vin, how about I call you Zo, instead?”
His deep, warm, rich laugh sent a sensation down my spine. He had no idea how sensuous his voice sounded.
Damn, even his laugh is sexy...or maybe it’s the champagne.
“I like it. It sounds good coming from you.”
No, it’s definitely his voice.
I tried to ignore the rush of lust barreling its way through me, but there was no way to deny my attraction to him. Even his voice caused anticipation to encompass me.
“Well, I just called to say thank you for the flowers. They were an unexpected gift, but a beautiful one nonetheless.”
