Page 109 of DeLucas After Dark

Surprised, I stuttered over my words, but eventually, I responded. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I don’t think my Eddie would have liked to see us at odds in this way. And if she knew the truth, it would destroy her. I don’t want that for her.” She paused. “But I’ll let you go back to Simone.”

“Okay. Have a good night. Thank you, Mrs. Flowers.” I said gratefully. Not that I was glad that I didn’t have to tell her. I was happy that she understood that it wasn’t one another that we were hurting. By telling Simone she’d be the one in pain.

“You, too.”

I disconnected the call and when I went to give Simone her phone, I noticed a photo sticking out of the box.

“Who is this man?” I asked her.

“My father.”

Couldn’t be. Her father was dead and when I saw him, he was alive and well. The grocery store and the airport. There was no way that this was the same man.

“Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?” She asked.

Because I had. That or I hadn’t gotten a good enough look at the man.

“Does he have any other children?” I asked.

“No. I am their only child, and he didn’t have any outside of their marriage.”

What she was saying made sense, but eyes hadn’t deceived me. Or had they? Because if that was the case, he’d given me his blessing on that first night at the store when he’d coached me on what kind of wine to bring his wife.

I got to do it one more time.Now I understood what he meant. She’d smiled when she’d seen the bottle at first.

“Are you ready to get married?” I asked her.

“Only if you’re ready to talk.” The way she looked at me was as if she didn’t expect me to do it.

I sat on the floor next to her. All in, I was ready to talk to her. I kissed her briefly, drawing luck from her lips. “I’m ready when you are.”

I meant every word.

BENIAMINO

When we finished talking, Simone confessed that she hadn’t found a wedding dress. With only six days until we were to be married, I took her to Italy with her mother, Martina, Amina, Tammaro, and Massimo, in tow. The girls spent most of their time away on their mission. The three of us guys got better acquainted while Tammaro gave us a tour of what we were doing out here without all the pressure.

Massimo thought we could manage the same thing back home, and we started planning our method of attack. The day before our wedding, Simone came rushing inside with tears in her eyes and a smile.

“You found it.” I said to her.

She nodded a lot, and I pulled her into a hug.

“Max, tell everybody it’s time to go!” I shouted while holding her tight. I leaned toward her ear. “Time to make you my wife.”

Simone was so emotional she couldn’t speak. More nodding happened while holding on to me. She didn’t have to say a word. I knew how moved she was.

* * *

I walked into a hall that reminded me of a winter wonderland. Our colors were frost and red. It was like everything was frozen in time. I still couldn’t believe that she’d gotten so many people in one place at the same time, with only thirty-two days' notice. They sat either to the left or the right as I walked down the aisle. I followed the red train sprinkled with artificial snow until I got to my place in the front. My suit was black with a red tie and trim down the lapel.

“You look sharp, brother.” Massimo said, standing in as my best man.

“Thank you.” I exhaled, nervous as shit.

“I think you look like you’re going to shit bricks.” Tammaro said from beside him.

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