Page 91 of DeLucas After Dark

“Beni.” I beamed.

“Short for?”

“Beniamino.” I followed behind her as we entered her house.

“Italian?” she asked, stopping to see my face.

“Yes.”

“Handsome?”

“Very.”

“Well mannered?”

“Mhm…”

“Rich?”

Shit. “He doesn’t have money troubles, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“It’s not, but we’ll circle back. How’s his relationship with his mother?”

“She’s deceased.”

“Father?”

“Recently deceased.”

“Did he kill them?”

“No, Mommy. Listen–”

“Sisters or brothers?”

“One of each and they adore him. His niece, too.”

“You’ve met them?”

“Yes. I go to Sunday dinners with them.”

“And now he wants to meet your beautiful mother.”

“Yes. He needs to see where I got all this sass from.” I walked around her and sat at the dining room table. I smelled food and wasn’t passing up anything she was making.

“Is he here now?”

“No. He wants to have lunch with you soon.”

“How’s your club?” She walked into the adjourning kitchen.

I raised my voice to make sure she could hear me over the movement of pots and pans.

“Doing well. I hit another milestone this week.”

“My baby is killing it.” She smiled at the pot as she stirred whatever was in it. “I’m so proud of you, girlie. I can’t believe that your dreams are coming true.”

Me either. Five years ago, I was in a completely different era of my life. This season was winning in all things, and I wore it on my face every day. Even the hard ones.

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