Swept Away by the Venetian Millionaire

That feeling was probably the reason she’d been too hasty in trying to form a family of her own. Committing to a man who was so blatantly wrong for her.

Maya began replying to Zelda’s latest email.

No need for strangulation. Matt and I not right for each other. Please don’t say anything to Grandmama. She gave so much so that I could enjoy this trip.

Zelda’s second response came as quickly as the first.

I won’t say anything to Grandmama Fran. Double pinkie swear. But I can tell there are things you’re not telling me. Spill!

Maya had to smile at the reference to the sworn declarations they’d made as children, hooking their little fingers to seal any and all deals. She began to type.

I’ll call as soon as I can. I promise. Damaged my phone and still trying to work out use of Italian burner. No need to worry. All is well. Just figuring things out right now. Talk soon. Xoxo

With that, she powered down the tablet and stuck it inside her carry-on bag. As much as she loved Zelda and the rest of her family, she didn’t have it in her to continue communicating with anyone right now. Not even via dueling emails.

She felt utterly and completely spent after the day of roller-coaster emotions she’d just spent with Vito. No doubt spending a full day with him tomorrow would prove just as perplexing. Plus, the rest of his family would be there to observe and note every move she made. Would she be able to hide her growing feelings for one of their own?

But there was a bigger question that needed to be addressed. How in the world was she supposed to handle those feelings once this fairy tale inevitably ended?

* * *

“You did what?” Vito couldn’t believe the nonsense Leo was spouting. They’d just disembarked from the jet at Villafranca Airport and were in the process of entering the spacious van that would take them to the Rameri family estate in Verona. And Leo had waited all this time, through about an hour of travel, to mention that he’d told their nonna a colossal lie.

“She would have jumped to the conclusion anyway,” he explained now, not even slightly contrite for what he’d done. “You know how she is.”

Vito had pulled his cousin to the side as Maya and Lynetta handed their luggage to the waiting driver and wrangled the two toddlers into their car seats in the back of the vehicle.

“Did it even occur to you that this might embarrass Maya?”

Leo gave a careless shrug. “I think she’ll go along with it. She seems like a flexible sort.”

“But what were you thinking, Leo?” Vito demanded to know. “Why would you tell Nonna that I’ve asked Maya to marry me?”

Leo placed a hand on Vito’s shoulder. “She’s worried about you. She thinks you’ve been wallowing in your grief too long.” Leo paused then to give him a pointed look. Clearly, he thought the same way Nonna did on that particular topic. Finally, he continued. “When I called to tell her you’d be bringing a guest, she automatically jumped to the most hopeful conclusion. I didn’t have the heart to correct her. She’s not getting any younger, you know. It’s just a small fib to make an old woman happy for a few days. On her birthday.”

“So we’re supposed to act like a newly engaged couple around her, is that what you’re suggesting?”

“I think you can pull it off. You were doing a pretty good job of it when Lynetta and I came upon the two of you at San Marco.”

Vito wasn’t going to justify that with any kind of response.

“And what about afterward? When she calls to check on me in a few days and I have no fiancée to speak of? When the woman in question has traveled to a different country?”

Leo gave his shoulder a squeeze. “Then she will have had a few days of hopefulness, won’t she?”

“All based on a lie.”

“Is it?”

Vito had to give his head a shake. “What do you mean? Of course it’s a lie to say that Maya and I are engaged.”

His cousin waved his hand in dismissal, as if Vito was missing the point entirely. “Yes, yes. We both know you’re not really engaged.”

“So that would be a lie. You have lied to Nonna.”

“I told her a small fib. And there’s something you’re not considering.”