Only With Me (With Me 2)

Oh for shits sake.

“Help?” Gabi asked with a strained voice.

And before our eyes appeared my cousins Sophia and Angie, and just when I didn’t think it could get worse, cousin Maria walked up carrying a giant bag with some rat looking dog in it.

“Um, I don’t think you can have a dog in here,” Liza said.

Everyone turned and looked at cousin Maria. “Are you shitting me? I don’t go anywhere without my Nikky.”

Gabi looked at me and asked, “Is the dog named after you?”

Everyone laughed as my mother walked up and hugged Gabi. “I do like a woman with a sense of humor. Now, the family wants to meet you.”

I pulled out my phone and sent Thano a text.

Me: Code fucking red!

Not ten seconds later, he responded.

Thano: Oh hell. What’s happening?

Me: Mom crashed Gabi’s cooking competition.

Thano: Seeking Kilyn’s advice. Hold please.

“Gabriella, this is Aunt Maria and Aunt Agnes.”

Gabi reached her hand out to theirs.

“Then you have Nic’s cousins, Sophia, Angie, and Maria.”

Gabi smiled. “Are you mother and daughter?” she asked looking between Aunt Maria and cousin Maria. They both laughed.

“No, why?” cousin Maria asked.

“Ahh! You made it!” my mother called out as her best friend came walking up. I couldn’t help but groan.

Me: Half the fucking family is showing up. They are Maria’ing her to death!

Thano: Kilyn said she’ll be praying for Gabi. That’s all she’s got.

I rolled my eyes. “Bastard.”

“Gabriella, this is my very dear friend, Maria.”

I didn’t think Gabi could look any more confused. “Oh, um, another Maria! That’s a lot of Maria’s under one roof.” They all stared at her like they didn’t get it.

They fucking got it.

“All right, well now that the gang is here, Mama you should be heading on over to your station.”

“You’re not coming over there with me?”

Gabi’s head jerked to the side to look at me. Oh shit. What the hell do I do? I can’t ask Thano . . . they’re both staring at me.

I did the only thing I knew to do. I looked for guidance from Liza. My eyes were wide as she motioned to Gabi.

Right. Right. I needed to stay with Gabi.

“Well, Mama, I was planning on helping Gabi and being here for moral support with this being her first competition and all.” Gabi glared at me.

Shit, what did I do now?

Then my mother turned back to Gabi. “First, huh?” My heart dropped in my chest. That’s why Gabi shot me a dirty look. “Well, I better let you get going then. Good luck.”

With a full-on smile, Gabi nodded. “Thanks! You too. And may the best cook win.”

Tossing her head back and laughing before looking back at Gabi, my mother said, “Oh, I will.”

I COULDN’T BELIEVE it. Katerina was here. In the competition. I was screwed. Then she made the comment about me coming in second. Then about her winning.

Oh. Hell. No.

Watching her walking away with her group of Maria’s, I spun around. Pointing to Liza, I said, “Menu. Change.”

“What? You can’t do a menu change. Are you crazy?”

I paced back and forth as I rubbed my temples and tried to think of one of my grandmother’s best recipes.

“Uncle Dimitris says Italian food is just Greek food, but with no flavor.”

My eyes swung over to the dark haired beauty in front of me. Without taking my eyes off of her, I said, “Nic.”

“I’m on it,” he said as he walked toward his cousins and ushered them away.

Turning back to Liza, I said, “We have got to win. I want to take that woman down!”

She nodded then said, “You do know that’s your boyfriend’s mom? Like, this may end bad.”

“Bullshit! She’s challenging me, Liza. Don’t you see that? She wants to test me. See if I’m strong enough. Well, I’m strong enough!”

Nic walked back over rubbing the back of his neck. He always did that when he was worried or nervous about something. It was a habit of his I picked up on early on.

He grinned. “I took care of my cousins.”

I nodded.

“Okay. I’ve got the menu and I know we have everything.” Liza smiled as she took out a pen and paper to write it down. “We’re going to start with Spinach pesto bruschetta.”

“Yum,” Nic said with a huge smile.

“Then steamed mussels in that Italian beer we brought for Nic to drink.”

“Hey!” Nic said with a sexy smile.

“Two appetizers?” Liza asked with a slight shake in her voice.

“Then, hazelnut chicken. It’s a one-pot dish and will be easy to deal with.”

Liza nodded. “Okay dessert?”

“Not yet, Liza. It’s time to go big or go home. The other main course will be lemon and herb branzino.”

“You’re gonna make a fish also? Are you crazy?”

I smiled bigger. “Then for dessert, we’ll have the one Italian dessert everyone loves, cannoli’s.”

Liza breathed a sigh of relief. They were simple as hell to make and I could whip them out like nothing.