Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
She looks up at me and gives a tight smile. I know what this means to her. Tonight has to go right.
“No, but I have to be.”
Oni’s mother is finally back in New York. We can’t keep putting this off. It’s time to face the truth.
My uncle has already set the date for our engagement party. He says he’s throwing it to send a message. Romano still wants to have words with me, but I don’t need him and don’t plan on explaining myself to him.
The conversation about marrying Alyissa had been casual. After all, he brought it up. I didn’t know he told her and got her hopes up.
I only started taking her out after meeting Romano to talk about business and him pushing her on me. I thought I’d take her out a few times and get the real deal rolling. One date turned into a few months of me entertaining his brat.
I only stuck with it because once Uncle Emilio got wind of it, I saw how much it pissed him off. Then I started to entertain Romano’s ideas of a marriage between me and his daughter because I never intended to find love again. I told him I would think about it, but I never said I was going to marry her for sure.
The fact that this is even a thing is annoying the fuck out of me. I got the docks and connections I wanted without him. Thanks to Oni, I realized I had a way in without Romano.
“We’re perfect together, she will see,” I say as I lift Oni’s hands to my lips.
We are, in life, in business. Each day, we prove how well we fit and how much we belong together. We even finish each other’s thoughts.
So much is going on around us, but we ground each other. The engagement party alone has been weighing heavily on our schedules. Thank God it’s in the next two months and we’ll have it behind us.
I want to meet Oni’s mother before that. That’s why I’ve planned this dinner. Oni can meet my mom, and I can meet hers.
I give Oni’s hand a squeeze as we walk into the restaurant. We can do this together. Everything we do is possible if we do it together.
As always, she looks gorgeous. She’s in a black dress that’s cut high across her collarbone and dips low in the back, revealing her soft, silky skin. The top of the dress molds to her body and then fans out into a full skirt that stops just above her knees.
The strappy heels she has on expose her cute little toes and play up her shapely legs. She’s wearing the ankle bracelet with the infinity sign that I gave her a few days ago. Her hair is in a softer style, like the first night of her return.
“Mom,” Oni squeals as she pulls away from me and rushes toward the woman who stands the moment we come into view.
I had wanted to arrive before our guests, but her mom is early. She had been surprised when Oni told her she was in the States and wanted to meet for dinner. All I see right now is a mother who misses her daughter.
As the two embrace, Oni’s mother has a tight hold on her as her eyes are squeezed shut against the tears spilling down her cheeks. She looks so much like her mother.
Oni is darker, but I can see the resemblance around the nose and mouth. They break apart and her mother cups her cheek as she stares into her eyes. She then runs her hand over Oni’s hair.
“You cut it all off. Oh my God, you look all grown up. What happened to my baby?”
“It’s still me.”
Oni chuckles and goes to wipe away her tears. I notice the moment her mother sees her engagement ring. Her expression becomes confused and then she bounces her gaze behind Oni to me.
I give a warm smile and close the distance I had given them to have their moment. Placing a hand on Oni’s back, I settle at her side. She looks up at me and smiles.
“Mom, I want you to meet someone. Rico, this is my mother, Brenda Raven. Mom, this is Rico Gallo.”
Her mother says my last name at the same time Oni does. I shouldn’t be as surprised as I am. I know she dated my uncle.
The men in my family have strong genes. We all look alike. I could pass for Uncle Emilio’s son.
The way Brenda is glaring at me, I would think I was my uncle himself. However, it’s the venom she says the name with. There’s so much hatred in her voice.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Raven,” I say and hold my hand out.
“Oni, what’s going on? Why are you wearing that ring and where on earth did you meet this … this young man?”