When It Falls Apart (The D'Angelos, #1)(52)

“I should probably get back to work,” he told her.

“I have an online meeting in an hour.”

He kissed her forehead and moved away. “You know where I am if you need me.”

She smiled and walked up the stairs.

Luca made his way back into the kitchen and found his brother smiling at him. “Not what I think, huh?”

Luca started to deny him with a hand in the air, then dropped it to his side. “Maybe a little.”

Gio patted his shoulder before gripping it hard. “At least I like this one. We all do.”

“A step in the right direction.”

“A giant step,” Gio concluded.



A knock on Brooke’s door pulled her out of her work at four o’clock.

She smiled as she opened it, thinking it was going to be Luca.

Her eyes tracked down to find Franny smiling up at her. “Hi.”

“Hello,” Brooke replied.

“We can start your Italian lessons today,” Franny announced, walking past Brooke as if invited and heading straight to the living room.

Brooke looked beyond the open front door to her apartment to see who was with her. “Does anyone know you’re up here?”

“I told Nonna.”

Brooke decided to keep her door open should someone come searching for her.

“I need to finish something on my computer first,” Brooke told her.

Franny plopped next to the coffee table, pushed the knickknacks aside, and started to dig into the pink backpack she’d brought with her. “That’s okay. I have homework, too.”

The girl was stinking adorable. “You do your homework, I’ll do mine, and when we’re done, we can work on Italian.”

Franny frowned. “Sometimes I need help with my homework.”

“What grade are you in?”

“Second.”

“I passed the second grade. I should be able to help you.”

Franny giggled. “You’re silly.”

Brooke started finishing up her work, one eye on Franny. The girl stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth when she was concentrating on something.

When she looked up, Brooke would drop her eyes to her laptop and pretend she wasn’t staring.

How could anyone walk away from this little girl?

She supposed she was asking the same question in her head about herself, all those years ago.

If Franny was hers, she would fight tooth and nail to be with her every day.

Brooke’s email pinged and demanded her attention.

A few minutes later, Franny unscrambled from her seat, walked over to Brooke, and handed her a paper. “Is this right?”

There were eight math problems for Brooke to review.

“Wow. You’re really good at this.”

Franny beamed. “Papa says I can count the money when I get older.”

“A girl should know how to count money.”

“I’m going to have lots of money when I grow up.”

“Is that right?”

“Yup. I’m going to be famous.”

Brooke smiled. “Famous for what?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Brooke tried not to laugh and nodded toward the coffee table. “Do you have more homework?”

“I have to read out loud to an adult.”

“Let’s do it.” She pushed her computer aside and walked with Franny to the sofa.

They sat, and Franny snuggled so close to Brooke she was practically in her lap.

She opened her book to page one and started reading. The book was a little more advanced than Brooke thought she’d see, but not having children of her own didn’t make her a good judge to know if Franny was average, advanced, or what. Not that it mattered. The girl was charming the pants off Brooke with every turn of the page.

Occasionally, she would stumble over a word, and Brooke encouraged her to sound it out. The word would come, and they were off to the next page.

Franny finished the book with an articulated “The end!”

“Well done.” Brooke squeezed her shoulders close for a sideways hug.

Behind them, someone cleared their throat.

They both turned around to find Luca standing just inside the door.

“Hi, Papa. I’m all done with my homework.”

Luca was smiling, his eyes on Brooke. “Is that right?”

“Yeah. Miss Brooke helped me.”

“Did she?” He pushed off the doorframe he was leaning on and walked into the room.

Franny jumped off the sofa to hug him.

He lifted her in his arms.

In his eyes, Brooke saw Luca’s love for his daughter and felt her heart melt just a little.

“Did you ask Miss Brooke to help you?”

Franny nodded several times. “She wanted to help.” She looked over at Brooke. “Right?”

“Absolutely. I needed to brush up on my second-grade math.”

“Now I’m going to teach her Italian.”

“Do you have time for that?” Luca asked.

Brooke looked at him like he was crazy. “Are you kidding? I’ve been waiting all day for this.” She stood and walked over to the two of them. “I have an idea, Franny. Do you have any books in Italian?”