All I Believe (Firsts and Forever, #10)(76)
“I’m not snippy. Not at all.”
Andreo knit his brows, then turned to look at me and asked, “How are things back home?”
“Tense. Dante called a family summit for this afternoon, they’re all supposed to meet on neutral territory and hash things out. I wish I could be there for that, even though I’m public enemy number three behind the two of you as far as Jerry’s concerned, so he’d never listen to me.”
“Let me know what happens,” Andreo said.
“I will, definitely. This concerns all of us.”
“So, I bought a plane ticket for tomorrow,” Andreo said after a pause. “I’m not really needed here, since Luca’s doing well with his recovery and the doctor doesn’t anticipate any issues.” Julie and her husband had been coming by every day since Luca had been released from the hospital to check his progress.
“Are you going back to Rome?” Luca asked.
He nodded. “There are some matters to attend to, and I can’t do what I need to from here.”
“Are you actually involved in organized crime?” I asked that just because I realized everything I knew about his past was a second-hand story or rumor.
“I run an antique export business which for the most part is legitimate, but you know how it is. Sometimes palms need to get greased, and maybe not everything we export has a bill of sale attached to it, if you get what I’m saying.” Luca sighed at that, and Andreo frowned at him. “Easy for you to judge. Not all of us have a Cambridge education. I’m doing the best I can.”
“You know,” Luca said, “since you’re the one who paid for and encouraged that Cambridge education, I don’t quite get why you feel the need to throw it back in my face like that.”
“I wasn’t throwing it in your face.”
“You were a little.”
I sensed a major bicker cueing up, so I headed it off by saying, “You should have dinner with us tonight, Andreo, since it’s your last night in Tahiti.”
“I’d like that,” he said as he stood up. “I’ll get out of your way in the meantime, your famous friend’s on his way over.” Andreo tilted his head toward Zan, who’d come out of his bungalow and was headed our way.
“You can stay if you want,” I told him. “We’re just going to hang out and keep Luca company.”
“That’s alright,” he said. “I’ll be back in a few hours.” He headed down the pier, nodding to Zan as he approached.
When my cousin’s boyfriend reached us, he said hello and dropped into one of the chairs around a small patio table. I asked where Gianni was, and he grinned and said, “He’s at that farmer’s market in town. I stayed behind to give him the opportunity to horrify me with today’s assortment of exotic delicacies.” Zan and Gianni had a running joke going about my cousin always trying to get him to try new things, most of which proved to be disgusting. It amused them both to no end.
Gianni joined us about half an hour later. He was dressed in only a pair of faded, aqua blue board shorts and leather sandals. A colorful, woven messenger bag hung across his bronzed torso, and a trio of handmade necklaces adorned his neck. My cousin had really embraced life in the South Pacific.
He perched on his boyfriend’s thigh and kissed him, and Zan beamed at him and said, “Alright, let’s see it.”
“See what?” Gianni tried to look innocent.
“Whatever spiky, smelly, pungent local delicacy you managed to get your hands on today.”
“What makes you think I got anything?”
“Because you’re practically giddy with delight. Now let’s see it.” Gianni chuckled and pulled a trio of fruits from his messenger bag. “For f*ck’s sake! What is that?” Zan exclaimed. “I mean, I recognize one of them, and for the record I despise papayas. But what’s that thing that looks like an orange hedgehog?”
“No clue. Try it with me!”
“Because that’s bloody likely! And what about the fat, molting red one? What are we meant to do with that?”
“We eat it!”
“Oh no we don’t,” Zan exclaimed, scooping up his boyfriend in his arms and carrying him to the edge of the deck. “All three of those need to visit Davey Jones’s locker. Not that he’ll want them either.” He shook Gianni a couple times, as if trying to dislodge the fruit, and my cousin yelled and howled with laughter. Finally Zan said, “Right. We’re going in. Let’s hope the hedgehog can swim!” With that, he leapt off the deck as Gi shrieked delightedly. I couldn’t help but laugh.
After splashing around and kissing in the water for a while (and learning that all three of the fruits floated), they told us they were going to their hut to dry off. It was pretty clear they had other intentions, though. Once they were gone, Luca grinned and said, “Fruit as foreplay. They’re weird, but I like your cousin and his rock star.”
“I’m so glad they found each other. Gianni had a string of bad relationships before he met Zan, with people who treated him as little more than arm candy. Now he’s happier than I’ve ever seen him, and that means so much to me.” When I glanced at Luca, he had a wistful expression on his face, and I asked, “What’s that look?”