Luciano & Lorenzo (A Sequel to Bella Mafia)

Chapter 15

(Continuation of chapter 14)

I'm not sure how long I sat outside, but the rumbling of my stomach let me know that it had been too long since breakfast, so I begrudgingly threw the blanket aside and made a concentrated effort to find something to eat.

I needed to figure out what supper was anyway, so I would kill two birds with one stone by going into the kitchen.

Fully expecting the house to be empty, you can imagine my surprise when I saw Mrs. Siranni sitting at the dining room table.

My stomach decided to start gymnastics early by rolling and tumbling around at the sight of the twins mom sitting there, her slender fingers wrapped around a mug.

"Shea darling, come sit and have some tea with me" she asked gently and I'm not sure why the tenderness of her voice or just her willingness to talk with me but it caused unshed tears from earlier to fall.

"Oh fiore, come on. It will be okay. I promise" she said soothingly, patting the chair seat. I plopped, rather unladylike into the chair, my head hanging down.

I watched as her strong but feminine hand poured a cup of fragrant tea and slid it over in front of me, then she took a couple of long slender cookies, one end covered in delicious chocolate.

"These are biscotti and one of my favorite desserts, Vincent on the other hand, loves tiramisu. I make it and tolerate it because I know how much he loves it" her eyes still carried a look of romance for her husband, after twenty-plus years of marriage.

"Now, I won't pretend to understand my sons' needs to share a woman, but I do not judge either. After all, my marriage to their father was arranged by the family syndicate, neither of us had a choice really, but it didn't take long for us to fall madly for each other.

He loves with his whole being, as Luciano and Lorenzo do and when that pure love has been given so freely only to have it thrown back like it meant nothing, it does something horrible to the heart and mind.

Lorenzo takes after me and when Jessica betrayed them in the ultimate way, both my sons suffered, but Lorenzo dealt with it and moved on. He was still hurt but instead of crawling within, he immersed himself in work and tried to forget, even dated some.

Luciano is more like his father than he'll admit to. He lost himself in anger, the bottom of a bottle and women, lots of women and it was so bad, Vincenzo had to have a talk with him about his reputation and how it affected the famiglia.

The drinking stopped, he got back into the family business again but he just couldn't seem to quit the women and then you came along and hope was restored.

He's scared Shea. Of past feelings, his feelings for you and instead of embracing them like Lorenzo did, he got scared, did something unforgivable and stupid and messed it up."

I had to giggle when she said that he was going to hear from her about it, knowing this woman protected her family fiercely but she also protected those who'd been hurt.

"Shea, I've said all of this to try and get across one thing. People do stupid things when they're hurt, no excuses to be made period, it is unfortunately human nature but, in time, I'm hoping you can forgive him and you can be friends, maybe.

But know this, you are loved and accepted by this family and Lorenzo cares deeply for you as do the rest of the Siranni famiglia. I hope I haven't overstepped and I will leave you to ponder what I've said.

Now, I have a lunch date with Luciano and I mustn't be late as we have a lot to discuss. Take care my fiore and I hope to see you at our home soon."

And with that, she stood up, hugged me and left. She's right though, she did give me a lot to think about, and speaking of thinking, I knew what to fix for dinner, so I got started on it right away.

As I got out the ingredients for Cordon Bleu, my phone rang and I couldn't help but smile at the caller ID, it was Lorenzo.

"Hey" I said sweetly. "Ah, mi cara mia. How are you baby?" Jesus and the Holy Ghost! My thighs clinched at the sound of his voice.

"I'm okay actually. I just had a nice visit with your mom" I told him. It got very quiet. "My mom was there?" He asked quietly. "Hmm, yes" I replied.

"Oh sh*t" he let out. Wait, what? Was that bad? "Lorenzo, what's wrong?" I asked, now concerned about her visit.

"Where was she going next, did she tell you?" He asked, still not giving me a clue. "Yes, she said she was having lunch with your brother" I told him.

Lorenzo scoffed and said "Oh boy, brother's in a whole lotta trouble." I was afraid of that, especially after our talk. "Well crap" I exhaled.

"Babe, it's not on you. He needs to deal with what he did and the sooner the better. This sh*t needs to be fixed Shea. He f*cked up and knows it" Lorenzo said, sounding a little agitated.

I quickly changed the subject to dinner for tonight. "Do you guys like cordon bleu?" I asked. I laughed at hearing him smack his lips together as he gave a hearty yes to my question.

We talked a bit longer, which entailed him flirting with me, that left us unintentionally turning each other on and he left me with a promise that left me soaking.

"I'm gonna take that hot little body all the way to heaven. I want to feel your nails scratching their way down my back while I make love to you Shea. Will you be ready for me?" He asked.

"Y-yes" I strangled out. "Good" he replied. "I'll see you in a couple of hours then. Ciao baby" he said as we hung up.

Oh my sweet Lord! I thought to myself. That man sure knew how to rev me up and then some and I couldn't wait for him to follow through on his delicious threat.

Sighing, I went back to the dinner preparations, fixing the cordon bleu, grilled seasoned corn and a wedge salad and for dessert, I found an easy recipe for Italian wedding cookies.

With everything prepared, just waiting on the time to start cooking, I went and took another shower, cold this time, trying desperately to get the naked images of Lorenzo out of my head, but realizing truthfully I really didn't want to.