Kiss de La Notte - Book III (Mafia Romance)

Chapter Twenty-One: Italian Wedding Cake

CIAO, MY KISSES!!!!!

HOW'S EVERYONE DOING??? 

I HAVE COLLEGE CLASSES NEXT WEEK AND THEY'RE ONLINE FOR LIKE ONE WEEK AND I'M LOW KEY WONDERING IF IT'LL ALL BE ONLINE AND I'M #STRESSED ABOUT THE WORK I ALREADY HAVE TO DO BUT IT'S FINE EVERYTHING IS FINE.

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            The La Notte's dining room was clearly their most untouched room. It was the epitome of elegance and modernity, with a gorgeous uniquely shaped chandelier and a large flower centerpiece at the center of the table.

Gabriella had sat me next to Carmine and Malina, leaving all the boys on the opposite side of the table and Lucius directly across from me. Little Alice sat across from Gabriella at the head of the table, the seat I assumed Lazzaro La Notte would have taken.

"Korinna, are you in school?" Gabriella said, once we were all situated at the table, watching Lucius methodically cut everyone turkey slices.

"Yes, I'm in college," I answered her.

"What are you studying?" she asked.
Lucius scraped the knife he was using against the carving fork, his hazel eyes briefly connecting with mine.

"I'm majoring in English," I lied.

"You speak it fine to me," Carmine commented, smiling around her glass of wine.

"English literature," I clarified, scooping some creamy mashed potatoes onto my plate as the bowl went around.

Gabriella seemed to absorb this information with some sort of judgement behind her eyes, but she said nothing and sipped her wine. Once everyone had their plate of food and their side dishes, Gabriella told everyone to gather hands for grace. I hadn't exactly pinned this family as the religious type, but it me feel marginally better that they had basis of moralities.

"How many guests do you have in mind, mimmo?"

Lucius chewed the rest of the food in his mouth before answering. "I'm sorry?"

"At the wedding," Gabriella said.

Lucius looked like a deer caught in headlights. "I––well, I haven't given that much thought."

"Not even a little bit?"

"I had a few things I wanted to do before such planning..."

Across the table, Carmine's eyes flicked to my hand. "You're proposing, Lucius? For an arranged marriage?"

There was a stretch of silence at the table. I swallowed back my detest in this man and turned to Lucius' sister. "I think you might have just ruined the surprise, Carmine."

Milana smiled. "It's kind of sweet that you two fell in love in an arranged marriage."

"So quickly, too," Gabriella said. "We're probably looking at least six-hundred."

Lucius was mid- sip on his wine and almost choked. "Six-hundred days until the wedding?"

"Don't be ridiculous, dear." Gabriella wiped her mouth delicately on a napkin. "I meant at least six-hundred guests."

Something dropped in my stomach, and Lucius stilled, paling significantly.

"You know your father and I both have large families," Gabriella said. "Not to mention, your father's associates––"