“The boys should be here any minute from JFK. Why don’t we have a drink while we wait for them?” Angela suggested once we were seated at the table in the gorgeous dining room.

I was too focused on the disturbingly quiet man at my side to pay attention to the exquisite and lavish details in the room that had me feeling as though we were in the presence of Sicilian royalty.

“Where’s your sister? Hudson?” Angela asked while picking up an open bottle of Chianti to fill her husband’s glass.

“They’re working on something. They’ll be down once Enzo and Alessandro arrive.” Constantine pulled his phone out of his pocket and kept it on his lap and out of view while responding to a text.

There was no saved name on the screen, only a number. I couldn’t read what he typed out. He was too quick.

Not suspicious at all. He caught me spying, and I didn’t feel bad. I knew whatever he was texting had to do with our son.

“Later, I promise,” he mouthed, brows drawing tight as he shoved the phone back in his pocket.

I returned my focus just in time to decline Angela’s attempt to offer me wine. “No, thank you.”

Colin licked his lips at the food on display, staring at the multitude of dishes prepared by their live-in staff. Angela had thoughtfully checked on our food allergies before dinner had been cooked.

“Are you really expecting me to sit here and look but don’t touch?” he asked his grandparents, who both laughed.

“He’s got a point,” Salvatore said while dipping his hand into a basket of freshly baked sourdough. “Here.” He passed it down to Colin.

“So,” Colin began after swiping three pieces of bread from the basket before Angela handed it off to me, “did Dad tell you I plan to enroll at his old high school?”

“He did not,” Angela answered as I handed Constantine the basket, not taking any for myself. I didn’t have the best appetite. “At the start of the next school year? I imagine it’s a little late now since you’re out next month.”

“Actually, I’m suspended.” Colin flicked crumbs onto his lap from the table, and I made a quick note to teach him a few table manners at some point. “So, now’s the perfect time to change.”

“And why are you suspended?” she followed up.

Here we go.

Colin gave a quick recap, and Salvatore shocked me by fist-bumping him. He was downright incorrigible.

“I knew you’d understand.” Colin’s lighthearted expression and smile managed to peel back a few layers of my stress to appreciate the moment. “I also want to go to NYU, which I learned is where Bianca went.”

Angela choked on her wine, and Salvatore reached around and slapped her back as she set down her glass.