Bailed Out (The Anna Albertini Files #2) - Rebecca Zanetti Page 0,70
had the ability to make us all think we were her favorite. I, of course, actually was her favorite. “I made a mistake,” I admitted.
She snorted and kept working the dough to make into pasta. Liberal gray streaked her black hair, and she’d piled it on top of her head to cook. Glasses that she’d had for at least a decade perched on her nose and her Mediterranean skin was smooth except for the generous laugh lines extending from her deep brown eyes. I’d always thought she looked a little bit like Sophia Loren and wished once again that I favored her somehow. We might have the same shape to our eyes. I hoped.
“Go on,” she encouraged, looking over her shoulder.
I also wish I had her height. She was almost five-foot-nine, which would be so cool. “We heard a noise in the funeral home and should’ve called the police but went inside instead. I was worried about Tessa and Aiden.”
She kept working the dough and let her silence prompt me to continue.
I sighed. “Fine. I was also curious and really wanted to see what was in those coffins.”
“You know all about cats and curiosity,” she said, leaning to the side and surveying her work.
Yeah. One thing I loved about Nonna was that she didn’t beat around the bush. Oh, she’d cover my back with any enemy and she could be terrifying, but when it was just the two of us, I didn’t get away with a thing. “Yeah, and I ended up covered with dead people.”
She barked out a laugh. “Don’t tell me. You have to go see Fiona next.”
“Yeah. Clark is with Nana right now.”
It was nice of Nonna not to roll her eyes too hard. She’d never been all that agreeable to Nana’s energy work. So I changed the subject and told Nonna all about tough guy Grant Pierce and deadly Aiden Devlin and how they’d both been afraid to be near me the night before. By the time I was finished, she had to wipe her eyes from the laughter. I grinned. “Maybe I could bottle ashes and sell them as men repellant. There’s a market for that, right?”
“Absolutely.” She pushed her glasses up her nose. “Are ashes like that dangerous to inhale?”
“No. Clark checked it all out, and it’s fine. There’s nothing dangerous in the remains, even if we swallowed some.” The idea made me want to puke, but at least it wasn’t serious. “Kind of switching topics here, but I have to tell you, Nick Basanelli couldn’t stop looking at Tessa the other day.” There was no need to mention that I’d tried to kiss him, thrown up in his flowers, and then had slept over.
She began to beat the dough with a little more force than was necessary. “Nicolo tried to put Tessa in jail until trial. He is on the list.” She made a spitting sound over her shoulder and away from the food.
“No. He was trying to help her,” I protested, mixing together the cheeses. “Honestly, Nonna. He had to appear tough to protect both Tessa and me, so he could stay on the case and help her. I’m sure he’ll clear her soon.” If I didn’t get to it first.
She paused. “Really?”
“Yes. He’s trying to help, and he’s a very good lawyer who served in the military, you know.”
“I did know that,” she said, turning back to her task. “He’s also quite nice to look at. Of course, most Italian men are, you know.”
“Yes.” There was no other answer, and Aiden was Irish and not Italian. But if I helped fix Tessa up with Nick, that would count for something. “Also, Tessa’s acting like she isn’t good enough for Nick.” Direct bomb hit right there.
“What?” Nonna straightened up and turned. “What did you say?”
I nodded as if I couldn’t believe it. “Yeah. She said something about he’s a hero and is a lawyer, and she isn’t any of those things. It was crazy.”
Nonna’s shoulders went back. Like way back. “Oh, I do not think so.”
It might seem like I was throwing my older sister under the bus, and I kind of was, but she was an amazing, brilliant, beautiful woman and if she didn’t see that, she deserved to have Nonna on her butt.
Mission accomplished.
I met Uncle Sean in Nana’s living room just as Clark emerged from Nana’s basement, where she kept her energy rooms. “Hi.” I hugged him, and he lifted me off my feet in his return.