"Well?" he asked. "What was she thinking?"
"She thought you were a big female at first," Zanipolo said with amusement.
"Yes, I know," Christian said dryly. "Gia giggled that into my ear. It's why I tried to read her."
"It was dark in the van and she hasn't our eyesight," Raffaele said soothingly. "All she could make out was long hair and a large frame."
"She thought you were very handsome once she saw your face," Giacinta said, patting his arm as if he might need the reassurance. She then bit her lip and added, "Which kind of horrified her."
Christian frowned. "Why?"
Gia arched her eyebrows as if that should be obvious.
"She's forty-two."
Christian's eyes widened. He would have placed Carolyn in her mid to late thirties. She carried her age well.
Still, he didn't get Giacinta's point. "So? She's forty-two?"
"Well, you look about twenty-five or twenty-six," she pointed out gently.
"I haven't been that young for a very long time," Christian said grimly.
"But you look that young," Gia pointed out and when he stared at her blankly, she added, "She is mortal. She thinks you are young enough to be her child and is upset to have sexual feelings for someone she thinks is so young."
"She had sexual feelings for me already?" he asked with a grin.
Gia threw up her hands in exasperation. "Uomini! Idiota, non essere cosi stupido!"
Christian blinked at the explosive rant of "Men! You idiot, don't be so stupid!" and then cleared his throat. "I gather this is a problem?"
"Si, cugino, è una problema," Gia said dryly. "I read her. She is not the type of woman who would be comfortable having an affair with a younger man. She will now avoid you to avoid those uncomfortable feelings."
Christian frowned. It wasn't a problem he'd considered when he'd contemplated the possibility that his mother had found him a lifemate.
"Don't worry, we'll help you with her. And I am sure Aunt Marguerite will help too," Raffaele rumbled and then slapped a hand on his shoulder and urged him into the building. "Now let's go find our equipment and get set up. When you called Bellina, she said Genie had our instruments kept in her office until we arrived, si?"
"Si, all but the drums and keyboard. She had those set up on the stage." The words were said absently, Christian's mind was on the problem of Carolyn, and the disturbing assurance that his mother and cousins would help him woo her. Cripes, he thought with dismay as he imagined that scenario.
"I hope your friend Bethany feels better soon," Marguerite said with a sympathetic smile.
"So do I," Carolyn assured her. They were seated at one of the tables on the edge of the lower deck, the sandy beach close enough to touch if she just slid her foot over the slightest bit, which she'd done several times already, digging her bare toes into the cool sand and allowing it to slide around and between them. "And I'm sure she will."
Marguerite nodded. "Well, we're here to keep you company tonight, so she couldn't have picked a better time to recuperate."
Carolyn smiled, but shook her head. "Don't be silly. You two are on your honeymoon. You don't need me hanging around. Besides, I have Genie. As soon as she gets here we'll move to another table so you two can be alone."
"Cara," Marguerite said with amusement. "We like having you here, dear."
Carolyn smiled wryly, finding it odd that Marguerite always managed to make her feel like a child when she was probably twenty years older than the woman. Her gaze slid to Julius then to note the solemn expression on his face as he eyed her, and Carolyn found herself wondering if he or Christian was the older. The brothers looked like they could be about the same age, but her instincts told her Julius was probably the older one, though she couldn't say why for sure except that it was something about the eyes.
"Oh, here they are," Marguerite said happily, and Carolyn followed her gaze to the stage where drums and a keyboard had been set up. Genie was now leading the band members onto the low stage and taking up the microphone to introduce them as the they moved to their spots. Santo settled behind the drums, Raffaele stepped behind the keyboards and began to check things, Zanipolo and Giacinta both carried guitars, and Christian was holding a...
"Violin?" Carolyn said with surprise.
"Yes!" Marguerite beamed. "Isn't he clever?"
"Er..." Carolyn stared blankly. The men all wore black t-shirts and either black jeans or leather pants, making Gia stand out in her red and white. And their hairstyles were all kind of punk rock. Gia's hair was now gelled and wild around her head while Raffaele's hair stood up in shiny spikes all over, like a porcupine. Then there was Santo's bald head, and Zanipolo's and Christian's long hair, although Zanipolo had let his out of its ponytail, while Christian had pulled his back into one.