I sucked it all up and made my way through the crowd. My eyes were firmly on the arch at the back of the room. As I got closer to escape, I began to move faster.
When I could bear it no more … I broke into a run.
Hurrying down the corridor, I pulled open the door of the kitchen, and stepped into the familiar space. It was bustling with activity. In the stark white of the massive space, I instantly spotted Gemma in her navy blue and white housekeeping uniform. She stood next to the massive island. Platters of food were spread across it.
There were about five waiters surrounding her, listening to her instructions.
I made my way over to her.
She turned and smiled. “What are you doing here?”
“Hiding.”
“Come, come now. It’s not that bad to be belle of the ball.”
“Ugh … I hate it. I don’t even know them and they’re all obsessed with when I’m getting married.”
She laughed. “Smile and they’ll forget what they asked. You’re that beautiful.”
I reached for a mini bruschetta and popped it into my mouth. “Yeah, right,” I muttered.
“Sienna, what are you doing here?”
My eyes widened as I heard my mother’s voice. I picked up another bruschetta and turned. “Nothing. Just came for one of these.”
She frowned. “Everyone’s asking for you.”
“Yeah?”
She took the tiny piece of garlic toast covered in chopped tomatoes and basil away from my hand then pushed me back out to a sea of smiling snakes. I tried to apply the advice Gemma had given me as the outright harassment continued. To my great surprise, it worked. All I had to do was just smile and nod.
“I suppose your father will be grooming you to run the family business now,” a sly man I had never met before commented.
My smile slipped.
He stared at me curiously. “No?”
I swallowed audibly. What I wanted to say would have caused a riot in the room.
Thankfully, at that very moment, the attention shifted perceptibly to a different part of the room. The twittering crowd went silent.
My grandmother stood at the edge of the room. She looked as if she had come from a glamorous past long gone, perhaps from the court of one of the ancient ruling houses of Italy.
Although all eyes were on her, hers was solely on me.
I felt my tense body sag with relief. She had come to rescue me. She extended her hands towards me, and immediately the wall of people parted. With my head held high, I walked towards her. From the corner of my eye, I could see my mother scowling furiously, but like a guardian angel Nonna spirited me away from the madding crowd towards her apartment on the ground floor.
As soon as my back was to them, I stared while grinning from ear to ear. Only Nonna could have gotten away with such blatant rudeness.
Chapter 5
Sienna
My angel and I sat in her living room overlooking the rose garden while we played dealer’s choice and drank cups of soothing chamomile tea. She had beaten me twice already and was enjoying every moment of her wins. I relished her victory with all of my heart.
“Nonna, every time I play this with you, it seems like you’ve gotten better.”
“I do have a lot of time on my hands,” she replied in her elegant voice, “and nothing to do but practice. Did your father ever tell you that he lost this house to me when we were playing in the spring?”
My mouth fell open. “You’re joking. Did he really transfer the deed to you?”
“Not yet.” She laughed.
“Will you? Accept it from him, I mean.”
“Of course not, it was a friendly match. The only perk I'm interested in is the power to lord my ownership of the roof over his head. I do this whenever he gets out of line.”
I revered her. No one but Nonna could say such a thing about my fearsome father. I lost any influence over him when I was two. He ruled over our household with an iron hand. Stand means stand. Sit means sit. “Next time you’re playing with him, can you please win me his Performante Spyder? He’s never let me touch it, but yet he doesn’t use it himself either. What a waste.”
She frowned. “What on earth would you do with that beast of a car?”
I grinned. “Drive it fast somewhere?”
She shook her head disapprovingly. “Young girls nowadays. The things you want to do …”