I wake before dawn and lie in bed, staring at Vinnie in the faint glow of the city lights that surround our building. His massive frame takes up more than half of the bed, but he’s peaceful in his sleep. It’s my moment to study the features of his face and the dips and ridges of his chiseled body without being distracted.
Ever since I met with Susan, I’ve been going through a million different scenarios, trying to figure out how to end my novel. Vinnie’s actions tonight and his willingness to end his entire career for me was a huge gesture. One a hero would typically make in my novels for the love of his life.
I never thought I’d be so content again. Opening my heart to someone else, especially a playboy like Vinnie, isn’t something I thought would be possible or smart. But here I am, lying next to this beautiful man, completely and totally falling for him.
I slide out of bed and tiptoe across the room, grabbing my clothes off the floor as I make my way to the door. Thankfully, Vinnie doesn’t wake. My muse is speaking to me, and I want a few uninterrupted hours to hash out the final chapter of my novel before it’s due to my editor, along with all the changes I still have to make.
The words are pouring out of me, and I’m so engrossed in the ending, I don’t hear Vinnie wake or notice him standing in the kitchen, sipping a cup of coffee, until I turn around, going for another cup myself.
“Did I wake you?”
His lips move but I can’t hear anything he’s saying, and I realize I’m still wearing my noise-canceling headphones I use to block out the city noise. I remove them, placing them on the center island as Vinnie laughs behind his coffee mug.
“You didn’t wake me. I have an early practice, and I have to talk with Coach and Mr. Turner before I take the field. I want to know Tracie is gone before I tell them yes.”
I rake my gaze over his bare chest. “Is there ever a day you don’t work out?”
He shakes his head and places his coffee cup on the counter. “I never miss a workout unless I’m on vacation.” He reaches out and grabs me around the waist. “If I didn’t, I would be sore after some of those moves from last night.”
“You went above and beyond.”
He nuzzles his face in my neck. “I’m just beginning, baby. I have a whole lot of moves I’ve never even tried yet.”
I melt against him as his teeth graze my neck. “I look forward to seeing what you still have up your sleeve.”
I’m riding high, floating on cloud nine in the arms of a man I never would’ve imagined myself with. “You better go before we both get sidetracked.”
I want to fall back into bed, spending hours exploring each other’s bodies, but my novel and his team are waiting.
“What are you doing today?”
“I have lunch with my mother.”
I’m not overly excited by the idea. While I love her, my mother’s ideas about my future and my own are very different. She’s still not sold on Vinnie, and the last time I talked with her, I wasn’t either.
“You’ll need a car,” he says and reaches for his phone on the counter.
I grab his arm, stopping him from whatever call he is about to make. “I’ll take a taxi.”
His beautiful green eyes roam across my face. “You sure?”
Moving onto my tiptoes, I kiss him quickly and nod. “Entirely sure. I wouldn’t have taken my car anyway. Parking is murder downtown.”
He wraps his arms around my middle and presses my body flush against his. “What are you doing Sunday?”
“Working, probably.”
“Come to dinner with me at my parents’.”
“Again?”
I had fun the first time, although it was a bit overwhelming. They were so much more relaxed compared to my family.
“Yes, again. It’s a Sunday tradition, and Ma already told me to bring you. It’s a requirement, and unless you want Betty banging on your door, I’d advise you to come.”
I laugh, picturing his mother with her red hair, pounding on my door. “I like your family.”
“Well,” he says, brushing the hair away from my face, “they like you too.”
He moves in for a kiss, but I squeeze my lips together tightly because I haven’t brushed my teeth and I’ve already consumed a half a pot of coffee.
“I’ll call you later.”
I nod, still holding my lips together, and smile.
He’s gone a few minutes later, and I’m left with my words and my characters who are just at the point in the novel where they realize they can’t live without each other.
The hours breeze by as page after page pours out of me. I'm so engrossed in the story, I almost forget about my mother. When the one-hour notification pops up on my screen, I tear off my headphones and run to the shower. The meal is already going to be trying, but if I show up late, she’ll have a frown on her face and chide me like I’m a little girl again.
My mother looks down at the menu, sitting with the most perfect posture. “I had Uncle Mateo do a little digging,” she says nonchalantly. “He found some interesting things.”
I drop the menu on top of my bread plate, not giving a single fuck about the clatter as the silverware bounces underneath. “I never asked you to do a little digging, and I certainly don’t care about the interesting things he found.”
My mother’s lips pinch together like she’s sucking on something sour. “He’s not the man for you, Bianca.”
There’s no man on the planet, besides a chosen few, who my mother would deem good enough for me. Not one of them interests me even a little bit. They’re stuffed suits who snub their noses at my career. That’s a hard limit for me. My words are my lifeline, keeping me sane and happy since I was a little girl making up fairy tales.
I lean back with my hands flat on the fancy ivory tablecloth, trying to keep my voice low and not draw the attention of those nearby. “It’s not your call.”
“You’re still my daughter.”
“I’m completely happy for the first time in a long time, and you’re going to shit all over everything.”
Her smile tightens, always wanting to put on a good face in case anyone else is watching. “Watch your language, young lady, and your tone.”
I laugh, but there’s nothing happy about the way I sound. “I thought we were going to have a nice lunch. I guess you had other plans.”
“His father is a felon and a mobster, Bianca. Is that the type of people you want to associate with?”
I narrow my eyes. “Do we really want to compare families?”
Although my mother likes to think we’re a fine, upstanding family, we have some pretty shady people in our tree. She’s no one to talk or make judgments about a man because of the sins of his father.
“If I recall, your father wasn’t the most honorable citizen,” I tell her, reminding her she doesn’t come from the well-to-do side of the family like she claims.
“My father made dumb mistakes when he was young. He paid for his crimes and turned his life around.”
“Imagine if Daddy didn’t want to be with you because of your father’s illustrious past. How would you feel?”
I refuse to allow her to punish Vinnie because of something his father did in his past. It’s not fair. No matter how upset my mother is about our relationship, she has no say in my future.
“His parents didn’t like me.”
“So, you’re into repeating the pattern? We’re not very close to Daddy’s side because his mother never accepted you, given your family’s history.”
My mother places her menu down in front of her and shoos away the waiter when he approaches. “There were other reasons I never got along with his side of the family.”
“Is that how you want it to be with me? You want to push me away because I’ve fallen in love with someone you don’t feel is good enough?”
“You’ve only known him for a short time. Don’t be dramatic. He’s not good for you or your career.”
“He’s perfect for me and my career, Mom. He understands the long hours I need to work. He doesn’t whine about me not spending enough time with him. He’s the first man I’ve ever been with who doesn’t pressure me to put my work aside to spend time with him.”
“You barely know each other.”
“Neither did you and Daddy before you ran off and eloped. But wait, you were knocked up with Luis, weren’t you?”
I know my words sting her. My mother has always tried to convince us that she became pregnant right after they married, but we always knew better. She liked to play the I-was-a-virgin-until-I-got-married card on us kids.
“He’s a playboy, Bianca. You’re just another notch on his bedpost. Everyone knows how athletes are. Don’t be childish and naïve.”
“I’m well aware of his past.” I stand and push back my chair. “If you can’t accept us as a couple or Vinnie as my other half, then we can’t have lunch anymore. You either accept him or lose me.”
I don’t wait for her to answer before I stalk off. I’m going to let her stew on my words and whine to my father about my disrespectful behavior. He’ll set her ass straight. He always does. She’s too quick to overreact and try to get everyone to do what she wants without thinking of our happiness first.
I refuse to let her talk poorly about Vinnie or his family. I’m well versed in the Gallo family after a quick Google search. I won’t let Vinnie pay for the sins of his father, a man I actually like and who has, indeed, changed.
I’m halfway down the block, weaving in and out of the people wandering on the sidewalk when I realize I told my mother I was falling in love with Vinnie.
I hadn’t been entirely honest with myself before that moment. I told myself I liked him or we were probably just a fling. But when he asked me to be his girl, and after our time away, I knew there was no one else I wanted to be with.
The man was about to give up a huge professional football career for me. Who does that? Only him.
“Bianca.” I hear my mother’s voice above the chatter on the streets. “Stop!”
I turn, finding my mother running in her high heels, waving her hands in the air. I almost keep walking. I’m sure she’s chasing me down, ready to twist the dagger in my heart a little deeper.
“Baby,” she says, trying to catch her breath when she finally makes it to me. “Forgive me. I was wrong. You were right.”
This may be the first time in my entire life that my mother has ever said those words. “About all of it?”
She nods. “It’s wrong of me to judge him on his father’s past or his own. I can see you’re happy. Happier than I’ve seen you in a long time.” She reaches out and cups my cheeks in her hands. “All I want is for you to be happy.”
“I am happy, Mom. Vinnie isn’t who you think he is. He’s kind, caring, selfless. He’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a partner.”
Her eyes water, but she shakes away her tears. “Come back to the restaurant and tell me about him.”
I almost say no, worried it’s a trap, but I know this is my one shot to explain everything to my mother and get her to back off for good. “Fine, but you’re not allowed to say anything negative.”
She takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. “I promise I’ll listen with an open mind. Please, baby. You’re my only daughter, and I want to know what’s happening in your life.”
“Okay, Mom. I’ll go back with you, but if you say something again, I’m done.”
She nods. “Okay. I can’t imagine you not being in my life, sweetheart. If you love him, I love him. The last thing I want is for our relationship to be strained like your father’s was with his parents.”
“That’ll be entirely up to you.”
She grabs my hand, lacing our fingers together. “Let’s start over. Tell me about your trip,” she says as we walk back toward the restaurant.
I spend the next two hours telling her all about the real Vinnie Gallo. How he almost gave up his career for me, how he whisked me away to a private island to help me through the stress of finishing my current work in progress. I tell her everything… Well, not about the sex. There are some things that aren’t meant to be shared, especially with my mother.