Walk On The Wild Side. Donna Kauffman

it you didn’t have those problems.”

      Sunny shook her head. “Well, I probably had an even harder time dating. Papa Sal and Nick combined would pale in comparison to my grandfather. But the housekeepers did the chores and my nanny helped me with my homework. And I had plenty of bathroom space.” Her very own bathroom, in fact.

      “Housekeepers and nannies?” Andrea sighed and sank into a chair. “Can I move in with your family? And bring my three kids with me?”

      Marina sat on the end of the bed, making herself right at home. “With all that, why are you here? Since we’re bonding and all,” she added with a grin.

      She really was gorgeous, Sunny thought. And Andrea was bright and pretty, as well. Both had thick, dark hair, shining brown eyes and beautiful skin. The D’Angelo genes were made of powerful stuff. All pale and blond, she should have felt lifeless next to such vibrancy. But somehow she didn’t. There was no phoniness and no pretense with these two. She liked that. She liked that a lot.

      “Actually, living here isn’t that much different from my room at the sorority. Except we had different posters. I’ve adjusted pretty easily, and there’s only one person to clean up after.”

      Marina and Andrea exchanged a look, then laughed. “We wouldn’t know much about that, either. The sorority or only cleaning up after one person.”

      Sunny shrugged, but laughed with them. It had been a good week, better than she’d expected. She was dog tired, but it was a good tired. And she was already in love with the neighborhood. That part was very different from school or home. And she’d discovered she really enjoyed being on her own. Was thriving on it. The people were nice, and everything she needed was within walking distance.

      She admitted to wanting to call home once or twice, just to let her grandparents know she was fine, but they knew where she was. She knew that because she’d spied Carl cruising down the street every so often in the limo. Edwin keeping an eye on her, no doubt. Well, that had worked to her advantage, too. She’d flagged Carl down the second time she’d seen him—thankful Edwin hadn’t been in the back seat—and coerced him into getting one of the housekeepers to throw some of her things in a bag, then sneak it to her.

      Other than that, she’d had no contact with her family. But then, she hadn’t expected to. Neither Edwin nor Frances would give in. She was certain they were waiting for her to come crawling home so they could pass judgment on her immature decision. Well, they had a long wait coming.

      “So, Nick hired you for the kitchen?” Andrea asked.

      Marina shushed her sister, then turned to Sunny. “How long has it been?”

      “A week. This is my first day off.”

      “Hey,” Marina said, surprised. “A new world record. And you don’t even speak Italian. Do you?”

      Sunny smiled. “I’m learning. Quickly.”

      “I think I’m glad we barged in today.” Andrea rubbed her hands. “We never can get enough information to use against our big brother. But this is too good. One week with both Nick and Carlo. You’re either Wonder Woman or really desperate.”

      Sunny knew Andrea was fishing for information, but she realized she didn’t mind. She’d spent too much of her life mingling with pretentious bores—admittedly her fault as much as her grandparents’, as she’d suffered them in silence. She’d only just met Nick’s sisters, but she knew without a doubt they’d never suffer through anything silently. Maybe she was mingling with the right people. The right people for her.

      Marina crossed her legs. “So why work here?”

      “It’s a long story, but once I walked in the door and met Mama Bennie, I knew it was right.”

      “And after five minutes with Carlo?”

      She laughed. “I was ready to quit. But only after committing homicide.”

      The sisters laughed and nodded in complete understanding, and Sunny knew she’d made two new friends. Friends of her own choosing. It was a ridiculously big moment for her, and she almost laughed at the absurdity of it.

      “So why aren’t we planning the wake?” Andrea asked.

      She explained about her grandfather. Then added, “And Nick didn’t think I could handle it, so I had that to prove, too.” She shrugged at Marina’s questioning lift of an eyebrow. “I am human.”

      “And female,” Andrea said, her expression considering.

      Sunny knew where Andrea was headed. “Yes, well, he’s not hard on the eyes, that’s for sure. But I’m not here to prove anything in that direction.” So what if she’d caught him staring at her a few times, and it made things heat up in a way that had nothing to do with Italian cooking? She was on a mission to get a life, not a lover.

      “Well, I still say you deserve some kind of award,” Andrea said.

      Sunny smiled. “A paycheck will suffice.”

      Marina grinned. “I think you’re going to be a welcome addition. The women in this family have been providing all the entertainment for far too long now. It’ll be fun being the audience for a change. Especially if you can give my big brother a run for his money. Do him good to learn all women don’t swoon at the sight of his good looks.” She studied Sunny again. “And you say you haven’t swooned, right?”

      Sunny blushed. She couldn’t believe she was sitting almost naked in her own bed, talking to her new boss’s sisters—women she’d just met—about her sex life. Or lack of one. “I definitely understand how he’d have a high swoon factor. But after this past week, I think we can safely say we see each other as points to be proven and nothing else.”

      Marina stood. “Well, the least you deserve is some rest.” She stopped Sunny’s protestation. “We’ve all done time in Nick’s kitchen. Trust me, sleep when you can.”

      Andrea stood, as well. “We only have a few hours of reprieve, anyway. Rachel and B.J.’s husbands are watching the brood while we help Father Sartori with all the festival plans. And even double teaming them, you’d think we were asking them to sacrifice a kidney or something.”

      “I’m pretty sure John would be first in the donation line, given a choice,” Marina joked. To Sunny, she added, “John is B.J.’s husband. He’s a great guy, but with little Angelina being their only child and barely a toddler, he’s still a bit terrified of children running in packs.”

      “Of course, with B.J. at the end of her second trimester and expecting twins, we saw it as our duty to help him get over his fears,” Andrea added. “After all, in this family, he must be assimilated into the pack mentality if he hopes to survive.”

      Sunny felt a pang of commiseration for John. She was only dealing with the two sisters, and it was all she could do to keep up. “Twins?”

      “The first in the D’Angelo family.”

      “John is still adapting to the idea,” Andrea added.

      “Like he has a choice.” Marina laughed. “Come on, we’d better get going. Leaving all the festival plans to the good father is never wise. Remember last time we left him in charge? He had Mrs. Amato running the ticket booth.”

      Andrea groaned. “She only speaks Italian, can’t make change worth a hoot, is mostly deaf and sings all the time. Loudly. Off-key.” She shuddered. “It was a nightmare. You’re right, we better get over there.”

      Curiosity got the best of Sunny. “What festival are you helping with?”

      “It’s a summertime tradition in the neighborhood. Lots of music and games and dancing. And food. Enough to feed a small nation. Which is essentially what our neighborhood is, anyway,” she said with a laugh. “It’s three weeks away, but there’s a ton still to do. D’Angelo’s has been one of the caterers for this festival since it started over thirty years