Lonzo: Book 1 (Tycoon Series Book 1) by Kat Madrid Read Free Book Online Page B

coordinator, who were ordering everyone like a drill sergeant.
    While parking his gleaming Ferrari in the parking space, he caught sight of Rocco’s mother, Contessa Maria Romolini waiting for him near the entrance of their grand home.
    She looked…well…happy and years younger. It was as if the upcoming nuptials of her only son had the power to take ten years off her lovely, aristocratic face.
    “Lonzo, caro ! You came!” the contessa welcomed him delightedly with open arms, kissing both his cheeks. “That wretched son of mine said you’re going to bail out on me.”
    Your wretched son was right. He almost skipped the wedding.
    “Zia Maria…you look very beautiful, as always,” he said after affectionately hugging Rocco’s mother. “Bail? Me? I told you never to believe that good-for-nothing son of yours.”
    He had known her family for a long time. He was the grubby kid that Rocco would often invite home. Despite her social standing, Maria Romolini wasn’t a snob. She genuinely received him in her home and fussed over him like a true member of her family. In many ways, she was the mother that he never had.
    “I know! But I’m really happy you’re here. I still can’t believe it, Lonzo. My constant prayers are finally answered. My dear Rocco’s finally getting married!”
    Not if I can help it , he thought. “That makes the two of us, Zia.”
    “Come, come…have some biscotti . Constanzia baked some this morning. Oh, leave your things. I’ll ask someone to bring it up to your room,” Zia Maria said as she led him inside.
    “It’s okay, Zia. I’m good,” he said, indicating the monkey suit and overnight bag he was carrying.
    “Oh…you’re not staying after the wedding?” the older woman was surprised.
    He responded with a smile, “Work beckons, Zia.”
    She clucked her disapproval like a mother hen worrying over her chick.
    “Now, Lonzo…you’re working too hard, my dear boy. It’s also about time you think about the future…like Rocco…”
    Great. Now Zia Maria was trying her hand at matchmaking. God help him if he’d be successful at breaking off Rocco’s wedding. Zia would probably stab him with a pitchfork. But she’d come around. She loved him too much to stay angry with him for too long.
    “Amici!” he heard his friend’s voice behind him. He almost sighed in relief at the groom’s arrival. It deflected Zia’s prodding questions about his bachelor status. She excused herself to speak with the wedding planner.
    When Lonzo turned to look at his bestfriend, he saw a grinning Rocco with his arm over a woman who wore a simple white shirt over a pair of cut-offs.
    He was surprised.
    Rocco told the truth when he said that his intended was not his usual type. The bride-to-be was a far cry from the women Rocco once paraded on a regular basis: beautiful-blonde-centerfoldish-types with matching fifth-grader IQs.
    The woman standing beside his friend was a complete antithesis: she was petite, red-haired, and very pretty in an intelligent-looking way. The young Jodie Foster came into mind as he frankly observed his friend’s soon-to-be wife. She was openly smiling at him like he was some long-lost puppy.
    “Hi! You must be Lonzo! I’m Mel…the evil bride-to-be,” she joked as she extended a hand toward him—which he took and firmly shook. He was glaring the entire time at his childhood friend.
    “Lonzo, I swear I didn’t tell her you were really trying your damnest to convince me to leave her at the altar! Honestly! Scout’s honor!” Rocco was on a roll. The man had a death wish.
    “You were never a scout, you cazzo ,” Lonzo muttered dryly. “You were never honorable, too.”
    It was Melissa turn to laugh.
    “All right, I’m out of here before you two spill blood and ruin my shirt.”
    “That I cannot promise,” he responded. “Your intended is an ass. I have to straighten him out a bit.”
    Mel gave him a smile.
    “Try not to give my groom a concussion, Lonzo. I would