The Real Italian Alphas by Bonnie Burrows Read Free Book Online Page B

and tried to cast him a stern look. “This man is quite the charmer.”
    “Yes, Mama, he is quite the catch.” she agreed, casting Gabriel an amused glance as he reclaimed her hand and kissed it as well.
    “Andare, andare ,” he said to them then, indicating the living room. “Now that we have met, perhaps we might sit together and talk for a time. Your daughter has brought me to see the sights of your lovely little town, Mama. If it is all right, we will be here for a few days. The driver, Rico, will also need somewhere to rest if you are willing.”
    “Yes, of course,” she agreed. “He can sleep in one of the guest rooms. And where will you be sleeping, Signore? This is a good, Christian home.”
    “I will be sleeping with my fiancée, Mama, either here or at a hotel,” he said with a smirk at Betsy. “We cannot bear to be apart, you see.”
    “Fiancée?” the woman repeated, the smile on her face frozen in place. “So you’ve decided to ask her that without meeting me as well? Signore, were you not raised in a proper Italian home as your accent and occupation would suggest?”
    “I assure you, Mama, my upbringing was everything that it should be,” he said. “I suppose I have simply grown accustomed to having everything handed to me, you understand.”
    “I understand very well,” she answered as she got back to her feet. “I understand that you think you can just take whatever you want with no consequences for your actions. And what happens to my daughter on the day that you have to face them? Are you hoping to get her arrested or killed right along with you?”
    Gabriel was being extremely patient with her, but at the suggestion that he would cause harm to befall his Betsy, his face went up into flames. “I would never allow it,” he informed her, and the sincerity of his words was not lost on her even in her heightened state.
    “Ah, you think that you can protect her with your love, do you?” she scoffed. “But love does not withstand guns, Signore. How do you intend to save her from them?”
    “I will not pretend ignorance in this.” he said. “But neither should you. Surely you know that Betsy would not be near any place where the gunfire would happen. I do not tell her about my job, and she does not ask. That is how I will keep her safe.”
    “And so neither of you has a care for me.” she complained. “You’re taking away my daughter, who usually has provided money to this home, and give no thought to how I’ll repair the roof or the bathroom without her.”
    “If you need the roof repaired, I will of course help,” he said. “Remember, you are not losing a daughter, you are gaining a son. One with plenty of money to buy you a different home altogether if you wish.”
    “I would not presume to ask.” she said, blushing now.
    “You do not need to ask, Mama.” he told her. “Now, where shall your children be laying their heads tonight, eh?”
    “Well, I suppose you can stay here.” she agreed then. “After all, you have promised to make an honest woman of her. And that means that we’ve got a wedding to plan. We certainly can’t get anything figured out if we aren’t in the same room, can we?”
    Gabriel chuckled, and Betsy gave a little cry of delight as she surged forward and gave her mother the biggest hug ever. The woman tutted and tentatively gave one back. Then, with a shake of her head she also grabbed Gabriel and brought him into the hug as well.
    “I never thought I could be so happy.” he said as the group broke apart. He wrapped his arm around Betsy’s waist and brought her to his side, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. “Let’s go online now, and we shall look for the perfect dress.”
    “And he likes shopping, too?” Mama teased. “Well, with all that money I suppose it makes sense. Just promise me you won’t try to extort any money from the guests.”
    “Mama!” Betsy gasped, but Gabriel was laughing. “And you, too? You’re both