Seven Weeks Pregnant, until I Found His Secret Chat novel · Chapter 20 of 24

Chapter 20: Two Hundred Guests

The restaurant had white tablecloths for two hundred, and every table was full.

I stood in the service door at the back of the room in a black dress, with the iPad in my hands.

Dario's sister was on one side of me.

On the other, in a plain gray coat, Gianna held a glass of water she did not drink.

Renzo stayed close behind me.

He had not touched me since we left the truck, and he did not need to.

At the head table, Salvatore sat in his good suit with his cane across his knees.

Adele sat beside him in cream silk, with a sapphire at her throat and a waiter at her elbow.

Dario sat at the far end, alone, with his hands under the table.

Adele rose and tapped her glass.

The room hushed.

"Forty years ago, my husband and I opened a door," she said, warm and shining. "We have fed this town, and this town has fed us. Tonight, we thank the family that stands with us."

Applause rolled around the room.

"And we pray for the ones who have lost their way."

Her eyes found me in the doorway, and she smiled.

Salvatore lifted his cane an inch.

"Before my wife finishes," he said, loud enough to carry, "I would like to give the microphone to my son's wife."

A murmur went around the tables.

Adele's smile did not move.

"Salvatore," she said. "Our daughter-in-law is unwell."

"Then she'll be brief," he said.

I walked down the middle of the room with two hundred faces turning to watch me.

Nobody stopped me.

I took the microphone from the waiter's hand and stood at the end of the head table beside the lamb.

It was on a silver platter, and I had not cooked it.

"Buonasera," I said, in Italian. "My name is Casey Bowen. For seven years I have eaten at your tables, and for seven years you thought I could not understand a word."

← Chapter 19 · All chapters · Chapter 21 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend