TONY: Slow Burn (Raging Fire Book 1) by Kallypso Masters (the false prince TXT) 📕

When they entered the dining room, everyone was seated. There were three empty chairs, but only two empty ones were side by side and one of those had a half-filled wine glass at it indicating it had already been claimed. She and Tony would have to sit apart from each other, which disappointed her.

“Sit here, Carmella. I just laid my wine glass down next to Franco when I went to look for you two.” Whether that was the truth, or he simply wanted to let her sit beside Tony, either way, she appreciated it.

“Thanks, Matteo,” she said.

“No problem.” Matteo pulled out the seat for her but before he could push it in for her, Tony nudged him away.

“I’ll do that.”

Carm smiled at the brothers and their gentlemanly ways; their mama had done an excellent job raising them. She settled into her seat and said hi to Franco on her right side.

Tony sat on her other side. His knee brushed against hers, reassuring her that she wasn’t in this alone. After Mama said grace, everyone ate their antipasti amidst a flurry of catching up on family life, but Carm had trouble swallowing past the lump in her throat.

When Mama G got up to go to the sideboard in order to bring the next course to the table, Tony leaned in and whispered, “If you don’t start eating more, I’m going to feed you in front of everyone.”

She stared back at him and silently conveyed the message, You wouldn’t dare, but the glare in his eyes told her he very much would. So she poked her fork into a kalamata olive and popped it into her mouth, chewing it slowly and deliberately.

Carm took a few more bites from the selection of foods on her plate to appease him and reached for her glass of wine to wash it down.

She wondered when he’d want to make their announcement, but the meal progressed to the dolce without Tony giving any hint that he was ready. How long did he intend to wait? Perhaps he was nervous too.

After they finished their tiramisu, Tony whispered, “Why don’t you put the ring back on.”

Finally! With her hands shaking under the table, she pulled it from her pocket and slid it back onto her finger to await Tony’s signal.

“Smile,” he quietly reminded her. “I don’t want them to think you’re being coerced or anything.”

His joke relaxed her a bit. Tony started to push his chair away from the table to stand when a knife being tapped against a wine glass at the head of the table stopped him. He settled back into his seat as everyone’s attention moved to Paul who rose to his feet and raised his glass in Mama G’s direction.

“To our amazing chef, Angela, for providing us with such a delicious meal in her wonderful home.”

“Salut!” several people shouted, some adding Mama and their own compliments to the woman who had prepared the feast.

Mama G smiled graciously and accepted their praise. Then she looked up at Paul and absolutely glowed. Carm had never seen her look so happy, not even at the gala. When Paul moved to stand behind her chair and help Mama G to her feet, Carm’s stomach dropped. Something was up, and Carm had a feeling it didn’t bode well for Tony and her making their own announcement today.

Mama G stood and Paul wrapped his arm around her as if she might need the support. He gave her a reassuring smile before she turned her attention to everyone else in the room.

“I’m glad most of my family is here because Paul and I have a special announcement to make.” Mama G swallowed hard, her smile quavering a bit.

Carm’s sense of apprehension deepened. If his mother and her guy announced that they were engaged, she and Tony couldn’t steal their thunder on the same day in her own home. She reached for Tony’s hand under the table and squeezed it, but his eyes were glued to his mother.

“As you know, Paul and I have been seeing each other since January.”

Tony’s hand began shaking. Whatever his mother was about to say was going to have a huge impact on him.

“We also aren’t getting any younger. At least I’m not.” She laughed, smiling unapologetically up at Paul, who was five or six years younger than Mama G—which was another bone of contention with Rafe from what she could tell.

“Excuse us in advance for being impetuous, but on Tuesday afternoon, we went to the county clerk’s office, took out a marriage license, and tied the knot in front of Father Bancroft in a private ceremony at the altar. We didn’t want to wait until we could get the entire family together, but knew we’d be seeing all of you today, well, except for Rafe. We told him last night.”

What did she say?

They’d eloped?

Tony grew stiff beside her. What was he thinking?

“Don’t blame Rafe for not alerting you. I swore him to secrecy. We wanted to tell each of you ourselves.”

Marc was the first to extend verbal congratulations to the newlyweds, and Angelina jumped up to go and give her mother a big hug. Everyone else sat there stunned for varying reasons.

Needing to check in on Tony, Carm leaned close to his ear. “We have to wait on our news.” She pulled back and looked at his stunned face. His mouth had dropped open, and he couldn’t take his eyes off his mother and her new husband. She wondered if he even remembered their news in light of this bombshell.

Franco was the first to raise his glass, and as the oldest son present, he gave the traditional Italian blessing. “To Mama and Paul. Cent’anni! Salute! Evviva gli sposi!”

A hundred years! Good health! Long live the bride and groom!

Carm raised Tony’s hand to the tabletop and placed it around his glass, which he slowly raised in a toast. Apparently, he still had no words. Poor Tony. The boys had been responsible for