Page 150 of Pietro

Aria smooths her napkin, completely unrepentant. "I'm simply being practical, Pietro. You can glare at me all you want, but someone needs to think about these things."

Pietro doesn't respond. Just keeps his fingers pressed to his nose, breathing slowly.

Lorenzo is still grinning. "I thinkMammascared her, Pietro. Look at her face."

"Shut up," I mutter.

That makes him laugh again.

I laugh too though.

PIETRO

I find Nora in the bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed with her phone in her hand.

She looks up when I close the door behind me. "Your mother is terrifying."

"I know." I cross the room and sit beside her. "I'm sorry about that."

"Don't apologize for her." Nora sets the phone down. "She's just being a mother."

"She shouldn't have ambushed you like that."

"It wasn't an ambush." She turns to face me, tucking one leg under her. "It was just... unexpected."

I run a hand through my hair. "I wanted to talk to you about that. About what she said."

"About marriage?"

"Sì." I meet her eyes. "You don't need to be scared. I'm not expecting?—"

"I'm not scared."

I stop. "You're not?"

"No." She tilts her head, studying me. "Should I be?"

"No. I just thought—after whatMammasaid?—"

"Your mother asked a question." Nora's voice is calm. "A pretty direct one, but still just a question. I'm not running for the door, Pietro."

Something in my chest loosens. "You're not."

"No." She reaches out and touches my jaw. "I just haven't thought about it. Marriage. Us. That far ahead. Have you?

The question catches me off guard. I open my mouth, then close it.

Nora's lips curve. "That's what I thought."

"I didn't say I haven't thought about it."

"You didn't say you have either." She's watching me now with that sharp intelligence I love. "So which is it?"

I catch her wrist, keeping her hand against my face. "I think about keeping you. Every day. Keeping you safe. Keeping you with me."

"That's not the same as marriage."

"Isn't it?"