Unable to deny what soon would be obvious to everyone, Carm smiled. “Well, we have been seeing a lot of each other lately.”
“I knew it! I thought there was something going on at the gala. How exciting!” Angelina wrapped her in a hug, then pulled back taking Carm’s hands in hers. Too late, Carm remembered the ring. But Angelina didn’t miss it, of course. “Wait! You two aren’t…you didn’t…” Angelina gave her an even tighter embrace. “I can’t believe it! We’re going to be double sisters now!”
Carm laughed at her description of their relationship. “I guess so.”
When Angelina pulled away again, she lifted Carm’s hand to stare more closely at the ring. “It’s beautiful! Tony did good!” She met Carm’s gaze. “I’ll admit, I never thought he’d get serious enough to settle down with anyone. How’d you snag him?”
“We did have a rocky start, but as we kept being thrown together, I guess eventually we decided we were meant for each other.”
“When are you going to tell everyone? Marc’s going to die.”
“You think he’ll be upset?”
“No! I just mean he’s going to be floored when he hears. He’s going to be thrilled for you both, though. He and Tony get along a lot better since the wedding. Their working together before the wedding probably helped too.” She shook her head. “So many happy couples with romantic news today! What a surprise this will be for Mama! A taste of her own medicine.” Angelina laughed as she took Carm’s hands again. “I’ve considered you my sister ever since I married your brother, maybe even before. You’re going to be perfect for him, Carmella. Absolutely perfect! And I can’t tell you how excited I am to have you as my sister since the wedding.” The two hugged again. “Now let’s go find that fiancé of yours.”
Chapter Forty-One
While Tony waited in the living room for Carmella to rejoin him, Franco came up to him. “What’s this Matteo told us?” Franco called their second-oldest brother by his formal name for some reason. “You and Carmella are dating?”
Damn it, Matt. Can’t you keep your mouth shut for five minutes?
“Yeah, we’ve been seeing each other since the summer.”
“She seems like a sweet girl.” Franco slapped him on the upper arm. “Lucky you.”
“She is, and I am.”
Just then, Carmella and Angelina entered the room. Carm looked like she wanted to say something, but looked at Franco and merely smiled. Angelina came over to Tony and gave him a peck on the cheek, whispering, “Congratulations.”
Carm mouthed, She saw the ring. This was going to be the worst-kept secret of the century.
“Thanks, Baby. Does Mama know?”
“I don’t think so,” Angelina answered.
“Well, then I think Carmella and I need to remedy that before she hears it through this overactive grapevine. Rafe has probably gotten a call or text from Matt already too. Franco, you might as well join us. Angelina, get Marc.” Might as well do this in one fell swoop.
Tony took Carm’s hand and they went into the kitchen, where Matt stood at the sink washing some of the pots and pans. Mama sat on a bar stool at the island divvying up the leftovers into storage containers that probably would be in the hands of everyone leaving the house tonight.
“Mama, do you have a minute?”
“For my kids? Always!” She pointed to the empty bar stools. “Sit.”
Before Tony could wonder where Paul had gone, the man came back into the kitchen. Matt stopped what he was doing and turned to face them, leaning against the sink with a stupid-ass grin on his face. He thought he knew so much. Well, Tony would show him he wasn’t as observant as he thought.
Angelina and Marc joined them. The gang was all here. “Everybody, Carmella and I have something we want to tell you.”
All eyes were on the two of them. Tony glanced at Carm. Noticing she looked more than a little nervous, he pulled her toward him and wrapped his arms around her. She kept her ring hidden behind her, but Tony took her hand and pulled it out to where everyone could see.
“On Sunday, I proposed to Carmella, and she said yes.” He smiled at his bride to be as the room erupted into a lot of shouts of disbelief.
“Well, you sneaky Romeo! Here I thought I knew the whole story already,” Matt said. “Congrats, you two.”
Tony placed his focus on Mama who merely smiled as if she’d known all along. She stood and crossed the room to wrap Carmella in her embrace. “I couldn’t be happier for you two. You’re already part of the family, but now you’ll join Angelina in that special place in my heart where daughters belong.”
Carm’s eyes grew bright with unshed tears. “Thank you, Mama G. When Tony proposed, I was as surprised as you are.” Carmella turned to Tony before continuing, “But I promise to take good care of your son.”
“I’ll have to share some of his favorite recipes with you,” Mama G said.
A flash of terror struck Carm’s features before Tony chimed in, “Carmella and I have been enjoying cooking together, and I’m sure we’ll make good use of them, Mama.” He didn’t want Mama to think badly of Carmella if she didn’t enjoy cooking as much as Mama did.
“We would have said something at dinner, but didn’t want to overshadow your own happy announcement,” Carm said.
“How can love overshadow anything? There can never be too much happy news, either.” Mama gave Carmella another hug and a kiss on each cheek. “Your mama and I are going to have to get busy, because my son can be impetuous sometimes.”
Carmella grinned at him. “Really? I hadn’t noticed.” She rolled her eyes at him before growing serious and facing Mama G again. “We plan to tell my parents in person as soon as they return from Italy.”
“Thanks for the heads-up. I won’t spoil the surprise for them.”
Marc moved toward Carmella and gave her a big hug.
