Chapter 37: GABRIEL

Breakfast in the morning was a riotous mess. Ma was in her element, having the whole family here, including the grands as well as Gianna’s relatives who had gone from talking about the party the night before to the upcoming trip to Paris and the ball. I learned that Gianna was going to be busy once we returned from the Caribbean, which is a good thing. It will give me time to put the finishing touches on the Fontane issue while gearing up for mine.

Aside from finding her the perfect gowns last minute, which they didn’t seem as worried about as the other stuff her invite entailed, there was a mind-numbing amount of crap she had to go through. I’d been there for my sisters’ and knew she had a long road ahead of her. I’d gained a whole new respect for the tradition after getting an up-close look from behind the scenes.

Before, I thought it was a lot of waste for what boiled down to just a party. But the way the women in my family act it’s almost like a rite of passage, and I can see w