Total pages in book: 197
Estimated words: 199143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 996(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 996(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
“I mades Cain,” Andino said.
Well, it looked more like blobs of grease with tiny finger lines all through it but if his kid saw his dog, then a dog it was.
“It was a good picture of Cain, Andino.” Gio smirked, adding, “But you’re still not supposed to play in grease and oil, buddy.”
“Not supposed to mark on Ma’s car.”
Yep.
Because this wasn’t the kid’s first time making conceptual art on the closest flat surface with whatever he could find.
“Or Papa’s car,” Andino added.
Gio would take it.
His son was learning.
That was all that mattered.
Dante could suffer with cleaning his car as long as it wasn’t one of Gio’s vehicles. Compromise. Gio was all about the compromise where Andino was concerned. It was the best way to get his kid to follow the rules, anyway.
Lucian popped his head out of the living-room entryway with a grin. “Find him, did you?”
Gio scowled. “Shut up.”
“You should have known better; he always gets into something.”
Ignoring his brother’s teasing, Gio walked right on past toward the kitchen. His plan was to find Kim and see if he could convince her to clean up Andino. It was no easy task—the kid didn’t like to be scrubbed, but the grease needed to come off.
Andino always reacted better when his mother laid down the law.
Gio didn’t like to be the bad guy.
Sucker, his mind taunted.
“Bye, Zio Lucian,” Andino called as loudly as he could manage.
“We’re not leaving,” Gio told his son. “We’re going to find your mother and then you’re going to have a bath.”
“Oh.”
Andino’s wiggling started up again.
“Stop it, if you get stuff messy, Zia Catrina will have one of her hissy fits.”
“Was a ... was a hissy fit?” Andino asked, turning in the football-like hold to look up at his father.
Gio thought about the question for a minute. “Zia Catrina when she points and talks a lot. Especially if she’s not smiling, but mostly when she is smiling.”
Andino nodded, taking the words in. “Okay.”
“Jesus, don’t tell him that,” Lucian said, coming up behind his brother as Gio continued his trek with the squirming toddler down the hallway. “Kids repeat everything.”
Gio smirked. “I know, look at your son.”
Lucian smacked Gio in the back of the head. “That’s because of you.”
“Yeah, well, live and learn.”
“That’s bad word,” Andino said like he was just catching up to speed. “Only say Jesus in church and when we eats, Zio Lucian.”
Andino’s little hand popped out at his side.
Gio laughed when Lucian grumbled under his breath.
“Pay up, brother. The kid spoke.”
You’d think Lucian would learn to curb his mouth, but nope. Gio’s entire family thought he would be the one struggling to keep his language under check, but he found it easy. You know, because he liked his goddamn money and all.
Lucian didn’t, apparently.
Andino earned himself a five-dollar bill.
*
“Andino, my God,” Kim said, exasperated. “Stop it, you’re getting it all over your little peepee.”
Gio hid his snickers into his hand. He sobered quickly enough when Kim gave him a look that could have melted him into the wall.
“Sorry,” Gio mumbled, still hiding the smile.
Needless to say, the bathroom was a mess. Grease and oil was not an easy thing to clean. Andino had managed to make streaks of muddy brown and black all over the tiles and bathtub. Even the floor had a few stains from where his little Nike sneakers had taken some of the mess.
“Oh, my God,” Catrina said from the doorway.
Gio cringed when his sister-in-law took in the bathroom and the mess.
Catrina was slightly anal about cleaning. Just a bit.
A lot, really.
It was kind of crazy.
Even Dante pointed it out a time or two.
“What in the hell did he do,” Catrina asked, “bathe in it?”
“Well ... he is now,” Gio said, shrugging. “Or rather, the water looks like it.”
Kim sighed. “Shut up, Gio.”
“All right.”
Cat made a noise under her breath that sounded entirely overwhelmed. “I ...”
Lucian poked his head in the bathroom as well, saying, “Steaks are done. Dante’s just cleaning up in the other bathroom.”
“We’ll be down in a minute,” Gio informed.
Catrina didn’t act like Lucian had said a thing. “Did you let him fingerpaint on the walls, too?”
“It’ll clean,” Gio said.
Cat smiled and nodded.
Andino looked up at his aunt with curious eyes.
Gio knew it ... he knew it was coming.
Nothing could have stopped it.
“Are you hasing a hissy fit, Zia Catrina?” Andino asked sweetly.
Gio caught his brother’s eye at the same time Kim’s head swung around to glare at her husband, likely knowing that had come from him.
Catrina raised a single brow high. She looked happy enough, but Gio knew better. When Cat smiled, nasty was sure to follow. She’d wait until there were no kids around, but she got people back big time.
Claws, the woman was full of them.
“Who told you that?” Cat asked her nephew.
Famous last words ...