Design for Love ((Women of Landry's Landing and The Fabrizio men)

by Quinn, Shelli

  “It wasn’t easy but whenever I had to come home for a visit, I’d let Toni stay with my neighbor an older woman who doesn’t see her family too often.” London said. “Toni gets a bit uncomfortable if she’s around a lot of men she’s been through a lot.”

  “Well I can’t wait to meet her.” Gigi said with a smile.

  “Me too, when is she arriving?” Asia asked.

  “Actually she should be arriving any minute.” Gabe replied.

  “Indy are you okay with all of this?” London asked a little worried about Indy’s reaction.

  “Yes I'm fine with Toni living here what I’m not okay with is you hiding something like this from us for all this time.” Indy responded.

  “I know and I’m sorry I promise to never do anything so stupid ever again. Just please don’t be mad at me.” London pleaded.

  “Fine since it will be a while before I’m able to kick your ass, I’ll forgive you for now. However, remember that you are on thin ice with me little girl.” Indy said.

  “Thanks Indy I love you sis.” London said with excitement.

  “Yeah, I know you better. I love you too now tell us more about Toni.” Indy said.

  “I am proud of you gattino you kept your cool and even though you were mad you didn’t yell and scream at London.” Gio whispered close to her ear. Indy smiled but decided not to say anything at the moment because if they thought that she was going to let this go then they were all out of their damn minds.

  “London it’s wonderful how you stepped in to help this young woman.” Guiseppe said.

  “Yes it certainly is you are going to be a really good wife and mother. Don’t you think so Gabe?” Sera said with a wide smile hoping that he didn’t take as long to marry London as he’d taken to finally start a relationship with her.

  “I certain hope so since I’ve asked her to marry me.” He replied.

  “Oh thank goodness.” She said before turning excitedly to her husband speaking in a rapid flow of Italian.

  Guiseppe laughed as he kissed his wife on the forehead then replied in Italian before addressing the others.

  “Sera was worried that we’d never find the right woman for our Gabriele, but she knew the moment that we met you that you were the woman for him. Now she’s so happy that all our sons will be married to strong, beautiful women. And we are both very pleased to have the Landry women as part of the Fabrizio family.” Guiseppe said with pride.

  “I’m a Landry woman can I be part of your family too.” Toni said as she entered the private dining room.

  Everyone turned to the young woman who had just walked through the door wearing a shy smile, a pair of worn jeans and a shirt that was at least two sizes too big for her. She was a very slender and petite young lady with long, thick sandy brown hair and green eyes. Her complexion was a cross between soft brown and deep beige.

  Toni looked to be closer to sixteen than her real age of nineteen. She was a very pretty girl it was almost impossible to conceive that anyone would want to hurt this young woman. However, a deeper look into her eyes and you could see that she was still working through the emotional trauma that had been inflicted on her before London had come into her life.

  “Hi everybody, I’m Antonia Kristine Landry. However, you guys can call me Toni, hi London.” She said as London walked over to greet her with Gabe following close behind. “You made it, are you alright?” London asked as she hugged Toni.

  “Yeah, I’m fine thanks to your boyfriend, are you Gabe?” She inquired as she looked behind London. Gabe smiled at the girl.

  “That’s me, so did you enjoy the flight here Toni?” He asked with a smile.

  Toni smiled. “Are you serious it was awesome. I've never flown before and that jet was amazing. Thank you so much for bringing me here Gabe, I was really scared, and I missed London.” She said nervously before turning to London as she whispered loudly. “He’s really hot and it doesn’t hurt that he’s got a lot of money. You might want to hold on to this one.”

  “Toni, behave, I know you just got here but don’t make me lock you in the cellar.” London teased.

  “Okay, okay geez! There you go with the threats, and I just walked in the door. Well are you going to introduce me to the rest of the family or am I supposed to be a secret?” Toni said jokingly.

  “Listen you little brat did you dare start that crap with me, I never said you were supposed to be a secret.” London replied.

  “Right, you just didn’t want anyone to know about me, I get it really.” Toni said to push London’s buttons. “I’m just messing with you.” She said as she turned to meet the others.

  “Hi, oh I got this, you’re Gigi, and you’re married to Pierce with a son named Dante.” Toni said as she hugged Gigi then shook hands with Pierce.

  “That’s right. It's nice to meet you Toni and welcome to Landry’s Landing Inn.” Gigi said with a smile.

  “Just let us know if you need anything.” Pierce added.

  “Thanks. Now you must be Indy, and the man next to you has to be Gio? I’ve waited a long time to meet you. London said that you were her inspiration, and that’s why she turned out the way she did. So thank you, I guess if it wasn’t for you, I’d probably be dead right now.” Toni said softly.

  “Hey little girl you’re welcome, but that had better be the last time I hear you say something like that. You didn’t die thanks to London, and now you have more family than you’ll probably ever want. However, it’s a little too late get rid of us now so welcome to the family.” Indy said smiling when Toni hugged her around her baby bump. She then shook hands with Gio, just as she’d done with Pierce.

  She turned her attention to the last Landry sister. “Asia right, so that means that the mountain standing next to you is your husband Luc?” Toni leaned in to hug Asia and whispered in her ear. “You know I’ve seen buildings smaller than him, although he is the cutest mountain I’ve ever seen.” Asia laughed softly as Toni turned to face him with a smile and a hand shake.

  Luc smiled back then leaned down to whisper to her. “You do know that I could hear you right?”

  “What really, I’m sorry are you mad at me?” She asked as she looked up at him nervously.

  “No Toni I’m not mad besides. You'll find out real quick that you just have to get use to insults around here.” Luc teased. Toni released the breath that she didn’t realize that she was holding. She turned towards Guiseppe and Sera Fabrizio.

  “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Fabrizio it’s very nice to meet you.” Toni said as she nervously approached them as she held out her hand.

  “Young lady can you tell me why are you acting as if you’re afraid of us?” Sera asked taking her by the hand.

  “I’m sorry I just wasn’t sure if I should approach you or not. I didn’t want to seem disrespectful and annoying.” Toni said softly.

  “We are all family here Toni so you have nothing to worry about.” Guiseppe said with a smile.

  “Thank you, both of you.” She said as Sera hugged her and Guiseppe shook her hand.

  Tears fall from her eyes as she looked around the room at her new family before smiling uncontrollably.

  “Girl, why are you crying?” Gigi asked with concern.

  “She does that a lot you’ll get use to it.” London said with a smile.

  “Oh no, the hell we won’t, girl you’re a Landry woman now so you’re going to have to stop all that damn crying. We don’t cry honey. We get even. And another thing we have got to get you some boxing lessons. That way, the next time anybody lays a hand on you, you can hit them so hard their mom will feel it.” Indy said as she returned to her seat.

  “Indy, would you stop you’re going to scare the poor girl.” Asia said.

  “Well she may as well get use to it, because since she is family now, she’s going to need to develop a much tougher skin.” Indy said.

  “Okay, before we work on that, I need to feed you so that we can put some meat on those bones of yours. Girl we need to get
you some curves.” Asia said.

  “We also need to take you shopping and find something for you to do around here.” London said.

  “After you eat, we’ll take you shopping in the meantime. Why don’t you tell me some of the things you’re good at, or that you like to do?” Gabe said as she held her chair out for her.

  “Thanks, well I’m good with numbers, I love math.” Toni said.

  “That’s true she’s a genius with numbers.” London added.

  “Well that’s perfect, I need to hire an assistant, and since I handle all the numbers for Fabrizio Industries you can work for me if you’d like.” Gabe said.

  “Thanks I’d think I’d really like that, London wanted to send me to accounting school, but I was afraid to go too far away from the loft and definitely not for long periods of time. And being around too many people makes me nervous. Then when I get nervous I start talking too much.” Toni said while twisting and ringing her hands.

  “Yeah we’re going to have to work on that too. We can’t have her around here running her mouth like a speed boat. The last thing we need is for all our business to get out.” Indy murmured.

  “Come on girl let’s go get you something to eat.” Asia said as she and Luc took Toni to the kitchen.

  “I sure hope you eat as much as you talk, because when it comes to food we do not play around here.” Luc teased.

  “Is that how you got to be so big?’"Toni asked as they made their way to the kitchen.

  “No sweetie, he was pretty much that size when he got here.” Asia said laughing.

  “Yeah, but thanks to my wife I’ve picked up a few pounds, since I’ve been here.” Luc said teasing Asia about eating so much of her cooking.

  “Hey, I didn’t tie you up and make you eat my cooking the problem is your greedy ass is never full. But if you’d like, I could put you on a diet and start feeding you lettuce and sprouts.” Asia said defensively.

  “And miss out on your delicious cooking, as I waste away to nothing. Uh, I don’t think so, bellezza.” Luc said with a smile.

  “Boy, you know good and damn well that there is not a chance in hell that you’d waste away to nothing.” Asia said as she glanced at him over her shoulder.

  “She’s right you know there’s way too much of you to waste away to nothing.” Toni added shyly.

  “I think I’m going to like having a little sister.” Asia said turning to put her arm around Toni as they continued towards the kitchen.

  “I think Toni will be fine here she still seems a bit timid when it comes to men, but we’ll help her get stronger. Besides if she’s made it this far surviving everything she’s been through, then she should be able to survive living with us.” Gigi said.

  “Of course she will, but we need to get her signed up for some classes to help boost her self-esteem and further her education.” Pierce said.

  “That’s a good idea, but I think we should start by hiring a private teacher for her until she’s comfortable being around a lot of people.” Gabe said.

  “Yes, but you need to make sure that her teacher is a woman, so that she doesn’t feel uneasy.” Sera added with concern for Toni's welfare.

  “You’re right about that mom.” Gio said. “And before my wife does something she has no business doing I think I’ll look into this stepfather situation and figure out what we can do about it.” He added giving Indy a look that said he knew exactly what she was thinking.

  Indy smiled at him as she rubbed her tummy. “Thanks tiger that saves me a lot of trouble from going behind your back.”

  “Yeah, I could hear the wheels turning in your head ever since London told you what happened. So I thought it would save both of us some trouble, gattino.” Gio said to his wife.

  “Well just let us know if there is anything we can do to help, and we’ll happy to do what we can.” Guiseppe said with a smile.

  Chapter Ten

  It had been almost two weeks since Toni had arrived, and London was so happy that she was fitting right in. Asia and Luc had finally moved into their new house and very soon she. Gabe and Toni would be moving into their new house as well. Gabe had moved into her room, and they’d given Toni his old room. They would definitely need a bigger house because it seemed that Gabe was always buying Toni something. If she so much as commented on something she like the next, she knew Gabe was buying it for Toni.

  That young lady was becoming a spoiled diva, but she also worked hard helping out wherever we asked her to. They realized rather quickly that she was good at a number of things, and she had a head and talent for marketing. They’d trusted her with promoting and marketing the debut of Designs by London as well as the new upcoming events for the Inn. She’d amazed them all with her work. They've had nothing but positive feedback about all her work.

  Her private teacher was full of praise about her learning capabilities. She couldn’t believe how easily Toni picked up on things.

  London was happier than she ever thought possible she, and Gabe were doing well and Toni seemed to be blossoming into a confident young woman. And tonight was the debut of Designs by London as well as Design for Love by London. Everyone was extremely excited and could hardly wait to see the premiere of both lines.

  Toni had planned an elegant upscale event inviting the media, local business and boutique owners as well as a few high end buyers. It was meant to be a black-tie affair and was by invitation only. The countdown had begun, and the event was scheduled to start in eleven hours. They would all be wearing London originals she’d designed and made each of their outfits personally. Thanks to all of Toni’s help she’d had plenty of time to get it done.

  Gabe joined London on the balcony as they enjoyed the crisp early-morning air. It looked as if it was going to be a beautiful day. Gabe moved behind London and slipped his arms around her waist while nuzzling her neck. She lifted her hand over her shoulder and placed it on the back of his head smiling at the overwhelming joy she felt for him and the contentment of the life together.

  “So tonight is your big night, are you nervous?” He asked softly.

  “A little, but I’m also very excited.” She replied.

  “As you should be, you’ve worked really hard, and it’s going to be a great success.” He said to reassure her as well as to calm her nerves.

  “I sure hope your right because if it’s a big flop I’ll be looking for a new job.” She said only half joking.

  “You already have a new job remember you’re going to be my wife, and my mother seems to think that’s going to be quite a task. However, I don’t think you have anything to worry about I promise you everyone is going to love your designs.” He said.

  “You shouldn't make promises you can’t keep lover.” She said with a slight smile.

  “Hey, you should know by now that Fabrizio men never make promises that we can’t keep. It’s in our blood to live up to what we say.” Gabe said as he applied tiny kisses along her neck.

  “Oh my gosh, the two of you are at it again. It must be nice to be in love?” Toni said as she came out onto the balcony carrying a tray with three mugs of coffee and fresh baked cinnamon rolls.

  “Well good morning to you too, bambina. And to answer your question yes it is nice to be in love. However, you’ll find out all about that one-day kiddo.” Gabe said bumping her gently with his shoulder as he walked over to get the cup of coffee she’d brought out for him. Toni used her shoulder to bump him back she’d become a lot more comfortable around Gabe and the Fabrizio men. Gabe had started calling Toni bambina meaning little girl shortly after she’d arrived since he thought of her as a little sister. London was happy that Toni thought of him and the other Fabrizio men as family just as she did with her and her sisters.

  “Yeah, yeah good morning you guys. And as for finding love, I won’t hold my breath big brother.” She said as she picked up a cinnamon roll, but before she could take a bite Gabe reached over and grabbed it quickly taking a big bite.

  “Thanks for
breakfast bambino.” He said as he took a seat at the patio table.

  “Hey, that was mine.” Toni said taking the seat across from him leaving the chair next to him for London.

  “Thanks, Toni.” London said as she handed her a mug and a roll.

  “No problem, so how are you this morning? Are you nervous?” Toni asked.

  “I am, just a little.” London replied as she took a sip of her coffee.

  “Well don’t be. Everything is going to be just fine. Your show is going to be a really big hit, I can feel it.” Toni said excitedly.

  “See I told you even Toni knows that you’ll be a hit, after tonight you’ll be the talk of the town.” Gabe said with a smile as he ate his cinnamon roll.

  “I certainly hope so, anyway I’m supposed to go over to the house this morning. There was some problem with the cabinets in the kitchen, so on top of everything else I need to do I have to deal with this.” London said in frustration.

  “Dolcezza, I’ll take care of the problem with the house you just do what you need to do to get ready for your show.” Gabe said as he stood up from the table.

  “Really are you sure, because that would be great.” She replied in relief.

  “Sure I’d do anything to make things easier for you my sweet.” He said as he bent over to kiss her gently on the lips.

  “I’m going to stay here and help London, so I won’t be in the office today.” Toni said.

  “Well would you listen to you okay boss you take the day off, I think I can handle things without you for one day.” Gabe said as he reached over and tapped her on the nose with his finger.

  “If you say so, and stay away from my desk, because the last time I left you alone for a day you had my well-organized work space in complete disarray.” Toni yelled as he headed for the door.

  “I was looking for a file I’d asked you for before you left.” Gabe said defensively stopping just inside the door.

  “Yeah, the file that I’d put on your desk before I left.” She said sarcastically.