Celina caught the quizzical look in Lauro’s expression. Quickly deducing his thoughts, she was appalled. “Except for having his father’s temperament, Marco takes after my side of the family. He quite favors my father.”
“And is he still living?”
“My father, also named Marco—Marco Romano—died of a heart attack when I was a teenager.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” He patted the top of Marco’s head. “And your mother?”
Celina shook her head. “A couple of years later, she became ill.”
Even now, she found it difficult to talk about her mother. So great was Stella Romano’s grief over the death of her husband that the summer before Celina was to start college, her mother’s body had revolted against the thought of living without him. When Stella discovered a lump in her breast, her doctor had immed
