The Stars That Tremble Read Online Free PDF Page A

gathered up their stuff. He walked over to Dacia. “Thank you for your help today.”
    “My pleasure. This is a great crop of students you’ve got.”
    “I know. I made the right choices.” Although he now had his doubts about Amelia Quinlan.
    Dacia laughed. “Don’t let them hear you say that.” Then she smirked. “Did you know there is a handsome gentleman standing in the doorway?”
    Gio tried not to jerk as he turned his head. Mike was there and shooting Gio an odd look.
    “That’s Emma McPhee’s father.”
    “I see.”
    Gio wondered what Dacia saw. They stopped talking as they watched father and daughter greet each other. Both smiled and Mike asked Emma something Gio couldn’t hear from across the room.
    “ È bello ,” Dacia commented.
    He was quite beautiful. “ Sì. Lo so.”
    “ È sposato?”
    Gio was curious about his history, but at least they’d established that he wasn’t married. “No.”
    “Gay?”
    “ Non lo so. Forse. ” Maybe he was. Gio couldn’t really tell. It seemed unlikely that a girl would have a single gay father, but this was New York and stranger things had happened.
    And now Mike was coming right for them.
    “Hello, Gio,” Mike said with a smile.
    “ Ciao ,Mike.” Gio smiled back and took a moment to appreciate being in Mike’s presence again. Then Dacia cleared her throat. “ Sì. ” He threw a frustrated glance at her before looking back at Mike. “This is my friend and colleague, Dacia Russini.”
    Mike held out his hand. Dacia shook it and smiled at him.
    “ Buongiorno ,” Dacia said. “A pleasure to meet you.”
    “Likewise,” said Mike. “I just wanted to say hi. Emma is trying to make plans with a few of the other girls and doesn’t need me hovering.”
    Dacia reached over and patted Gio’s shoulder. “I must be leaving. I’ll see you at the meeting tomorrow, Gio.”
    “ Molto bene. Ciao ,” he said.
    Mike rocked on his heels as Dacia walked away.
    “Girlfriend?” Mike asked.
    That struck Gio as so ridiculous that he laughed. “Oh, no. Very old friend. We performed together many times, but any romance between us was kept on the stage. She’s married to a choreographer.”
    “Oh.”
    “And she’s, ah, not my type.” He raised an eyebrow.
    Mike’s eyes widened. It occurred to Gio to worry that a blue-collar guy like Mike might be homophobic, but he just nodded and said, “Good to know.”
    Gio second-guessed himself in a way he usually didn’t. He was used to going after and getting what he wanted, and he wanted Mike, but he held himself back. He got kind of a gay vibe off Mike but wasn’t certain, for one thing. He thought fraternizing with the father of one of his students was probably unethical, and that it could be a thorny situation. But he had to know more about this man. Part of it was curiosity about Emma, yes, and wondering where that amazing talent came from. But part of it was just this beautiful man who seemed so unlike anyone else in Gio’s life.
    He said, “I don’t suppose you would be interested in having lunch with me some day this week. You work in the area, right?”
    “For now, yes. Lunch?” Mike’s eyes went wide again, which made Gio think his instincts might have been wrong. He thought he’d sensed some mutual interest, but maybe his gut feeling was not quite accurate.
    “To discuss Emma,” Gio said. “She has the potential to do some really amazing things. I thought I might talk that over with you.”
    Mike’s relief was a palpable thing. Gio couldn’t tell if that was a good or bad sign. “Oh. Yes, of course. Just tell me where or when. I usually take lunch around one.”
    “There’s a little cafe on Sixty-third.” Gio gave Mike directions. “Tomorrow?”
    Mike nodded slowly. “Tomorrow is good.”
    Emma poked her head into the studio. “Dad? I need to run by the music store on the way home. Are you ready?”
    Mike smirked at Gio. “I never know who is in charge here anymore. I guess I’d