“Let me grab a jacket. Be right back.” She started to fret that there was nothing to do justice to her gown like a typical female before I stopped her.“No need. Here.” I walked to the coat closet where the rest of her outfit waited and removed the cape I’d left hanging there.“Oh my, it’s beautiful.” I draped the ermine coat around her shoulders and stood back to look. The padded silk cape had been died to match her gown in daffodil yellow, while the white ermine border glistened beneath the light of the chandelier. “I’ve never seen anything like this.” She ran her hands over the fur in awe.I took her hand and led her to the door, or I have a feeling she’d have stood there all night admiring herself. She hadn’t yet noticed the butterflies outlined with gold thread pattern that flitted along the back and sides of the cape, but I knew that would be a whole other conversation if she did, and I didn’t want my prey to retreat before the finale I had planned.“It’s not too cold, is it?
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
Continued from Part 1: The Life The Beginning I waited for her to go inside before making my way around to the other side of the house. “You two don’t need to follow me.” I saw Lance and Pop lurking in the shadows out the side of my eye like the worriers they are. Lance took a step forward, but Pop stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back.“We’re right here, son; you go ahead.”The gate slid open, and I stepped out to see the car parked there. I’ll give him this; he looked genuinely worried. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, wanted to believe that everything that had happened to her had gone over his head and that he wasn’t a willing participant, but I can’t overlook the fact that that shit did happen on his watch.Whitewashing his part in her unjust treatment at the hands of the woman he himself had brought into her life would just be another slap in her face. I’d just be one more person who didn’t take her feelings and wellbeing into consideration,
DRACOWhen the hell did my kid take action? I could’ve sworn he was too busy playing lover boy all weekend to get up to anything else but apparently, he still had enough spare time to take a shot at the one in Sicily. As volleys go, it wasn’t a big one, but it was a strategic move. I felt equal parts pride and alarm. He’s really going through with it.I tapped on a few keys and went digging a little deeper just to make sure he’d covered himself and didn’t see anything that could lead back to him for now, but I’m almost certain he doesn’t intend to keep it that way. I took a deep breath and turned off the screen in front of me. Because Gabe has been so good at hiding his actions from me, I’d decided to go the other route and watch Ricci’s movements instead.The few million euro he’d cost Ricci was nothing to sneeze at; the man could afford it, but it’s the other people involved, the business deal he’d just scratched from behind the scenes that might cause an issue. I’m pretty sure he
Seven o’clock. I barely slept a wink all night, too busy trying to see all the varying angles of what I had set in motion and discard any loopholes. I expect pushback from Victoria and her mom, maybe some others as well, but I’d also made moves to stem that flow, cut their wings if you will. I just need everything to go off without a hitch today; then, we’ll go from there. My biggest problem is how to pull it all off without Gianna being affected in any way. I want whatever hate that’s going to be thrown to come my way, but I know they wouldn’t dare, so if I don’t handle things correctly, she could end up catching even more hell from those two. Then I’d end up being wanted on two continents in my short lifetime.I sat in the steam room for half an hour, sweating out the angst of feeling like a parent sending my kid off to school for the first time. I’m having a hard time only because I’ve yet to decide what role I will play today. Am I the love interest or just a big brother looking
“Have you heard? Three people got expelled this morning.”“Really, who?”“Victoria Fontane, Jessica Adler, and Amber Vaughn.”“What the heck happened?”“I’m not sure, still waiting for the details, but apparently, it had something to do with Gabe Russo.”“Whoa, they messed with him? Are they dense? That guy is like Loki.”“Shh, he’s right over there. He’ll hear you.”Loki? Have I been too soft? How dare he? Still, I had to hide a smile. Nana works fast. I kept my eyes closed, and my head leaned back against the chair in the dining hall where the others were eating lunch at my table. It was more crowded today than any other, but I didn’t complain because they were here to see Gianna.I know she heard the whispers because her body tensed up, and I felt her head swivel in my direction. When the shakes started, I covered her hand on the table with mine but didn’t open my eyes. I was too busy navigating my thoughts around what I suspect would be Victoria’s next move. Now that she
I love the smell of money. I ran my nose over the stack of crisp bills and felt a whole lot better than I had when the mysterious man came to pick up the car. “Mom, who was that? Where did you get that?” Shit, I forgot she was here. Victoria walked into the room and stood over the bed where I’d emptied the money bag with thirty neatly bound stacks of ten thousand brand spanking new hundred-dollar bills each.I hurried to put it away while struggling to come up with an explanation. “Never mind that how about we go shopping? That will make you feel better, wouldn’t it?” When I saw the light in her eyes, I knew she’d forgotten all about her question.“Let’s drive to New York; I want to shop there, not at these stupid stores around here.”I knew why she wanted to go, she’s my daughter after all, and as long as I can keep her from asking any prying questions, I’m willing to do anything. Still, how would I explain the more than five-hour trip away from home without any warning? I know; I’
She seemed to catch herself, or maybe the fact that I wasn’t returning her embrace finally registered, and she started to pull away in embarrassment. I warned myself not to, but I couldn’t stand the thought of putting a damper on her mood, so I pulled her back into my chest for just a few seconds more.“You’re happy with your surprise; I take it.”“Yes, very. I don’t know how you did it but thank you. I’ve always been afraid of something happening to the car before it came to me.”“Now, you no longer have to worry. We’ll see about getting your permit sometime this week, and I’ll teach you how to drive; until then, you may drive up and down the driveway.”“You’ll teach me?” How does she get that light in her eyes?“Of course, who else?” She seemed overly pleased by that, and alarm bells started going off in my head. I cleared my throat and released her, turning to walk into the house. “There’s more inside if you can pull yourself away from the car.”“More? What more?”“Why don’t