All that innocence is gone from her gorgeous face. Her eyes look sharper. There is also something about her presence that’s more powerful than it once was.
Her lips are painted a bright red to match her shoes, making her full lips pop. Her gaze moves over the room as if she’s searching for someone. When her eyes land on me, a huge smile comes to her lips.
I’m in motion before I can think of what I’m doing. My father forgotten, I move past him and straight for the love of my life. I wrap her in my embrace, cupping her head to my chest as I hold her tightly.
“Rico, we should talk,” my uncle says.
“Fuck you.”
“You best remember yourself.”
“You lied to me. You told me she was dead. I have nothing to say to you.”
I close my eyes and inhale deeply. Her scent does everything to calm me down. I begin to sway with her in my hold. She’s real.
I can feel her heart beating against my chest. She’s fucking alive. I tighten my hold.
“Rico,” she whispers.
I pull away slightly to look down into her face. She cups my cheek and runs her finger over my facial hair. I must look so different to her.
Not able to wait a minute longer, I dip my head and press my lips to hers. I don’t deepen the kiss, and I don’t pull away, afraid she might vanish the moment I try to take too much or break the connection.
“Rico, what the fuck? Who is she?”
Reluctantly, I pull away to find Alyissa glaring at Oni. I’m hit hard with the feeling of déjà vu. I clench my jaw. I’m not about to do this shit again.
“This is my fiancée, Oni,” I say as I give Oni’s waist a squeeze.
She flips her long, waist-length, jet-black hair over her shoulder. “Your fiancée? What the fuck are you talking about?
“You were just talking to my father about proposing to me. Are you serious? What kind of game are you playing?”
“I’m not playing any games. Your father asked me to think about a merger between our families. I never committed to anything,” I reply.
“You’re going to pay for humiliating me, asshole.”
With that, she storms off. Oni moves like she’s going to go after her, but I grab her arm to stop her. She turns to me and some of the anger fades from her face as we lock eyes.
“Don’t worry about her,” I say.
“Fiancée?” she says and lifts a brow.
I wink at her and reach to brush her bangs out of her eyes. I still can’t believe I’m looking at her in the flesh. I don’t know what to feel.
“Oni?”
Turning toward the voice of Mario, I set eyes on him, Al, and Ed. However, Mario seems to be the only one surprised to see Oni. I shake my head.
He didn’t know. As I muse on that, Oni runs into Mario’s embrace. I take her in from behind.
Marone. My girl is all grown up. Her hips are more shapely, her ass is fatter, and she’s filling out that dress like an Insta model. I move behind her and tug her into my front.
Not able to hold myself back, I press my lips to the butterfly tat on the back of her neck. It looks like she has a swarm of them rising up behind her ear and right into the corner of her hairline, just above her nape.
“What’s going on?” Mario says in confusion.
“She’s been in Italy. That asshole lied.”
