Page 56 of Taking His Heart

“Because my money is your money, babe. If I’m paying 50k for a bottle of whiskey, so are you.”

“Huh, you know what? Maybe I can swing the family and friends discount,” she hums to herself.

“Right, you two, your fathers are taking up space in my foyer,” Tío E says. “Daniella, I hear a welcome to the family is in order.”

“Thank you,” Daniella replies.

“Don’t fuck it up.” Tío E points to me. “I’m not missing out on that whiskey because you fucked shit up with the De Bellis family.”

I shake my head. “I’m not a fuckup, Tío E.”

“You’re all fuckups, the entire generation,” he grumbles.

“Even Jazzy?”

At the mention of my sister’s name, Tío E smiles. “Not her. She’s the exception.”

I roll my eyes. My sister is everyone’s favorite child. Then again, she does have a heart of fucking gold, so I get it. She’s my favorite too.

I take Daniella’s hand in mine and follow Tío E out to the foyer. The moment we reach our fathers, my wife is ripped away from me as Mr. De Bellis wraps his arms around her.

“You okay?” he asks, not letting go of her.

“I’m fine,” Daniella tells him, not pulling away.

I wait, and wait, and wait for him to eventually let her go. The moment he does, I take hold of her hand and earn myself a glare from my new father-in-law.

“What the fuck happened?” he grunts.

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” I counter.

“CJ, a word.” My dad nods his head towards the back of the house. I look from Daniella to my father and then back at my wife.

“I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere,” I tell her.

“Where the hell would I go?” she asks as I walk away.

“A little more diplomacy wouldn’t go astray when dealing with your father-in-law,” Dad says.

“You killed yours. That kind of diplomacy?”

“He tried to kill your mother. Almost did. Our situations are not the same,” Dad reminds me.

“Fine.”

“Besides, Daniella loves her family. Putting a rift between you and them is not the way you want to start your marriage.”

“You bring me out here to give me marriage advice?” I quirk a brow at him.

“No. Lailani found the house Gio’s been looking for. We’re about to head there now.”

“Cool. I’m coming.”

“Actually, you’re taking Daniella to the jet. She’s going home.” This comes from Gio De Bellis.

“She is home,” I correct him.

Mr. De Bellis glares at me. “There are things back in Melbourne she needs to attend to before she can just move here.”