Page 241 of Barinov

Luciana smiles nervously, especially when she glances over at Irina, who—called it—already has her icy bitch mode activated.

Just fucking perfect.

Luckily, the rest of the group doesn’t follow the Ice Queen’s lead. A few people head over at a time to ease the tension, making their rounds to welcome her.

Daniel steps away from the grill to shake Dad’s hand. “Nice of you to finally show up, Rome,” he teases before pulling Luciana into a warm side-hug and whispers something into her ear that makes her chuckle.

Haley and Ellie chime in with casual greetings to break the ice. Cade even manages to break free from Grandpa Bennett’s Wall Street trap and glides over seamlessly.

“Nice to see you again,” he says, offering her an easy smile.

Her nerves soften. “You as well, Cade. It’s very good to see you.”

Even as she talks to him though, her eyes keep darting across the table. Searching until they lock directly onto me.

Lex’s grip on my waist tightens. “Baby, go talk to her.”

“And say what?” My throat feels dry as the fucking Sahara Desert. “Hey, Luciana, I’m the girl who’s mom your husband had a secret love affair with twenty-some-odd years ago?”

Lex clears his throat, caught off guard by my witty retort. “I mean I wouldn’t lead with that.” He presses a kiss to the top of my head. “Just go hug your dad.”

Taking a deep breath, I step out of his hold just as the crowd thins around them.

When I approach, Dad’s face completely lights up. “Bella,” he breathes, opening his arms to me.

I step straight into them. He hugs me tight and buries his face in my hair. When he finally pulls back, he rests his hands gently on my shoulders and turns slightly to bring Luciana into the fold.

“Luce, this is my daughter, Bella,” he says, his voice thick with a pride that makes my heart swell. He glances down at me and smiles. “Bella, this is Luciana.”

Up close, she looks even more elegant. Though, the slight tremor in her fingers reassures me that I’m not the only one anxious about this meeting.

“It’s an absolute honor to finally get to meet you, Bella,” she says, her Italian accent thick and musical. She reaches out and offers her hand. “Roman talks about you so much that I almost feel as if I already know you.”

I take her hand. “It’s really nice to meet you too, Luciana. Welcome to the chaos.”

A heavy silence falls over the three of us for a moment. None of us quite knowing how to bridge the years of distance in a single barbecue. But it’s a sweet kind of awkward, I guess. The kind that promises we have plenty of time to figure it out.

Before the awkwardness of it all can get too heavy, my guys walk over.

“You guys hungry?” Cade asks, holding out a plateful of burgers piled high with all the fixings.

“I snagged us some chips,” Lex adds, shaking a bag of Lay’s.

For a while, the simple conversations between the five of us come easier over food. The anxiety curling deep in my gut slowly easing with each bite.

By the time everyone has finished their dinner, Clay clears his throat and taps his scotch glass once more. The clink, clink, clink redrawing everyone’s attention to him.

“I just wanted to say a few words for our four graduates,” Clay continues, raising his glass high. “To Callum, Cade, Lex, and even August. You’ve worked incredibly hard to get here and whatever comes next, we couldn’t be prouder of the men you’ve become. To the graduates.”

“To the graduates!” Everyone echoes in a loud, boisterous chorus as glasses clink across the table.

The sweet, sentimental gravity of Clay’s beautiful toast lasts for all of five seconds before August and Cal completely destroy the classy vibe.

“That was beautiful, Clay. Really tore at our heartstrings!” August slurs while slamming a bottle of tequila on the table.

“Yes, thank you Dad,” Cal says as he lines up three glowing shot glasses with The Order’s crest on them. “But before we get this party started, August and I have an announcement to make. Knox! Get your ass up here, man.”

“What’s this about?” Knox asks, stepping up to the table.