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“It looks pretty on your hand.” James nodded. “You should wear it all the time.”

I bent down and hugged him. “I’m going to. Do you know why?”

“Because this means you and Dad are going to get married. But not until after my birthday.”

I grinned. “You’re right, not until after your birthday.”

“Son?”

James looked up and sideways at his dad.

“Do you think I can kiss Zoe now?”

“Me first.” James kissed me on the cheek. I grinned.

Then I stood up, and Adam made sure that he was not upstaged by his son and gave me the kiss of a lifetime.

The porch exploded. I could hear them but couldn’t see them. I was lost in Adam’s kiss.

I was crying and laughing simultaneously, which I hadn't known was possible until this exact moment.

An hour later, Bruno Drakos showed up. He was built like a man who had never once in his life wondered if he could handle a situation. Angelica squealed and ran to give him a hug. As soon as he saw her, he melted.

I was so busy watching the reunion, I didn’t notice the man beside him. He stood slightly back from the brother and sister, not looking awkward, just at peace. Then I noticed his laughing eyes. I liked them.

I went over and introduced myself. "I'm Zoe." I handed him a beer from the cooler on the side table. "I'm Adam's—" I paused, because fiancée was still so new, " —Zoe."

“I’m Matthew, a friend of Bruno’s.”

I looked at Angelica, who shrugged. She didn’t know him either, but she sure was noticing him, and trying not to.

“And you must be Bruno,” I said, introducing myself to her brother. Bruno grinned. It transformed his face. "I've heard about you."

"Good things, I hope."

"Mostly." His eyes moved across the room. They landed briefly on his brother Renzo.

“I need to go catch up,” he said. “You good?” he asked Matthew.

Matthew nodded.

Angelica left with Bruno, but then I was hustled away by James.

It was an hour later that I noticed Matthew was on the periphery of a conversation that Millie and Angelica were having. He looked relaxed and patient.

Bruno came up beside me.

"He seems very relaxed around Angelica," I said to Bruno.

Bruno took a pull of his beer. "He couldn't give less of a shit that my sister is famous. If anything —" He shook his head. "If anything, that's a mark against her in his book."

I looked at Angelica, who was laughing at something Millie had said, her whole face open in the way it only got when she was genuinely off-guard. She still wasn't looking at Matthew.

"Is she in trouble?" I asked.

Bruno's mouth curved. "When Matthew sets his sights on something, he doesn't miss." He said it with the fond resignation of a man who had watched this happen before. "So yeah, she's in trouble."

I was going to enjoy this enormously.