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Heartbroken tears sting my eyes.
A handful of people step forward and start congratulating the happy couple.
Mom laughs and waves them off. “Don’t congratulate us. There’s no baby on the way just yet.”
Laz’s eyebrows lift in surprise. “What are you talking about, Giulia? The baby will be here soon. In about eight months, in fact.”
The smile drops from Mom’s face. “But I’m not pregnant yet.”
“No, you’re not.” Laz’s gaze swings to me, trying to disappear on the other side of the room. “But Mia is. Mia’s having my baby.”
My world contracts to a shocking pinpoint.
Confused heads turn to stare at me.
I’mwhat?
I stare at Laz across a sea of people. His handsome face is calm and his expression steady. My stomach is pitching back and forth like a ship on high seas, and the sparkling water and lemon has turned sour in my mouth.
Come to think of it, everything’s tasted weird lately, and my stomach has been so upset, but that’s because of nerves. It couldn’t possibly be because I’m...
Sore breasts.
Missed periods.
Tired.
Nauseated.
And yet I’m glowing.
I start shaking my head and backing away, but I run into a pillar.
It’s not true.
It can’t be true.
The silence is broken when Mom rips her hand from Laz’s and screams. No words, just a long, angry shriek.
Uncle Tomaso appears at my side and grabs my wrist, squeezing painfully. “Is this true? What have you got to say for yourself, you shameful whore?”
“Don’t you dare talk to the mother of my child that way,” Laz growls, pushing through the crowd toward us. “You have anything to say, you say it to me.”
Suddenly everyone is talking. Exclaiming. Gesticulating.
I’m trapped in a nightmare.
“I have a question,” Laz shouts over the din, and everyone slowly falls silent. “My brothers were so desperate for me to marry into the Bianchi family. What I want to know is, why I wasn’t offered Mia in the first place.”
Uncle Marzio and Uncle Roberto exchange glances. Marzio frowns and replies, “We didn’t think of Mia.”
Laz stares around at everyone, his eyes glittering. “That’s the problem with this family. No one ever thinks of Mia. I don’t understand why none of you even considered her when she’s closer to my age. Did you know she’s funny as well? That she’s clever? She’s got a witty comeback for everything. She drives like a goddamn demon, and you know what else? She’s beautiful, and I’m in love with her.”
Laz turns slowly on the spot, gazing into the astonished faces of his family and mine.
“Is it such a shock that anyone could love Mia?”
No one replies.
