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My stomach tightens. “Roman, you shouldn’t...we can’t pull this off with your family.”
“Just for a little while. We have to let them think we’re married. The fewer people who know the truth, the better.” He exhales loudly. “Believe me, none of them can keep a secret and we wouldn’t want them accidently spilling the truth here.”
“I guess you’re right, but how are they going to feel when we have to end this?”
He goes thoughtful and puts one hand on my cheek. “How about we cross that bridge when we come to it?”
“I hope we don’t have to jump off the bridge.”
He laughs, a big, deep laugh that eases the tension inside me and brings a smile to my face. “I don’t think it will come to that.” He bends and gives me a soft kiss. “Come on, they’re dying to meet you.”
A jolt of unease freezes my legs. “I don’t know.” What if they don’t like me? What if they try to break us up like they did when they put blue dye on his toothbrush?
It’s not a real relationship anyway, Peyton.
“It’s going to be fine,” Roman says, reading the worry on my face. “They’re going to love you and vice versa. I promise.”
“Am I dressed okay, maybe I should—” His lips close over mine, swallowing the last of my worries. He inches back, takes my hand and leads me down the stairs. As we walk, the scent of waffles reaches my nose.
“Are they cooking?” I whisper.
“Of course. They said I was looking too thin and need more meat on my bones.” He puts his mouth close to my ear. “The only thing I need on my bone is you.”
I chuckle at that. For a guy who was worried sick about his family, and lives in a whole other country to keep them from meddling, he sure doesn’t seem upset with them being here now. He actually seems...happy. But I’m out of my element here, and so not the type of girl they’d want to see their baby brother with. Roman says otherwise, but unlike them, I have no real heritage, no family outside of my brother. I’ve accepted my lot in life. My past made me the strong woman I am today, but I’m smart enough to know how things work in the real world.
I reach the bottom step and all eyes turn to me—all eyes that resemble Roman’s. It’s not hard to tell they’re all family. “Oh God,” I whisper under my breath, completely overwhelmed, but Roman puts a strong, supportive arm around me and pulls me to his side.
“Everyone, this is Peyton. Peyton, this is my family.”
I give an awkward little wave. “Hi.”
A beat of silence and then one sister spreads her arms. “Bella!”
She comes toward me and Roman says, “I should have warned you. They’re all huggers.”
Before I realize what’s happening, I’m being passed around, each squeeze tighter than the last. The women touch my hair and face, and their praise wraps around me.
“Mia sorella,” Lucy says when she gets a hold of me, and my heart pinches tight. I can’t believe these women are so accepting, calling me their sister. I seek Roman out in the flurry, and he’s leaning against the kitchen island, a huge smile on his face.
One of the sisters, I think it’s Aurora, speaks quickly in Italian. I struggle to grasp what she’s saying.
“English,” Roman says, and she turns back to me.
She fists her hands. “I ought to give it to Roman for keeping you from us, bella.”
“I told you. We wanted time alone before we let you know,” he explains. “We were going to tell you soon, isn’t that right, Peyton?”
“Yes, that’s right,” I say, pushing the lie past a tight throat. Pretending to be married for a job at a school that practices unfair hiring rules is one thing, but straight-up lying to the people he’s closest to doesn’t sit well with me. Not even a little bit.
“I think the waffles are burning,” Roman says.
Aurora leaves my side, and that’s when I spot an elderly woman on the sofa, her purse clutched in her lap, a small smile on her face.
“You must be Roman’s mother,” I say, and move toward her.
She nods and pats the sofa. I sit beside her and she cups my face. She kisses both my cheeks and takes my hand in hers to examine the ring.
“It fits you perfectly,” she says, and I’m not sure she’s talking about the size of it.
