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I usually wouldn’t mind her coming on to me, but today, I’m on a mission to make everyone believe my womanizing days are over. And I suppose in a way, they are, at least for a while. I don’t plan on giving Mia any reason to doubt me.
I need her to be in love with me so that I can get closer to her...and closer to Luca. She needs to think that I’m serious, and that we’re family.
“Things have changed,” I admit, and Nico walks up to me, looking at me with that intense stare of his.
“What have you done?” he asks in a low tone, and I know that he’s heard.
I grin. “I got engaged,” I announce, and Doreen stares at me blankly.
“You’re lying,” she says flatly.
“Why would I lie? My father wished for me to get married to Mia Lorenzo, and so I’m giving him his final wish.”
“Why would he want you to marry a Lorenzo, of all people?” Nico asks, while Doreen excuses herself to the bar.
I shrug, although I have an idea that my father wanted me to know the truth about Luca, too. There’s no other reason he could have wanted me to marry Mia.
Nico looks at me coolly, and I know that he’ll want more information, but I’m not even letting my best friend in on this.
For all he knows, I’m happily engaged.
“You don’t love her,” Doreen states, out of nowhere, when I walk up to the bar where she’s standing. She’s throwing back martinis.
“Not yet,” I admit. “But love comes, they say.”
Doreen scoffs. “You’re throwing your life away on that prude.”
I raise an eyebrow. “She hasn’t been a prude with me,” I comment, slightly annoyed that Doreen is talking about Mia that way. And after that, she shuts her mouth.
Mia may be young, but I wouldn’t describe her as a prude. Delicious, yes. Innocent, also yes. Prude, no way.
I grab my drink and walk back into the foyer, mingling.
Luca Lorenzo shows up after an hour or so, and I’m only on my second drink, nursing it. I want all my wits about me.
He says hello to me and pulls me into a hug.
“Has Dante told everyone he’s going to be my son?” he announces, and my blood runs cold at his words. I’llneverbe his son. I grit my teeth, telling myself that this is the only way to take him down.
“I’ve been telling everyone,” I say, giving him a tight smile. “Mia’s a little worried about my reputation, so I wanted everyone to know.”
Luca laughs. “We all have reputations when we’re young and unmarried,” he says dismissively.
I don’t mention that he had some overlap between his Russian wife and his mistresses.
Nico is on his way to drunk, which is unusual for him, but it is his day off and he is here as a guest too, so I just take a few videos and laugh.
“Why didn’t you bring her?” Luca asks.
“We’re still getting settled in,” I respond. I will eventually start bringing Mia to some of these events, especially parties like this, because I want us seen together plenty, but she doesn’t need to witness all the women throwing themselves at me on day one, before I have the chance to warn them off. They know I’m not a relationship kind of guy, or wasn’t at least, so they tend to show no respect if I’m with someone.
And I wanted them to also have the curtesy of knowing I’m no longer available without rubbing it in or making it look like Mia is just another woman on the rotation. Because she’s not.
Luca nods, heading to the bar to get himself a drink.
Felicia Nunez is the next woman to walk up to me, and like Doreen, I’ve hooked up with her quite a few times. We’ve been on and off again with a physical relationship for years. She knows it will never be more than that, though. No feelings involved ever.
“I hear you’re getting married,” she says, her face slightly hurt, and I give her a sympathetic smile.
