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“I think that if I had your boobs, I’d run the world by now. Or be in prison.”
Abbe checked in the full-length mirror and knew the dress looked fabulous on her. “But what about your mom? I don’t want to give her the wrong idea about me.”
Bianca rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry about her. Cass and I will handle her.”
That did not sound good to Abbe at all, but before she could find a way to broach the subject of their mother she heard the cheerful sound of Daisy’s dog tags jingling as she and Rafe joined them. He was wearing a close-fitting dark suit and dress shirt that hugged him perfectly.
“What is taking you so long?” he complained. He stopped complaining when he saw Abbe, though.
She held out her arms, doing a little turn so he could see the dress. “What do you think?” she asked.
He didn’t answer, but he turned to his sister and said, “Cass was threatening to have you followed tonight.”
“No way!” she said, furious, and already hurrying to the door. “Not again.”
As she left Rafe came toward Abbe with a dangerous look on his face.
Abbe giggled. “We’re already running late,” she said, knowing what he was thinking.
“They’ve got plenty of champagne out there. They can wait,” he said, already pulling her against him and reaching around the back of her for the zipper.
She tried to wriggle away from him. “You’re going to mess up my hair,” she said, pleading with him.
“I’m going to mess up a lot more than your hair,” he promised.
Abbe’s laugh was cut off by a kiss as he backed her up against the built-in shelves in the middle of the room.
“I remember this place,” he said, dropping his lips down to kiss her bare neck.
“We really should go,” Abbe said weakly as she slid her hands down his chest toward his belt. Rafe momentarily turned his head to look down.
“Daisy. Go lie down,” he said gently, and her dog tags jingled merrily as she obeyed and made her way out.
Many minutes later they joined the rest of Rafe’s family out in the living room area, his arm draped over her shoulders and her arm underneath his suit jacket and wrapped around his waist. The conversation petered out as all eyes turned to them.
Abbe could feel his uncle Gabriel’s surprise at seeing Rafe this way. It was similar to how both Bianca and Cassiel had reacted to seeing Rafe being affectionate with someone outside the family. She knew Rafe must be aware of it, but he didn’t let go of Abbe completely, even though she tried to shy away from him. He let his arm drop from her shoulders, but he kept her hand in his as he brought her to an older woman who was talking with Gabriel and a man she didn’t recognize.
“So you finally decided to join us,” the older woman said. She was tall and thin, and although Abbe knew she was possibly in her late fifties or early sixties, it was hard to tell. She was a very well taken care of woman, who had probably had several very discreet procedures to keep herself looking not that much older than Rafe.
“Mother, this is Abbe,” he said, introducing her. “Abbe, this is my mother, Francesca, and her husband, Ludo.”
Francesca looked Abbe up and down with what seemed to be a warm smile, but the warmth stopped at her eyes.
“I’ve heard so much about you,” she said, not indicating in any way if what she’d heard was bad or good.
Abbe smiled back at her and decided honesty might be best. “I haven’t really heard all that much about you yet. Rafe and I just met a few weeks ago so there’s a lot we haven’t talked about yet,” she said. “But I am happy to meet you.”
Francesca’s eyes flared with interest, and then she turned her attention to her son, asking him questions about people Abbe didn’t know and hadn’t heard about yet. Honesty worked to impress his mother this time, but Abbe had a feeling that would not always be the case.
Abbe felt Cassiel at her elbow as Francesca edged Rafe away from her, and she turned to him.
“Nice,” he said, regarding his mother. “Just remember, she’s way more scared of you than you are of her.”
“I’m not scared of her,” Abbe said.
Cassiel gave a little laugh. “I wouldn’t get cocky if I were you.”
Abbe frowned, watching Francesca. She was beautiful and charming and there was obviously a lot more going on here than just a normal family gathering like she was used to. She sighed heavily.
