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“Uh, sure.” I turn to Vito, doing my best to smile, absolutely hating the feeling of his hand on my back, clammy and warm through my dress. “Do you mind?”
“Of course not,” he says smoothly, playing the in-love role way better than me.
Lexi’s green and blue eyes are filled with suspicion as we walk into the house together. We walk up the stairs and then into the guest bedroom. Lexi slams the door behind me, turning to me with her arms folded. She’s still glowing from the pregnancy, her hair wild, but as she stares at me, all the joy in her is draining away.
No, that’s me being dramatic. That’s me projecting.
I turn away, walk to the window, and look at the party. Vito is still shaking hands, standing next to Dad. From the way Dad’s speaking, I get the sense he’s explaining who Vito is to the understandably confused crowd.
Maybe Lexi can sense I don’t want to speak right away. She murmurs, “Where are your paintings?”
“Scarlet and Elio’s,” I tell her. “I flit between there and here. That way, I can give Alessia and Leonardo some space. Then, when Scarlet and Elio get sick of me, I can give them some space, too.”
Lexi sighs. “Nobody is sick of you. Look at me, Mia.”
I turn, struggling to fight the instinct to run away. There’s too much edginess in me. Even Lexi doesn’t know what happened with Dad.
“I’m looking. What now?”
“Don’t get snappy,” she says. “We both know this is weird. We talk almost every day, and I’ve never, not once, heard you mention Vito.”
I remember what Dad said downstairs, the story we will tell. “That’s because it was a long-distance relationship. I knew him before I came here. We dated, and then it became long-distance. That’s it.” I hesitate, sounding unconvincing even to myself. “It’s the right time.”
Lexi walks over to me and takes my hand gently. There’s so much affection in her. “How many times have you said you don’t want a man… ever?” My mind flits to Dante. As I made the announcement in the garden, I’m sure he had his teeth clenched, like he was filled with anger… or jealousy? “And now, just like that, you’re getting married?”
“Sometimes it happensjust like that, Lexi. You know that.”
Lexi shakes her head slowly. “If you were feeling all the crazy love Colt and I felt, I would’ve known. Especially since you’ve told me probably a million times you don’t want to settle down, ever.”
“Well… maybe Vito is different.”
Lexi squeezes my hand. “Seriously, what’s going on, Mia? Listen, you’ve dropped hints over the last year, okay?”
“Hints?” My voice is tight, almost like I’m about to start crying, but Iwon’tlet that happen.
“Come on…” She tilts her head at me. “You’ve mentioned lots of things, Mia, that make me wonder if, well, maybe you and your dad didn’t have the best relationship.”
I bite my lip, my eyes stinging. “Yeah, well, maybe…”
“And now he’s here, and you’ve suddenly got a man…”
“So what?”
“I’ve heard about arranged marriages in mafia Families and the princesses sold off for alliances, things like that. Maybethat’swhat’s happening.”
The truth is, I don’t know why Dad wants me to marry Vito.
“I don’t know, Lexi.”
“What don’t you know?” she asks sharply.
“What to do. Just listen, okay? You have to promise me you won’t get involved. You have to promise you won’t tell Colt. Please, Lexi.”
She doesn’t look happy about it, but after everything we’ve been through, she mutters, “I promise.”
“I can’t tell you what happened. I just can’t bring myself to say it. Even in my own head, I try to keep it locked down.”
“I get that,” she says, and I know she’s telling the truth. I know what happened between her and this creep called Ralph, a sicko who abused her when she was a kid and who’s now on death row for murder.
