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Picking up my fork, I stab a piece of chicken, feeling my mother’s eyes on me. “I haven’t really thought about it if I’m being honest.” My stomach feels sour over the conversation, but I force myself to eat.
“You can’t be serious?” My mother all but yells as she twirls pasta around her fork, her dark hair shaking around her head at me. “We only have a few months to plan, so we need to get started soon.” She takes a bite of her food, her finger rising to dab at the corner of her lips, “I want you to pick the colors at least, and I’m sure Francesca and I can handle the rest.”
The chicken sits heavy on my tongue as I nod, forcing myself to swallow. “I’m sure I can handle that.”
Chapter FOurteen
GAVINO
My fingers twitched behind my back as I stood before my father and Geo. Nearly four and a half months ago, I was in this same position, but this time, I was more confident that I’d get what I was asking for.
“Let me get this straight.” Geo says before my father can answer, earning himself a raised brow, “You already asked to marry my daughter and now you’re asking for her to move in with you months before the wedding is even supposed to take place?”
With a deep breath, I nod, “Yes, sir.”
Geo snorts, his attention moving to my father. “I will admit, yourbastardosure has some enormous balls on him.”
My father tuts, eyeing me where I stand. “Gavino just knows what he wants, and he isn’t afraid of asking for it. It’s a quality you should find admirable for someone marrying your daughter.” His tongue picks at his teeth as he continues to stare at me. “But he does a lot of asking, doesn’t he?”
Sensing the pair is about to shut me down, my confidence falters. “If I may speak,Capo Famiglia?”
His hand waves as Geo props his hip against my father’s desk, both of their eyes heavy on me.
“I am marrying Beverly because she is impure, correct?” Geo’s eyes narrow, but my father nods. “She’s currently living alone in her own apartment with no security. I can provide for her and keep her safe if she moves in with me now. And knowing how women can be, is it wrong of me to be worried she might stray again?”
“Are you insinuating that my daughter is a whore?” Geo steps forward, voice raised.
I’m preparing to answer, and in a manner I don’t think he’d like, but my father interjects.
“Of course he isn’t, Geo. Calm down.” My father waves him off, leaning back in his chair. “What he says has some value, though. Beverly would be safer if she lived with Gavino, and he can start providing for her, so you no longer have to.” His neck bends as he lazily looks at Geo. “It seems like a win-win situation, Geo.”
Geo’s jaw works as he glares at me, but he nods reluctantly. “Fine. Beverly can move in with Gavino, but the wedding date stays the same.” One of his hands raises, scrubbing the side of his head as he speaks to my father. “She deserves more than a shotgun wedding, especially since she’s already marrying yourbastardo.”
My father claps, sitting forward in his chair. “Great, then it’s settled.” His eyes lock with mine, my heart pounding in my ribcage. “You can move Beverly in with you, but I’m tired of hearing your questions, and we both know Geo is.”
Wetting my lips, I nod, my eyes flicking between the two men. “Understood. Thank you,Capo Famiglia.”
He waves me out and I quickly turn to exit the room, my gut tight with excitement as I make my way out to my SUV. Beverly had mentioned last night that she was having lunch with her mother today at Du Pointe Lounge—perhaps I’d drop by and tell her the good news.
There’s a smile on my face as I start my rig and pull from the lot, an excitement I haven’t felt since being granted permission to marry Beverly tingling along my limbs. We’ve had a tough couple of weeks, and I try to remind myself that Beverly needs time to adjust, but I’m can’t help but feel like she’shadthe time. Viva and my brother have been married for months now, Beverly has no reason to still be hung up on him. Not when I’m here, doing my best to make her love me.
And why doesn’t she love me?
I’ve asked myself that question countless times over the years, and I have yet to come up with an answer. I’ve always been the one that was there for her, always been a friend to her. Remy was a bully, yet she fell for him—something I have yet to fully understand. And even now my brother somehow keeps her under his thumb, despite her being mine now. But things will change once she’s living with me. I’ll be everything she needs from the moment she steps foot through my door.
Pulling up to the restaurant, I shoot Beverly a text.
I’ll be out front when you’re done.
I watch as she exits the building with her mother, her eyes dropping to look at my text before she scans the parking lot for my car.What great timing.The dress she’s wearing sways around her thighs as she walks toward my car, her long dark hair lightly blowing in the breeze. Her cheeks are pink from the slight nip in the air, the soft scent of lavender wafting into the cab as she opens the door and climbs into the passenger seat.
She smiles at me once she’s inside, her fingers adjusting the skirt that sits over her thighs, one of her arms looped across her stomach after she buckles up. “I thought you had meetings all day.” She says, her voice warming my chest.
“I finished them.” Backing out of the parking spot, my gaze flicks to her for a moment before I pull out onto the road. “I actually have some good news.”
She’s looking out the window, her eyes following the passing cars. “Oh? What is it?”
“You’re moving in with me.” I’m smiling, the sentence making me happier than anything has in a long while.
