by Penelope Sky
“Shit…” I whispered under my breath.
An asshole kind of smile came over his face, the kind that reached his eyes too. “This should be interesting.”
“You need to hide.”
“You really think they’re going to come into your bedroom?”
“It’s not impossible. Hide in the closet.”
“I’m not hiding,” he said. “I’ll stay in here until they leave.”
I trusted him not to hurt my family. He’d been in proximity to Conway a few times, but he’d never pulled a stunt. But my mother was the one who’d killed Bones’s father. She was the one who’d stabbed him to death. Could I expect him to be in the same apartment as her? “You won’t—”
“I gave you my promise.” He placed my hand on his chest, directly over his heart. “Don’t worry.” He brought my fingers to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss to the inside of my palm. “Let me know when I can come get you. But I’ll probably be sitting outside waiting for you.”
“Because you’re still following my tracker?”
He grinned. “I never really stopped.”
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“I really have to go.” I rose on my tiptoes and kissed him hard on the mouth, my arms circling his neck.
He squeezed me as he lifted me from the ground, his strong arms crushing my body against his. He set me down a second later. “Go before I change my mind.”
I grabbed my purse before I walked out of the bedroom and shut the door behind me. I ran to the door and quickly opened it. “Sorry, I couldn’t find my phone anywhere.” I hugged my mom before she had a chance to say hello. “I’m so excited for today. It’s going to be so much fun.”
Mom hugged me back, squeezing me like she hadn’t seen me in months. “I’m so excited too. I still can’t believe so many good things are happening for our family right now.”
I hugged Sapphire next. “How excited are you?”
“More excited than I can put into words.” She squeezed me before she pulled away, her enormous engagement ring sparkling like a prism. “As soon as the weather is nice, I want to have this wedding. Now that I’m almost four months along, I’m excited to be a family. I’m excited to be a Barsetti.”
“Aww…” My mom hugged her. “You became Barsetti property the second my son laid eyes on you.”
Mom and I sat together on the comfy couches while Sapphire tried on different dresses then came outside to show us on the pedestal in the center of the room. We sipped champagne and snacked on the chocolate-covered strawberries they provided.
“I’ve liked all of them so far,” Mom said as she sipped her champagne. “There’s nothing that doesn’t look good on her.”
“I know,” I said with a laugh. “Even when she’s pregnant, her body is still amazing.”
“That baby is going to be so beautiful, no matter whether it’s a boy or a girl.”
“What do you hope it will be?” I asked.
“I honestly don’t care. Your father and I still can’t believe we’re going to be grandparents. Time flies when you’ve been happily married for so long.”
I immediately thought of Bones, the man I was crazy for. I would never go to a boutique like this and try on dresses so I could marry him. When I put on one of those white gowns, it would be for a different man.
Not Bones.
I gripped my glass a little tighter as the sadness circulated in my veins. I would never love another man the way I loved Bones, so my wedding might feel anticlimactic. It might be a relationship of convenience. It might be a marriage to someone like Matteo, a family friend that my father would like.
Mom noticed the way my smile fell. “Everything alright?”
“Yeah, of course,” I said quickly. “I was just thinking about how Conway and I grew up together…and now he’s getting married. I have an awesome sister because of it, so that makes it more special.”
“We are lucky,” she said. “I knew Sapphire was right for him the second I met her.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. She put him in his place. Not a lot of women have the spunk to do that.”
I chuckled. “Good point.”
“Your father really likes her too. He has a lot of respect for someone who has the courage to start over in a new country. She’s not after Conway for his money, and he can tell she loves him for him.”
“She does…”
Sapphire came out in another beautiful gown. “What do you think?”
“It doesn’t matter what we think,” I said. “Tell us which one you love, and we’ll love it too.”
She stood on the pedestal and looked at herself in the mirror, her hands moving to her distended belly self-consciously.
“Your baby bump is sexy,” I said. “Stop worrying about it.”
“It’s beautiful,” Mom said. “When I was pregnant with Conway, Crow was even more—”
“Mom, please don’t.” I almost covered my ears so I wouldn’t have to listen to the rest of her sentence.
Mom grinned. “So we can talk about your personal life, but not about mine?”
“Not when it’s about Dad…it’s gross.”
“You think me being madly in love with your father for thirty years is gross?” she asked incredulously. “Wait until you have your own family someday, Vanessa. You’ll be more in love with your husband than on the day you married him.”
I thought about Bones again, unable to picture myself loving anyone the way I loved him.
“I think it’s sweet,” Sapphire said.
“Because she’s not your mom,” I reminded her.
“I pretty much am,” Mom said. “So, what do you think of the dress?”
“I really like it,” Sapphire said. “But…I’m not in love with it.”
“Not a big deal,” Mom said. “There are plenty more to choose from.”
“Yeah,” I said. “We can drink champagne all day.”
Sapphire continued to examine herself on the pedestal, considering the fit of the gown and the sparkle in the fabric.
The main door opened and Carter stepped inside. He carried a hanger with a garment wrapped in plastic. He held the bottom part over his other arm to make sure it didn’t drag on the floor. “Hey.” He said it so casually, like he had every right to walk inside a boutique wedding dress shop with a garment over his arm.
“What are you doing here?” I blurted as I put my glass down.
“Nice to see you too, cousin.” Carter hung the bag on the rolling rack. “Conway gave me instructions to bring this.” He rolled his eyes. “He could have sent any of his employees, even his assistant, but he sent me…asshole.”
“He probably wanted to keep it in the family,” Mom said. “And it shows he trusts you more with the job than anyone else.”
Carter rolled his eyes again. “Lucky me.”
“What is it?” I asked.
Carter unzipped the front of the bag, revealing a gorgeous wedding gown that was worthy of a royal princess. Brilliant white with lace sleeves and a tight waistline, it was simple but beautiful. “Conway asked one of the main designers for this place to make Sapphire something special, something that would fit her appearance perfectly. Conway hasn’t seen this. He’s totally in the dark about it.”
“That was so sweet,” Mom said. “Conway is so much like his father that I forget how thoughtful he is.”
“I’m still in shock,” I said. “I didn’t think Conway had a soft bone in his body.”
“When it comes to Sapphire, he does,” Carter said. “So, where is the bride?”
Sapphire came out in the white cotton robe. “Here I am.” She looked at the gown as Carter removed the plastic covering. “Oh my god…”
Carter pulled a note out of his pocket and handed it to her. “He asked me to give you this.”
Sapphire opened the note and started to read.
“Out loud,” I said.
Sapphire started speaking. “I want you to have a one-of-a-kind dress, so I as
ked a good friend of mine to make you something as stunning as you are. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to wear it. I don’t even know what it looks like, so I’ll never know if you decided not to wear it. Just think about it. Love, Conway. PS: I’ll still design…” Sapphire’s voice faded away. “Yeah, that’s about it.”
I suspected I knew what that last part said, that Conway told her he would design the lingerie she would be wearing that night. Even though she stopped talking, I was disgusted.
Mom was better at hiding her discomfort. “Try it on.”
“Yeah,” Carter said. “I want to see my hard work pay off.”
“You drove for ten minutes,” I said sarcastically. “Not that difficult.”
“Hey, I live fifteen minutes outside the city,” Carter said. “So I drove into town and then had to pick up the dress and then had to come here—”
Mom shattered our argument the way she did with Conway and me when we were growing up. “Sapphire, put it on.”
Sapphire walked into the changing room, put on the gown, and then returned to the pedestal in the center of the mirrors. Of course, it fit her perfectly, as if Conway gave the designer her measurements along with the baby bump. With intricate jewels and unparalleled beauty, it was the kind of wedding dress every woman dreamed of wearing. She stared at herself in the mirror, her blue eyes looking at herself appreciatively.
“So?” Mom asked, unable to keep the hope out of her voice.
Even Carter nodded in approval, despite the fact that he didn’t know anything about wedding dresses. “I think Conway would like that…”
I kept my opinion to myself, not wanting to influence her decision about her own gown. But I definitely loved it, and I loved that my brother loved her so much when she wasn’t even his wife yet. I’d never seen him be sweet or thoughtful with anyone, not even a girlfriend. Like my dad, Conway was quiet and cold almost all the time. But when I saw him with Sapphire, I saw much better qualities rise to the surface.
Sapphire looked down at herself before she looked in the mirror again. “This is the one.”
“Oh, thank god,” I said. “Because if you didn’t want it, I was gonna take it.”
Mom came to her side and fixed the bottom part of her dress, making sure it stayed fluffed out. “It’s perfect for you. Conway won’t be able to take his eyes off you.” She pulled out her phone and handed it to me. “Sweetheart, could you take a picture of us?”
Sapphire’s eyes softened, like my mother’s affection meant more to her than she could articulate. She told me she felt alone since she didn’t have any family left. Conway was the closest thing she had, and now that she had all of us, she felt like she had a family.
I grabbed the phone and prepared to take a picture. “Sure. But I want a picture next.”
“You guys don’t have to walk me to the door.” I was afraid Bones would be there, lurking in the darkness as he waited for me to return. I’d been gone all day, wedding dress shopping, shoe shopping, and having a long lunch and dinner. He was probably losing his mind in insanity right now.
“We aren’t walking you to the door,” Mom said. “You’re inviting us in for a glass of wine and apple juice.”
Shit, I hoped I still had some in the cabinets. “We’ve been drinking all day.”
“So?” Mom asked, her inner Barsetti coming out.
“I miss wine,” Sapphire said. “Once this baby is here, I’m picking up the bottle again.”
I got the door unlocked and stepped inside. The lights were on when I knew I left them off, so Bones was in there.
Probably in my bedroom.
He wouldn’t reveal himself to my family so I didn’t have anything to be worried about, but it still gave me anxiety knowing he was there. My family and their biggest enemy were breathing the same air at that very moment.
I managed to find a bottle of red in the kitchen, and I poured two glasses. “This is all I got. I must have drunk the rest.”
“That’s fine with me.” Mom sat on the couch with Sapphire. “So we got your shoes and your dress. All you need to do now is find some jewelry.”
I carried the glass into the living room, along with a glass of water for Sapphire. “I can see you wearing a simple diamond necklace. Your dress is already so stunning that you don’t need much.”
“I agree,” Mom said.
“I’ll think about it,” Sapphire said. “Conway usually gives me jewelry to wear to his shows, so I suspect he’ll have something in mind for me.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Mom took the glass from me and took a drink. “Vanessa, I talked to Matteo the other day.”
Shit. Bones was in the other room, and I didn’t want him to hear this. He was already a psychopath when he wasn’t even jealous, so hearing about the man I went on a few dates with would make him tear down the wall. “He mentioned running into you. He said his father’s customers are big fans of our wine. It’s crazy how much the Barsetti Vineyards have connected us to families all over Italy.” I wanted to steer the conversation away from my romantic life, especially when the man I was sleeping with was listening to all of this. Wine was an easy topic for all of us to discuss.
But Mom didn’t go for it. “He said you weren’t ready to date, but you guys were still spending time together. I think that’s nice. You two have so much in common, and I think you could really hit it off under different circumstances.”
I held my breath, expecting Bones to break down the wall between the living room and the bedroom. “He’s a very nice guy. But yeah, I’m not interested in dating right now. I think I need to be alone for a while before I get into another relationship…” I didn’t know how much time I had before Mom started to pressure me to see Matteo or someone else, but I knew I had a few months, at least.
“Have you talked to the man you were seeing?” Mom asked.
I felt terrible lying to her, but I didn’t have any other choice. “No.”
“That’s good,” Sapphire said. “Stay strong. It’s really hard to cut someone out, but it’ll be better in the end if you stick to your guns. I’m sorry it didn’t work out, though.”
“No, it’s okay,” I said weakly. “Not all relationships work out. It’s normal.”
“It is,” Mom said. “Relationships help us grow. Now that you’ve been in love, you know exactly what you want in the next man.”
I couldn’t picture myself ever falling in love with anyone else. What I had with Bones was rare, even if it didn’t make any sense.
“I know I should stay out of your personal life, and whatever you decide, I’ll support.” Mom held her glass of wine but didn’t drink it, focusing on our conversation more than the beverage. “But I really think Matteo is a fine young man. He’s handsome and charming, and I can tell he thinks the world of you. He’s an experienced man who knows exactly what he wants in life, and I think he wants you. From what I gather, he doesn’t need to wait around for anyone. The fact that he continues to talk to you in some way hints at some kind of connection on his part. His father tells me he’s never brought a woman around because he’s never been serious with anyone before, but he keeps trying to spend time with you…”
“Aww,” Sapphire whispered. “He likes you, Vanessa.”
Why couldn’t we have had this conversation any other time of the day? “I thought our date went so badly. I was distracted and rude…I couldn’t believe he found me even remotely charming. I was sitting across from him but thinking of someone else the entire time…and he knew that.”
“He knows about the man you were seeing?” Mom asked.
I nodded. “I told him it’s been a rough breakup and I’m still in love with him.”
“And he still wants to see you?” Sapphire asked incredulously. “Wow, he’s got it bad…”
“I don’t know about that,” I said. “He told me he’s dating other women and stuff.”
“But they don’t mean anything to him,” Mom said. “He’s just keeping bu
sy until you’re ready.”
“Aww,” Sapphire repeated.
This was so awful. I didn’t want Bones to hear this, to know there was some other rich and handsome man who wanted me. “So…do you think Carter will be next? Now that Conway is settling down, maybe Carter will want to too?”
Thankfully, that was enough to change the course of the conversation away from me and toward another Barsetti.
“I don’t know,” Mom said. “Cane has always said Carter is extremely independent like him. If he does settle down with someone, it won’t be on purpose…” She continued talking, discussing her nephew.
And I finally relaxed now that the worst was over.
Until I came face-to-face with Bones when they left.
They finally left an hour later, but I stayed on the couch and didn’t walk into the bedroom.
I wanted to enjoy the peace and quiet for as long as I could.
Bones was jealous in the same way I got jealous. If the situations were reversed and I heard about a woman wanting him, I wouldn’t be so calm about it either. When I saw him walk a woman to his truck after meeting her in a bar, I got so jealous that I dropped everything I believed in so he wouldn’t take her home.
We were the same in that regard.
When we finally came face-to-face, it would be in the middle of the storm.
When he didn’t come out of the bedroom, I knew he was waiting for me to come to him, drawing out the conclusion, making the tension build higher. It only made the fear more intense, the anticipation nearly painful.
But I had to face him eventually. The sooner I did, the sooner this would be over. I finally left the couch and walked into my bedroom. The lights were off, and the outline of an enormous man was sitting at the edge of the bed.
I didn’t flick on the light switch because I didn’t want to see his corded neck and clenched jaw. I didn’t want to see the throbbing vein in his forehead. So I leaned against the doorframe with my arms crossed over my chest. “I’m ready whenever you are.”
After a long pause, he rose to his feet and grabbed my bag from the ground. He hoisted it over his shoulder and came toward me, his massive shoulders straight as he moved because he had perfect posture. He walked past me into the living room, not saying a word.