Chapter 14
Alessandro
25 Days Until The Wedding
I make the call to Aldo from my office, knowing Luci is still asleep in my bed. The remnants of last night are still imprinted in my memory. The ringing stops when a male voice answers the phone.
“Ciao.”
“Ciao. Is this Aldo Bonacci?” I may have kidnapped Luci, but I can at least be polite. I need to get him here without much suspicion.
“Si. Who is calling?” Hesitation fills his voice, but by now he must know Luci is missing and won’t take any chance of missing her call.
“My apologies, how rude. My name is Alessandro. I’m Luci’s fiancé. I don’t mean to—” The man cuts me off, as furious and as passionate as Luci described him that night in the bar.
“Fiancé? Luci has no fiancé! She’s not dating anyone. Who is this? Did you take her? Do you know where she is? Give her back to me this instant.” He switches back and forth from Italian to English and I must say, I’m amused by his reaction. A calmer female voice grabs the phone from Aldo, sending him away to calm down.
“I apologize for my husband. He tends to get fairly—shall we say—expressive. Is Luci safe?” Stella is everything that is missing in Aldo and is probably a great match for him.
“Si. Luci is fine. As I was telling Aldo, I am Alessandro, Luci’s fiancé. I apologize for hiding our relationship, but things have gone fairly quick. The weekend away was spur-of-the-moment. Luci is settled in at our house and we would love it if you, your husband, and your daughter would join us on Saturday for lunch at our place. I can send over the information if that works for you and we can talk all about this in detail then. I’ll plan to see you at noon?”
After a brief pause and another shush to Aldo, who I still hear in the background cursing and yelling in Italian, she responds, “I must admit Alessandro, it’s worrisome to my family that Luci never mentioned she was dating anyone. While we want her to be happy, we also need her to be safe. We will come to your place on Saturday at noon. I would advise you to tread carefully, Alessandro. Can we speak to Luci? I’d like to hear her voice.”
“Luci is currently preoccupied, but I will let her know that I have spoken with you and to expect you three at lunch on Saturday.” I noticed over time that I’m picking up habits of Geno’s, like hanging up without a goodbye. I send Geno a message, letting him know lunch is planned and I will see him Friday.
While waiting for Luci to join me for breakfast, I recall the conversation that took play between Luci’s grandparents and me. If Aldo had that reaction over the phone, I can only imagine how he’ll react in person. The sound of heels interrupts my thought process as Luci walks into the room in straight-legged jeans, a basic V-neck T-shirt, and heeled ankle boots. From the way everything fits, they might as well be sewn on her.
I need to remember to have Andrea thank El for me.
I stand, pulling out the chair for Luci as she sits down. “I see you’re wearing some of the clothes El picked out. They’re stunning on you.” Even though what I’ve said isn’t a lie, I say the words how I would to a woman I love.
She sits hesitantly, almost like she can see through my act. “What is happening here, Alessandro? You have me trapped in a room one day, then you’re angry with me the next, and now I can roam around with Enzo as my shadow while we have a nice breakfast. The gig is up. Tell me what’s going on.”
This woman. She tries to fight me about everything. “What’s going on is, I’m having a nice breakfast with my fiancé. I thought you would want to get to know the house and property before your family comes on Saturday. You’ve proven we can’t trust you alone, and that’s why Enzo will be with you when I cannot.”
She places the cold brew I made for her down on the table, looking at me like I’m the biggest idiot she’s ever seen. “You honestly expect my family to come and willingly leave without me? What did you tell them when you invited them here? I refuse to believe that my family, specifically my nonno was calm about any of this. I’ve been gone since Friday night. Even if I had gone away on a long weekend, they don’t know anyone I would have gone with. This scheme will be over.”
This law school education makes her think she knows everything. Too bad I’ve always been one step ahead of her. “Aldo was not calm, you’re correct. Honestly, it’s sweet how concerned your family is that you never mentioned a boy. They seem eager to spend time with us. When it comes to the issue of you leaving with them, that won’t happen. And if you tried, it would be a tragedy if something happened to Aldo. He worked for my family and betrayed them. According to Geno, he stole Stella from him. We take our business dealings seriously and she was payment for a debt just like you. You’re mine. Now and forever.”
In the process of my last few sentences, she’s gone through the five stages of grief as she processes what I’ve said. “Please don’t hurt my family. I’ll do anything.”
I run the back of my knuckles across her cheek while looking into her sad eyes, the green flickering prominent in the hazel color. “I know you will. Now eat your breakfast. We have a ring to pick out.”
After the uncomfortable silence we called breakfast, I get a notification from security at the gate that my jeweler is here.
The front door opens and the expressive man I call my jeweler walks in. Personally, I can’t stand him, but he’s good at what he does, so I can’t complain too much.
“Alessandro! It’s great to see you. We are here to pick out an engagement ring, yes?” Mr. Esposito says as he comes in, arms wide as he plans on embracing me.
I shove Luci toward him instead as she looks back at me, irritated at my existence. “Yes. Luci here gets to pick out her ring with an unlimited budget of course.”
“Luci, bella ragazza.” He greets her with the hug intended for me and kisses both cheeks, catching her off guard. “Let’s get a ring picked out that matches your beauty. If that’s even possible.”
“I’m not picking out a ring I’ll never wear.” Luci faces me, standing her ground.
Why does she always have to fight me? “Remember our conversation about your family we had? All I have to do is send one message and I can derail anyone’s lives, including your family’s. Now pick. Out. A. Fucking. Ring.”
With fear in her eyes, she hesitantly searches through different rings, picking out the more conservative options. She frequently goes back to a small solitaire ring with a gold band.
“What do you think of this one?” I can tell Luci is uncomfortable with anything that costs money.
“If that’s the one you want go ahead. Do keep in mind that you represent me and if you pick a subpar ring, it shows that I don’t spoil my soon-to-be wife.” If I want this to appear real, I’ll have to spoil her, regardless of how much I hate flaunting my money. Happy wife happy life.
Being the people pleaser I know she is she puts the ring back, biting her lower lip, thinking of other options. “Oh. Okay. I’d prefer a simple band and the single stone, but I guess I can look at larger options. What do you have?” She turns to Mr. Esposito as she fidgets with her necklace. As she nibbles on her plump bottom lip again I know she would rather be doing anything other than this.
“I have everything anyone could want, of course! I say let’s go big or go home. We all know big is the best option.” Luci blushes at the double entendre when Mr. Esposito winks at her.
He opens a case of larger rings and Luci’s eyes widen, noticing the size of these diamonds. Glancing over I see the ring Luci notices is a six-carat cushion-cut diamond in a halo setting with a platinum band. I can also tell she’s uncomfortable with the extravagance.
“That one is Luci’s ring.” Nodding my head at the ring she noticed first. One that couldn’t be more different from the one she chose earlier.
“What happened to me picking out my ring? That has to be absurdly expensive.”
“That ring is better. We both know you were looking at it. You’re getting a large ring so you don’t embarrass me with a small diamond. As I said earlier, you represent me and my family. If I get you a small ring, I will be a joke. You’re getting that ring.” Avoiding the daggers in Luci’s eyes I talk directly to Mr. Esposito. “That’s Luci’s ring, put it on my account and I’ll make sure it’s insured by the end of the day. Thank you for your time. I’ll be in contact soon about her wedding band.” I walk away, ignoring Luci as she tries to fight me on the ring again.