Chapter 19 #2
“I don’t want to spend tonight arguing with you about my family. Can we just let it go until tomorrow? Your points are valid, but this can’t be how you want to spend your birthday.”
“It isn’t.”
I smile up at him through my lashes and begin undoing the top buttons of his shirt. “ Good. My plans don’t include us sitting up here bickering in matching bathrobes.”
Dean huffs a quiet, halfhearted laugh. “Yeah, well, you’ve always been better than me at letting things go.”
I maneuver him backwards until the backs of his knees meet the edge of the bed.
He sits, and I step back just enough to let his hands fall away from my hips.
“What about taking things off? ” I tease, unzipping my dress before slowly slipping one strap from my shoulder, then the other.
Dean leans back slightly, his dark gaze catching fire in a way that makes my pulse stutter.
I push the dress down over my hips until gravity takes it to the floor.
The fabric pools at my heels, and I can practically feel his scorching-hot gaze consuming me.
Dean lets out a low breath. “Fuck. Me.”
“That’s the plan,” I murmur, toying with one of the garter straps of the lingerie set I’m wearing just for him. I let it snap against my thigh, and he licks his bottom lip before scraping it through his teeth on a deep growl.
I step forward and straddle his lap. His hands dig into my thighs, sliding beneath the garter straps, but I grab his wrists before he can rip anything.
“Let me,” I whisper, leaning closer to his lips.
“Just let me take care of you tonight.” I slide my hands up his body and into his hair as our mouths collide, all heat and want and reverence.
He pulls me tighter against him with another throaty growl.
I break the kiss and bring my lips to the shell of his ear.
“Happy birthday,” I tease him with my breath and the tip of my tongue at his lobe before nibbling it.
“Now lie back and let me show you how happy I am you exist.”
N ew York plates on a black Mercedes. I sigh and run a hand over my jaw as I stare out the front door, the hot buzz from last night’s sexcapades dimming fast. Vanna and I took something back last night, something the stress and chaos that keeps blowing into our lives seems hell bent on stripping away.
Between Legion’s shit and now her family, I’m in no damn mood.
“Your sister just pulled up,” I announce, though it’s the boyfriend behind the wheel.
As he steps from the vehicle, there’s something unsettlingly familiar about him.
It only takes a moment to realize who he is.
They share the same blue eyes and angular features.
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I mutter under my breath.
No wonder Giuliana didn’t mention this detail last night.
“What is it?” Vanna asks from the kitchen island, where she’s just finished putting together a tray of cheese and crackers. She’s already got glasses and a pitcher of sweet tea with ice and lemon waiting on the coffee table in the living room.
I have no idea how to approach this with her. How to proceed with this situation at all. The lack of consideration on her sister’s part already has my blood pressure rising.
“Your sister really should have given us a heads up. You’re going to have to tell me right now how you want this handled.”
Vanna comes to stand beside me and peers out the window. I stare at her, attempting to read her thoughts through microexpressions. Curiosity instantly morphs into shock as she recognizes the man escorting Giuliana to our door.
“ Of all the men she could have gone for ,” Vanna whispers to herself. She’s certainly surprised but doesn’t seem alarmed. “ She could have had any guy .”
I take her hand and squeeze it gently. “Not any guy, Vanna.” She peers up at me with a soft, barely-there smile. “Just say the word, and I’ll make them go away.”
“No,” she sighs, resigned to the situation. “I want to hear what she has to say, especially about this.”
After I’m briefly introduced to Richard , Vanna fetches the charcuterie board and places it on the slate coffee table in the living room between us all.
We take our seats, Vanna and I together on the leather couch, Giuliana and possibly the worst choice in a boyfriend she could have made on the leather love seat adjacent.
“This is certainly a surprise,” Vanna says, and despite the awkward situation, I’m proud of the fact that she doesn’t shy away from meeting his gaze, considering the strong family resemblance.
“It’s not your sister’s fault… I wanted to be with her when she told you about us,” Richard says, then turns to Giuliana. “Why don’t you put that ring back on where it belongs?”
“ You’re engaged?” Vanna watches in surprise as Giuliana produces a large diamond ring from her purse and slips it onto her left hand before holding it out for Vanna to see.
“Wow…it’s beautiful… What a…surprise!” Vanna nearly stammers, then shifts her attention back to the fiancé.
“Well, Richard, finding myself related to another Nero through marriage definitely wasn’t on my bingo card.
” They both exchange tight-lipped smiles.
“Congratulations,” she adds, and I follow suit.
Jack’s younger brother pats Giuliana’s knee before she takes his hand and holds it in her lap. “I couldn’t be happier. I’ve had a thing for your sister for years.”
Neither women comment, and I have zero desire to contribute to the conversation. As the awkward silence stretches on, Giuliana glances around the room, eyes settling on Ace’s basket of toys near the chess table. “Where is my nephew? I thought he’d be here.”
“He tuckered himself out at the park earlier this morning. We have frequent playdates with his cousin Mia,” Vanna explains. “Naps have become hit and miss with him at this age, but he should be up any minute now.” She gestures to her sister’s showy engagement ring. “How did this happen ?”
Richard blinks, then seems to force a chuckle. “ Happen ? You say that like our engagement is some sort of travesty.” There’s a disingenuous humor in his tone, and Vanna tenses beside me, instantly triggering my protective instincts. I keep my gaze locked on him.
“I’m still deciding,” Vanna replies to my surprise and approval, though Richard doesn’t seem as amused.
“We got close after everything happened with Jack,” Richard says. “We leaned on each other. We got closer after the falling out between the two of you.”
“ Oh . Did my sister tell you why we haven’t spoken?” Vanna asks. I shift my gaze from Jack’s brother to check on her in time to see her spare a fidgeting Giuliana a quick glance.
“We were just good friends, then… She made a mistake. One of which I’m aware she’s apologized for.
” Richard shifts his gaze to me for a moment, giving me a once-over before returning his attention to Vanna.
If I cared at all what either of them thought of me, I suppose it would be another awkward moment.
When it comes to my in-laws, I’m all out of fucks.
“Do we have to rehash that embarrassing night again?” Giuliana sighs.
“I have apologized to you both, and I mean it. Don’t you want to bring our family back together now?
It’s been over three years, Vanna.” The tension in my wife’s body eases at the sight of her sister’s teary eyes.
“I love you, and I’ve missed you so much.
I’ve missed out on getting to know my first and only nephew. I don’t want that to happen with you.”
“With me?” Vanna asks, and suddenly my heart is beating a little faster… Fuck my life, here it comes… “What do you mean with me ?”
When Giuliana smiles and gazes lovingly at Richard, I brace myself for the words I know we’re about to hear.
“I want you to be a part of our baby’s life, too,” her sister says.
“ You’re pregnant ?” Giuliana is too wrapped up in her big reveal. She doesn’t realize there’s something more than surprise in Vanna’s words.
“Yes! Thirteen weeks!” Giuliana says excitedly, “Besides our parents, I wanted you to be the first to know.”
Vanna’s eyes drop to her sister’s belly, which still looks flat to me, but that isn’t surprising at this early stage.
“Thirteen weeks… Wow… Congratulations!” When Vanna stands, I know she’s about to find a reason to distance herself for a moment, excuse herself to the bathroom, or maybe go wake up Ace.
But her sister jumps up and throws her arms around Vanna’s neck, oblivious.
“Thank you!” she weeps. “I was so looking forward to telling you our wonderful news. It means so much to me that you’re happy for us.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Vanna says, and though her sister is convinced, I’m not. I promised my wife I’d follow her lead when it comes to her family, so I stand and offer Jack Nero’s brother a congratulatory handshake. He rises from his seat and accepts.
“Congratulations, all around.” I force a smile.
“Thank you,” he says, though I notice his doesn’t reach his eyes.
“Well, help yourselves to some refreshments while I go get Ace,” Vanna insists, then quickly makes her break for his bedroom. I’m tempted to follow her and ask if she’s alright, but perhaps she needs a moment alone.
A ce is a very friendly and accepting kid, he gets it from Vanna, so I’m not at all surprised when he takes immediately to Giuliana. Though he might just be a sucker for a pretty girl, like I was… I’m gonna have to keep a close watch on that.
“He looks so much like you, Dean,” Giuliana says.
“Well, he’s got Vanna’s loving heart,” I reply. Ace might have inherited my physical features, but I can’t look at him and not see his beautiful mother.
“Are you excited to have another little cousin, Ace?” Giuliana asks.
“Like Mia and Maddie?” Ace peers up at Vanna, then back at his aunt when she chuckles.
“Yes, you’re surrounded by pretty girls, too, huh? Just like your Daddy.”