21. Chapter 20
Arianna
“I know last night sucked for you, and I’m so fucking sorry you had to go through that, but I’m very glad there are no bloody bedsheets hanging up in here.
” I smiled at Leyla as she took her seat beside me at the head of the room.
“Also, for the record once again, I think it’s absolutely stupid and archaic that you have to wear cream today instead of white since you’re no longer sporting a hymen. ”
Sandro almost choked on his drink from where he sat on the other side of Tucker. I’m sure my mother would have gasped dramatically and thrown a fit over hearing a lady talk with such vulgarity at the table.
But that was how Leyla had been raised. The Givenchy’s didn’t practice decorum standards. They lived their lives however they wanted and were authentic and open with each other.
“Ley.” Tucker’s voice held a warning. He knew she needed to reign it in here, but we all knew she was a wild card, so who knew if she would actually listen.
Leyla rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Please tell me there will be ooey gooey cinnamon rolls. I’m in dire need of some real comfort food right now.”
I’d be very surprised if my mother allowed anything sweet on the menu, but who knows. She didn’t have an absolute conniption fit when the Givenchy’s snuck in the wedding dress I’d wanted and the bridesmaids dress I’d picked for Leyla in hot pink.
Servers came in with plates laden with food, sitting them in front of each person. Like I’d expected, nothing sweet. There were scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and a fruit bowl.
“This sucks.” I chuckled at Leyla’s pout. “Mom better agree to stopping for something sweet on the way home. I’ve spent all my sugar reserves in not saying something to your mom or dad about how horrible they are.”
Tucker pinched the bridge of his nose as I chuckled. God, I loved this girl.
There was a tapping of silverware on glass, bringing our attention to my father. “I’d like to thank everyone for being here today to celebrate the alliance between the Vitale and Givenchy families.” He lifted a glass. “To prosperity for both families and an heir to seal the deal.”
Everyone lifted a glass and drank, but the thought of having a baby anytime soon made a knot form in my stomach. We’d planned on using a condom last night and then getting their family doctor to put me on birth control after the honeymoon, but that plan went out the window.
Maybe I’d be able to get a Plan B pill and we could pick up some condoms for the honeymoon.
Neither one of us was ready to be a parent, even if a baby is what my father wanted more than anything.
I mean, I think the fact that he was so set on it should be enough reason to question if it’s actually a good move.
The child would be the heir to the Givenchy family, so his insistence on this part of the arrangement never made sense to me.
“You need to eat.” Tucker leaned close and whispered in my ear. “It’s a five hour flight and while we’ve got snacks, it’ll be a while before we have another meal.”
“Lucky bitch.” Leyla grinned as she looked at me out of the corner of her eye. “Barbados and away from all these adults trying to run our life for a week. You’ll have so many stories to tell when you get back and be so tanned on the first day of school.”
Senior year would start a week after we got back to Crestwood and as much as I wasn’t looking forward to school, I was glad to be getting back to Crestwood and a normal routine.
“Want me to bring you some sand in a jar?”
Her grin grew. “Duh.”
We ate in silence and before long, Sean was leaning down to whisper in Tucker’s ear. Tuck looked at me with a smile as he took one of my hands in his and pressed a kiss to it. “Time to go.”
As we stood, the room fell silent. It was tradition for him to give me a big kiss in front of everyone before we walked out hand in hand to cheers.
Let me just say, Tucker did not disappoint.
His hands cupped my face as he pulled me to him, gently pressing his lips to mine, before his tongue prodded my lips for entrance, which I readily gave him.
There were a few hoots and hollers, all that I’m pretty sure came from his family. When he pulled back, I knew my smile matched his and we had to look like lovesick fools. But I didn’t have a single damn to give.
Instead of walking out hand in hand, Tuck picked me up bridal style and carried me from the room almost at a jog causing me to laugh at his excitement.
Most people would think it was because he wanted to get me to bed again, but I knew it was because as soon as we were out of New York, we could breathe and be ourselves again.
The feeling was euphoric.
When we made it out front, I wasn’t surprised to see the overkill of vehicles. We would be going in a motorcade of five vehicles. Ours would have us and two security. Each of the others would have four security guards.
Traveling to the JFK airport meant going through both Accardi and Ricci territories, and though there was a truce and we’d given proper notice, it didn’t mean that my father, or the Givenchy's, was going to risk anything.
We hopped in our car and Sean got in the driver's seat as Christian got in the passenger's seat. Christian was hired to be my personal body guard after the wedding and I was just glad it wasn’t Vinny anymore. I had nothing against the guy, but he answered to my father, so he wasn’t trustworthy.
As we approached the Brooklyn Bridge, Christian chuckled. “It appears we have an escort.”
Since our car was in the middle of the pack, I assumed the lead car had informed them through the earpieces they were wearing.
Sure enough, I saw Luka Accardi’s solid gold Lamborghini in front of our lead car. Luka was the heir to the Accardi family and wherever he was, his twin Tommaso was usually close by. When Tommaso’s bright blue Pininfarina pulled out to follow behind the last car, I wasn’t surprised.
Tucker noticed it too and tensed up. “Do we think this is safe?”
Sean sighed. “I would like to think so. We gave proper notice and are going to the airport. We also don’t have a single Vitale family member with us considering Arianna is now a Givenchy and none of our security is Vitale security.
If they decided to ambush us, it would be a violation of the accords and would start a war.
I don’t think they’d be willing to do that unprovoked, so I’m hoping this is not a trap. But our men are ready just in case.”
Christian’s phone pinged with a message. “Boss says the Accardi’s reached out to him and said they would send the heirs to escort us in congrats for the nuptials."
I hadn’t been too worried because the twins and Sandro had a good relationship.
While the twins were a couple years older than my brother, all of the heirs had grown up getting to know each other so they could work well together when the time came.
The twins and Sandro all disagreed with some of the things our fathers did and wanted to make the families better when they took over, so they’d formed a good bond.
Before long, we were out of Brooklyn and entering Queens. There didn’t seem to be a Ricci escort, and I was grateful because we were not their favorite people. My father and Don Ricci had feuded over several things over the years and his son seemed to be just as sadistic as he is.
Finally, we were at JFK and I felt Tucker let out a sigh of relief.
I’d never been on a plane before since my father didn’t see the need to leave the city, and we always just drove to and from Crestwood.
Knowing that we had a private plane and didn’t have to worry about other people made me relax.
If I freaked out, Tucker would comfort me and I didn’t have to worry about making a fool of myself in front of anyone.
Well, other than security, but I wasn’t concerned with them.
Especially since some of them only worked for the Givenchy’s a couple weeks a year when we’d go visit my parents.
Tucker’s Aunt Silver had some cousins that lived far off that would take vacation from work to work security for the Givenchy’s.
I couldn’t imagine needing money so badly that you’d take a vacation from work to do more work, but I guess that was the life a lot of people lived.
Rowdy and Gunner got out of the car in front of us and watched the area while Tuck and I walked to the plane.
Those two were serious as shit when they were on duty.
Boarding the plane, having eight security for me and Tuck felt overkill, but Zephyr Givenchy wasn’t going to take any chances with his heir leaving the country.
Hopefully this next week would be the reset Tucker and I needed from the hell we’d been living the past two months.
This place was a literal paradise. I’d only been to the beach once before, when my father got permission from Don Accardi to let us cross into his territory to go to Pier 4 Beach.
I’d thought it was the most beautiful place in the world, when I was ten, but now, standing on this beach in Barbados, the ocean seeming endless, I realized there was absolutely no comparison.
“I can’t believe we get to stay here for a week.”
Tucker walked up behind me and put his hands around my waist, resting his chin on my head. “I know. I’ve always loved going to the beach, but this one is next level.”
We’d made it to our destination just in time to see the sun set over the ocean. Sean and Christian were nearby while the rest of security took our bags to our rooms so we could enjoy this moment.
Even though we’d come straight from the airport to the beach, so we hadn’t had time to change or even get towels to sit on, Tuck and I sat in the sand, his arms around me, while we watched the sun sink lower and lower over the horizon.