Chapter 12 #3
“You’re barely an adult.” Nikki glances up front at Moreno. “What would you say if your daughter told you she was getting married?”
He clears his throat, and his jaw tightens. “This isn’t about Nova,” he says and shoots me a glare in the rearview mirror. It’s a warning.
I’m doing what I can to convince Nikki, and she’s Dante’s wife. I can’t even fathom how this is going to go when I have to tell my parents.
My stomach clenches with nerves, just imagining their disappointment. I tend to do that with them a lot. I fiddle with my purse on my lap, my fingers as restless as I inwardly feel.
“I love Luca,” I say, and I’m surprised how convincing I sound aloud. “He’s amazing. You’ve done a wonderful job of raising your son, and I know we’re both young, probably foolish, but we want this. We both do.”
Nikki shakes her head. “I’m still not convinced.” She exhales a sigh. “What have your parents said when you told them the news of the engagement?”
“I haven’t,” I admit. “It all happened quite so suddenly.”
She glances at my hand for a ring and notices the absence of any engagement band. “Tell me how my son proposed.”
Moreno shifts uncomfortably in the front seat as he drives us closer to our destination. I can see the restaurant in the distance, but there are several traffic lights in the way, and we’re stopped at a long red light that doesn’t want to change.
“He got down on one knee.” The lie glides out easily past my lips. It’s not a hard one to tell. I’ve seen enough romance films to assume that Luca probably would have done the same.
“Without a ring?” Nikki asks, and I sigh.
“We’re having it sized.”
She shakes her head, not believing me. “I have access to my son’s financials, Harper. You can’t lie to me.”
I press my lips together and nod weakly. “I’m sorry,” I say, quick to apologize. “He wants to get me a ring. I told him it doesn’t matter, we don’t have to do anything fancy—the ring or the wedding. I’d be happy if we just went to the courthouse and exchanged vows.”
She watches me for a long moment, perhaps deciding if I’m being forthcoming.
“Dante and I would be happy to provide the wedding bands if we both approve of your marriage.”
I’m fairly certain Dante won’t object. Nikki, however, the verdict is still out, and my parents, I might have to wed without their blessing.
“You haven’t sat down with my husband,” Nikki says, a tight smile on her lips. “He is usually the one who needs convincing in these sorts of things.”
“Does Luca propose to a lot of girls?” I doubt that’s what she means, but I can’t fathom what she’s trying to say. Is she intentionally being cryptic?
Nikki laughs, taken aback by my question. “Certainly not. But Dante is a very traditional man,” she says, as if that explains everything. “He will want to make sure you both share the same values before marriage.”
“Like religion and politics?” I’m throwing a guess at what she’s trying to say.
“Well, that too.” Nikki nods and waves her hand dismissively. “We’ll get into all that later. Right now, I want to hear the rest of that proposal.”
Moreno pulls up in front of the restaurant. “Wouldn’t it be better to hear it over dinner, with the two of them together?” Moreno asks.
It’s the first time I’m grateful for his input.
Is he actually trying to help, or just keep me from having to repeat my story and flub it up with Luca offering his own set of details?
Nikki huffs while Moreno climbs out of the vehicle and walks around to open the door for her. She steps out first, and then I slide across the backseat, exiting out the same door.
“I’ll meet you girls inside,” Moreno says.
Not a single moment of peace. Well, maybe one or two.
Moreno shuts the car door behind us, and I head into the restaurant with Nikki, grabbing a table for two.
“Three,” Nikki corrects me.
“I was hoping he’d sit at the bar,” I mutter under my breath as the waitress retrieves three menus and brings us to a table in the far corner of the restaurant. Nikki sits across from me, which still feels intimate.
The place is swanky, with white tablecloths and folded cloth napkins.
I’m not particularly hungry, which has little to do with the hour and more to do with what transpired last night. But I’m going to be expected to eat. It’s nearly lunch time and I had already skipped breakfast.
The menu doesn’t have any prices, which tells me all I need to know. This place is outrageously expensive. I just hope Moreno or Nikki plan on picking up the tab.
I do have a credit card for emergencies that my parents gave me, so I suppose if the check gets divided three ways—yeah, I’m screwed.
“Tell me about yourself,” Nikki says. “If you’re not going to give me the proposal story until dinner, I want to get to know you. It’s why I insisted on us girls going out today together.”
I bite my tongue on the us girls comment, because Moreno is definitely not a girl. He’s with us solely to make sure I don’t fuck up.
“I’m a freshman at Evergreen. Luca and I are in the same Econ 101 class.”
“Is that how the two of you met?”
I nod and reach for the water glass, taking a sip. Already, I feel parched, but at least sticking with the truth is easy.
“Yes, he kept sitting next to me in class, wanting to borrow my notes, and walking me to my next class when we finished econ.”
“That’s sweet.” Nikki smiles, and I can feel her genuine warmth radiating toward me. “Tell me more. How did you two get from class to this?” She gestures at me, wanting more details.
“I’ve been struggling with some of the basic concepts in class.
Luca is really smart.” I don’t have to lie.
It’s true, he’s been doing so much better in our economics class than I have.
“He’s been helping tutor me after class.
He’s always able to explain everything that we learned in class in a way that I can actually understand it.
I swear, he should be a professor. We started having these study sessions, just the two of us—”
“Oh?” Nikki raises an eyebrow and holds up a hand. “I don’t need the sexual details. Please leave those out.”
I can’t help but laugh. Nothing sexual happened at our study sessions, but maybe her thinking it did helps make it more believable. I smile shamelessly and twirl a strand of my hair, trying to act flirty as I pretend to think of Luca in a sexual manner.
Which isn’t really that hard after last night. Just remembering his lips kissing every inch of my body and his cock driving me crazy is enough to stir the feelings buried deep within me.
After a second, I laugh, hoping that maybe my flushed cheeks help her believe the story. “Well, then I’m sure you get the idea. We studied, he helped me pass the exam. Honestly, Luca is a really great guy. He’s the absolute best and he makes me happy.”
All universal truths.
He does make me happy.
Most of the time.
Moreno comes waltzing in, and I realize the time to have asked her anything personal and secretive is long over. Damn, I should have been the one in control.
“What’d I miss?” Moreno asks as he grabs a seat at the table next to me.
“Just us girls discussing Harper’s love life.” She winks at me, and I suppress a groan. “So, I’m assuming you’ve been to his hockey games. Are you a sports fanatic?” Nikki asks. “You know how much my son loves hockey.”
“I wasn’t really into sports growing up, but Luca seems to be changing that. I went to my first hockey game this semester.”
Definitely not a lie. Although I didn’t exactly stay through the entire game. It was brutal watching Luca get his ass kicked. I don’t want to worry Nikki, though, so I stick to the basics.
“What did you think?” she asks, wanting my honest opinion.
“It’s a brutal sport.” Another easy truth. No one can say hockey is gentle.
Nikki laughs. “Agreed. But there’s been no stopping him from playing. He’s been in skates since he was four.”
“Wow.” I’m surprised that he’s been interested that long. I’ve never asked him about hockey, mainly because I hate sports and I really didn’t think we’d become anything more than friends.
“Who got him into hockey?” I ask.
“Definitely not my husband.” Nikki forces a laugh, and Moreno rolls his eyes.
“Dante hates hockey,” Moreno says, joining in the conversation.
“He doesn’t love the idea of his son getting hurt,” Nikki says, defending her husband.
“I took him ice skating as a kid, and he loved it. Luca had a natural talent for the ice, and he saw some kids playing ice hockey on the way home from the rink. He was six at the time and thought it looked like a lot of fun. He begged us to sign him up.”
“Dante wasn’t pleased,” Moreno says, his face grim. “But Luca begged to play as his Christmas present and, well, he’d give the boy anything.”
I wonder if the same Dante is still inside that cold, calculated monster. Was he mafia back then, or did he join when Luca was a child?
That’s not a question I ask Moreno or Nikki.
“Dante still isn’t thrilled with Luca playing hockey. He just worries that his son is going to get hurt,” Nikki says.
Moreno glares at her. I get the feeling there’s more to it than mere concern for his overall health, but I don’t push the issue. I know better when Moreno is involved. He isn’t about to help me.
“Enough about Luca. I would have thought he’d have told you that,” she says and sizes me up. “So, you don’t care much for sports. Did you ever play any sports as a kid?”
“Does bowling count?”
That gets a slight chuckle from both Moreno and Nikki.
I never thought I’d see Moreno lighten up, but I suppose even bad guys can laugh once in their life.
The waitress comes over and we order lunch. I’m relieved for the break in questions. It feels like a very mild interrogation. Which isn’t a surprise, since I was invited to join Nikki alone for lunch.
But we’re not very alone, considering Moreno has joined us. Why couldn’t we have let Luca come too? It would at least make the experience a little more enjoyable.