Chapter 32 – One Week Later
GIO
ONE WEEK LATER
Can’t believe Ma’s officially married. But I’m happy for her. She always deserved more than my father ever gave her.
She planned the wedding to Patrick quickly, but my mother is the queen of party planning, so none of us were surprised when she told us when it would be.
I think she wanted to start a life with Patrick as soon as possible, something she never got the chance to do when she was younger. And now that our father is dead, she can have the kind of life she always wanted.
From across the dance floor, I watch Red with Sophia, twirling while holding hands under the tent on Michael’s estate.
She’s laughing with my six-year-old niece like she’s already part of our family.
And if I have anything to say about it, she will be soon.
I just need to convince her to talk to her father before I do it myself.
She’s managed to evade me since the incident at Michael’s a week ago, ignoring my texts and my calls. Ignoring everything we shared.
Typical Red. Always running.
I would’ve driven up to Cherry Grove, thrown her up against the wall, and reminded her just how well running from me really works, but Michael had sent me overseas to secure some properties for our hotel expansion.
It’s been plane after plane until I returned yesterday just in time for Mom’s wedding.
“You going to keep staring at Iseult, or are you going to ask her to dance?” Hudson Mackay, our lawyer, asks, smirking at me as he approaches from my left.
Hudson is the one everyone calls when they have a problem. Everyone as in Mob or Mafia. He’s the one that can get you off for just about anything. He was Patrick’s lawyer even before he was ours. That’s how we met him.
“Shut up,” I mutter, returning my attention to the woman who won’t even look at me.
He snickers, staring straight ahead at his wife, who’s off speaking with Elsie, both of them with a glass of champagne, black gowns hitting the floor.
“You look at her like I look at my Hadleigh.”
I have no desire to deny how I feel about her. I want the whole fucking world to know.
I eye him with a tight glare. “Pretty sure you weren’t being forced to marry her sister.”
He chuckles. “Hadleigh doesn’t have a sister.”
His eyes bounce over to me for a second, a grin deepening on his face before he watches his wife fling a hand through her shoulder-length chestnut hair.
“Look, man.” His light blue eyes assess me.
“I’ve known that family a long time. Sure, Patrick is a hard-ass, and sure, he’ll be pissed once he finds out you’ve got a thing for his other daughter.
” He laughs. “But after that initial shock and probably a punch to your nose—and maybe a bullet or two—he’ll come around. ”
“Funny, asshole.” I release a breath. “That’s not how she sees it, though. She’s afraid to tell him.”
“She just needs time.” He slaps me across my shoulder blade. “Patrick told me the marriage was for an alliance, right?”
I nod tightly, glancing at him from the corner of my eye, my gaze still fixed on my Red.
“An alliance is an alliance.” He shrugs. “And for you, Iseult makes way more sense.” He nods with a curl of his mouth. “But…” he warns, his expression stoic. “It’s better you tell him soon before things happen between you two. Because he won’t forgive that.”
Yeah, a little too late for that…
“Noted,” I say under my breath, watching her twirl Sophia around, and just as she does, her eyes go to mine.
And that feeling—that unexplainable feeling in the pit of my stomach—it hits me like a tornado. And I know, right here in this moment, with all these people around us, that no matter what happens and no matter how many women I meet, it will always come back to her.
Seconds feel like minutes the more she stares, the more her gaze tethers to mine from across that room, holding me there like she’s already mine and I’m already hers.
But just as quickly as it came, she twists her face away and reminds me that she’ll always be running.
“Jesus,” Hudson mutters. “What the hell was that?”
He runs a hand through his dirty-blond hair.
I ignore him, watching her as she continues to dance, that long green dress hugging her curves, accentuating every inch that I’ve tasted. That I’ve imprinted into the marrow of my bones.
“Thanks for the chat,” I tell Hudson. “But I need to get out of here before I do something stupid.”
“Don’t do that.” He scoffs. “I may be good at my job, but I’m not that good.”
“You’d have to.” I start to head out of the tent, walking backward with a grin. “If not, then I’d have to kill you, and I don’t want to kill you.”
“Yeah.” He chuckles. “I kind of don’t want you to kill me either. I’d never want to leave Hadleigh alone.” He sighs longingly, staring at her.
Just before I turn to walk out, I say, “Hey, that Donny guy. Did you ever talk to his lawyer about who hired him?”
Hudson had been keeping tabs on the case for me.
“Yeah. He said his fees were paid anonymously.”
I nod. Of course they were. Whoever Donny is covering for must’ve been in a grateful mood.
“Look…” Hudson approaches. “You may never find out who killed Bryce, and you’re going to have to accept that.”
I chuckle dryly. “Come on, Hudson. You’ve been my family’s lawyer for a while now, and you know I never let anything go.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” He shakes his head and blows out a breath. “Whatever he was doing in that alley, it wasn’t good. You must suspect that.”
Hudson knows all about getting his hands dirty. He’s been dirty for so long, he doesn’t even know what it means to be clean.
“Maybe,” I admit. “But I won’t know for sure until I find out the truth, whatever it is.
” I march up, crowding his space, my jaw set tight.
“If he was up to something, I want to know about it. Do you hear me?” I lock eyes with him.
“So if there’s something you find out, you’d better share it with me first.”
That was my friend. He was practically family, and I will get answers, no matter what they are.
Just as I’m about to get the hell out of here, the music ceases and Patrick appears on the stage next to the band, tapping the microphone.
“Is this thing on?” he jokes, and the crowd erupts in laughter.
He holds Ma’s hand, her face gleaming beneath the purple and blue LED lighting, her smile big as she peers up at him.
“My bride and I just wanted to tell you all how grateful we are that you could join us.”
Whistles and cheers fill the space before he continues.
“I never thought this day would come for Fernanda and me. But here we are, finally married, and I can’t wait to spend whatever days I have left with you, my darling wife.” He brings their joined hands up and kisses the top of hers, staring straight at her.
From the corner of my eye, I watch Iseult, her eyes glancing down to her feet, her face riding with intense emotions. She’s not happy. I get that. If I felt like my father was replacing my mother, I’d feel the same way.
“But our marriage isn’t the only marriage that will be happening between our families,” Patrick goes on.
Mom’s brows furrow, and her smile begins to fall. And for a quick second, her eyes go to mine before they land back on him.
Fuck. He’s about to make this public.
“My beautiful daughter Eriu and Giovanni Marino will be tying the knot in three months from now!” he announces.
“Like hell we are!” I yell, but no one hears me over the roaring of the celebratory cheers.
Mom’s eyes grow with shock. She had no idea he was going to do this either. She gently grabs his forearm and presses her mouth to his ear, faking a smile while saying something that has his face growing taut.
They continue to speak, both of them looking anything but pleased.
The bastard ambushed me. He fucking knew he was going to do this.
Iseult kneels to say something to Sophia, then rushes out of the tent.
I start to go after her, but a soft hand lands on my forearm. I turn to find Eriu there, not an ounce of joy on her face either.
This is more like a fucking funeral.
“Did you know?” she asks, glancing down at her feet before she looks at me again.
“That your father was gonna pull that shit? Not at all.” I glance behind me, wanting to know where Iseult ran off to.
Her shoulders drop with a weighty exhale. “Me neither.” Her pale green eyes concentrate on me for a moment. “You don’t really want to marry me, right?”
“I…uh…” I scratch my temple, unsure what the hell to say without sounding like an asshole.
“It’s okay. I get it.” Her pause stretches as she stares at me. “You like my sister.”
“What?” My heart pounds.
She laughs. “I won’t tell my father. Don’t worry. But he’d be stupid not to see it, because I do.”
I stand there awkwardly, hoping this conversation ends before my mother’s wedding breaks out into a full-blown war. The more people know, the more likely he finds out before we can tell him.
And time is running out.
“I love my sister,” she goes on. “She’s always looking out for everyone but herself. But she deserves to be happy too.”
I nod, hoping to go after her stubborn ass right now and convince her of that.
“Go find her.” She smiles softly. “I’ll cover if anyone asks about you guys.”
“Thanks. I’m sorry it won’t work out for us.” I smirk.
Her eyes gleam as she shrugs. “Don’t worry. You’re not my type anyway.”
Chuckling, I rush out of there, hoping my future wife hasn’t gotten far.
ISEULT
Three months.
My damn father has been orchestrating a wedding with God knows whose help and decided to stab me in the heart at his own wedding.
Of course, he had no idea he was doing that to me, but he did. It’s like my heart has been permanently sliced open.
This is what getting close to someone gets me. Feelings. Fucking feelings. I hate them more now than I ever did before.
How could I have allowed this to happen? And what can I do to stop it?