Chapter 11
Francesca
To—nothing.
The patio doors were open, though. And strings of twinkling lights awaited me.
Step by step.
I ended up at the door. Stefan's eyes landed on mine.
And he smiled.
And then he looked me up and down.
And up and down.
And the smile dropped off. He pursed his lips together and closed his eyes briefly.
Was he upset about something? Didn't he like what I was wearing?
My stomach sank for a moment, thinking I’d disappointed him somehow.
When he opened his eyes, he blinked. And I saw them glistening in the white, sparkly lights around him. Someone had formed an archway by the pool where he stood with a man who looked like a—priest?
What the heck?
Carlo stood beside him. Dani stood with her mom, and Eve on the other side.
“May I?” A deep voice startled me. I snapped my head to the side. There stood Nick, looking handsome as heck in a tuxedo. He offered his arm to me.
I hesitated for a beat, but then I took it. “Thanks,” I said, and I meant it. This was all intimidating as heck. It would be nice to lean on someone. Especially someone as good looking and sturdy as Nick.
“Anytime, my dear.” He gave me a devilish smirk and then started walking. “You look absolutely stunning.” He turned his head toward me. “But you'd look good in anything.” His eyes dropped to my cleavage. “Or nothing at all.” His eyes bounced back to mine, and he smiled wider.
I shook my head and laughed quietly at his remark. “I guess that depends on who you ask,” I countered back.
Nick chuckled but didn't look at me. “Oh, I don't have to ask anyone, Francesca. I have eyes.”
I wasn't sure how to respond to that.
So, I didn't.
He led me around the pool, up to the archway of lights. Where my groom was standing.
“Treat her well. Or you'll answer to me,” Nick said in a strict, bossy way. And the way he said it—made my lower belly all soft and mushy.
Stefan's eyes moved from me to his friend. His mouth opened, and at first, he looked like he was going to give Nick a piece of his mind. But then he closed his lips and nodded. “I will,” was all he said before Nick handed me over. Stefan took my free hand in his and whispered, “You look beautiful.”
I felt my cheeks heat. I bit my bottom lip and looked him up and down.
He wore a tux. It wasn't the same as Nick's or Carlo's.
But it fit him perfectly. Maybe a little too perfectly.
I wondered if it was even his. Had he borrowed it from Nick?
Probably. He and Nick were close in size.
But Stefan's arms seemed bigger. Wider. More muscular.
No longer the weak, sick man in pain I'd met all those months ago.
Nope.
Stefan looked strong. And powerful.
Such a stark contrast to the man I'd cared for after his shooting.
After he'd been left for dead in the emergency room.
After I lied to the surgeon and tricked him into operating on Stefan.
I wondered if Stefan ever thought about that night. I wondered if he realized how dire those times really were. I'd heard stories about patients completely forgetting about their time in the ICU. When they were critical and so close to death—one bleed—one infection—one breath from dying.
I guess that was good, though. That they forgot.
It was probably their brain's way of protecting them.
Stefan stared at me. His eyes floating all over my body. And I swear I could feel his gaze—that was how powerful it was.
“Thanks,” I said in answer to his comment. My heart was beating so quickly, I could hardly catch my breath. “You look nice, too.” Oh, my gosh. Why did I say something so stupid? Stefan looked a heck of a lot better than—nice.
The smirk on his face told me he didn't mind, though. “Thanks,” was all he said before the priest began speaking. Not that I was listening. How on earth could I concentrate on anything anyone said when I was standing under a sparkly archway with Stefan? Getting ready to marry him?
This was crazy.
Was this actually happening?
Only a short time ago, I was on a stage. Waiting to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
And now—here I was. At Carlo's mansion. Marrying Stefan.
Yeah.
This was bizarre.
Before I knew it, Giselle was touching my arm. “Give me your bouquet. I'll hold it,” she whispered, taking my flowers from me. I wasn't sure what was going on. Why did Giselle want my flowers?
Stefan grasped my other hand—and—
He started repeating the words the priest was saying.
Holy.
Cow.
“I Stefan Sovrano, take thee—”
A loud cry echoed into the night.
“Dang,” Eve whispered and looked at Nick. “I think that's Theo.” They shared a very parental look between them. “I'll go get him. Before he wakes up the other kids.”
Eve had taken exactly one step before Nick held out his hand. “Stay. I'll get him.”
Eve shook her head and continued walking. “I'll do it.” They discussed this for a minute before Carlo interrupted. “Both of you go. We'll wait.” He nodded to the priest. From the look on the priest's face, he wasn't exactly in line with this decision. He furrowed his brow with displeasure.
Stefan squeezed my hands but looked at his friends. “It's fine. Go get the baby. The more the merrier.”
Eve and Nick sighed loudly in tandem, then rushed off.
Not two seconds later—another cry erupted.
“Goddamn it,” Carlo muttered, pulling out what looked like a baby monitor from inside his jacket. He glanced at the priest briefly. “Sorry.”
Giselle handed her flowers—and mine—to me. “Here. I'll be back in a minute.” Stefan let go of my hands so I could take the two bouquets.
Carlo turned down the monitor and said, “I'll go. You can stay.”
Giselle shook her head. “You might as well come along. Chances are he's woken up his brother, too.” She peered over at me, and then at Stefan. “Can you guys watch Dani for a minute, please?”
Stefan answered back. “Go. We've got her.” Then he looked down at Dani while her parents hurried off. “You look very pretty, Miss Daniella.”
Dani let out a giggly laugh and spun around—suddenly filled with energy. “My momma maded it for me.” She swiveled around, showing off for her uncle.
“I like how it whooshes.” She spun around faster and stopped. The ruffles on her skirt flounced and bounced. “See?”
Stefan chuckled and stepped around me to pick up the spinning girl. She let out a joyful shriek as he tossed her in the air and caught her again. “You're making me dizzy,” he said and kissed her cheek. “And I don't want you to fall on the hard tiles. That'll hurt.”
Dani rolled her eyes and said, “Pfft, I'm not gonna fall. I never fall!” Her little girl arms flew out to her sides for emphasis.
And that only made her uncle laugh right the heck out loud.
“You have fallen many times. And these tiles are not very forgiving. Especially with fancy shoes like this.” He grasped her foot and held out her shiny, sparkly shoes for all of us to see.
“Just ask your auntie Francesca how slippery fancy shoes can be.” Stefan gazed down at me with a devilish smirk on his face. “She tripped a little while ago.”
Dani's jaw dropped open, and she looked at me with a shocked expression. “Did you fall?” she asked with disbelief.
She was so genuine that I couldn't help but laugh. “Almost. Your uncle Stefan was there to save me.”
She grinned at me. “He saved you?” Her eyebrows nearly flew off her face. As if that was the most outlandish thing she'd ever heard in her young life. “And then did he kiss you?” Her eyes were glued to me, watching me closely.
“No—” I started to say, but Stefan cut in.
“No kissing until we're married, Daniella. You know that.” He tickled her side, and she squealed.
“But you're going to kiss my auntie Fran-schmesh-ka. Right?” she said while cupping her uncle's cheeks with her hands. It was possibly the cutest thing I'd ever seen. Then she smushed his cheeks together, making his lips fishlike.
“Yes,” Stefan said with limited mouth movement. “I'm going to kiss your auntie Francesca.” He sounded so funny that it sent Dani into gales of laughter.
“Oh, you're going to kissy my auntie!” Dani said in a—very—sassy tone.
Stefan laughed too.
Someone cleared their throat—we all turned our heads to the priest.
Whoops.
I completely forgot he was here.
“I'm going to sit down until everyone comes back,” he said dryly.
Stefan nodded at him. “Thank you, Father. I'm sorry for the delay. They'll be back in a minute.”
The priest pursed his lips together and gave Stefan a look that told us exactly how understanding he was at the moment. Which I didn't blame him for. Not at all.
I wasn't sure how he got here. But I was pretty certain priests weren't normally performing wedding ceremonies in the middle of the night. He had every right to be as annoyed as he wanted.
I looked up at Stefan and tried not to smile. I mean, I really, really, really tried my best not to smile. And laugh.
But I failed.
Miserably.
He was holding a sweet, giggly girl who was wearing a white fluffy dress—that she absolutely loved. And she loved her uncle. That was more than clear.
And he loved her—which was even more obvious. He'd move heaven and earth to make her happy.
I wasn't sure if either of them knew how lucky they were to have each other. But I bet they knew.
Because if I could see it after observing them for such a short amount of time—then anyone could.
“You okay?” Stefan reached out and grabbed my arm.
I gave him a smile and nodded. “Yeah. We should go sit down too.” I looked over at where the priest sat. There was a stylish patio set near the house with more than enough chairs for all of us.
“No,” Stefan said firmly—but with a definite edge to his voice. “We're staying here.” His tone held no room for discussion. And since I wasn't exactly in a position to disagree—I didn't.
“Okay,” I said as his hand tightened harder around mine.
“We're back, we're back,” Nick and Eve hustled through the doors, each carrying a child.
I knew it was inappropriate—but Nick was hot.