Page 77

I pursed my lips. “I’ll tell Giorgia to lower her expectations for you.”
Samuel chuckled at Renato’s less-than-amused expression and clapped his shoulder.
When Samuel, Renato, and I arrived at Danilo’s mansion, I spotted Giorgia’s brother’s car out front. I only felt a brief sense of homesickness when I moved toward the front door with Samuel by my side.
“Behave,” Samuel muttered under his breath a moment before my brother opened the door. He definitely hadn’t meant me. That he had to remind Renato of it rubbed me the wrongway. I had to talk to Giorgia first before any insane deals were struck.
Danilo gave Samuel and Renato terse nods before he bent down and pressed a kiss to my cheek. I gave him a smile. “Are you all right?” he murmured as he scanned my face. I had trouble sleeping since Samuel came home stinking drunk, but of course I couldn’t mention that to my brother. “I am.”
“Giorgia and her brother are in the living room.”
“I thought her mother wanted to come too?” I asked.
“Her brother is the master of the house. He has the last word on her future, not her mother,” Danilo pointed out.
I moved toward the living area, where I found Sofia in conversation with Giorgia while her brother checked something on his phone. Giorgia pushed to her feet and rushed toward me, hugging me tightly. I too had missed her and only realized how much I did as I clung to her.
“I can’t wait to live close to you,” she whispered.
I pulled back. Sofia had gotten up as well and so had Giorgia’s brother. I greeted him with a smile and Sofia with a hug. “I hope my brother behaves himself.”
Her eyes twinkled with amusement. “It’s a work in progress.”
I laughed.
“What about Samuel?”
I shrugged. “Definitely a work in progress.”
The men entered at that moment, and Giorgia’s brother immediately went to them. They greeted each other with handshakes, but the atmosphere was way too testosterone-fueled for my liking.
Sofia cleared her throat. “I’ll go into the kitchen and let them know we’re ready for coffee and cake.”
Renato sent Giorgia a smile that had her brother scowling. It was a little too intimate.
“Giorgia and I need to chat while you exchange your official pleasantries,” I muttered and motioned for Giorgia to proceed.
I led Giorgia into the lobby and shook my head. “Really, him?”
She pulled a face. “He’s the best option, Emma. I don’t have an Underboss jumping at the chance to marry me. I’ll be eighteen soon. My mother is losing her patience with me and so is my brother. They are ready to marry me off to that old bastard in Italy. He looks like a toad and is way too old. Just the thought of having to touch him…”
Giorgia looked like she was about to be sick. Then she blew out a breath. “Even if Renato is intolerable as far as I can tell from our short encounters, he’s at least quite good-looking, so I won’t be repulsed if we have to consummate the marriage at some point.”
I nodded because I totally understood. “You don’t mind that it’s a deal because you both are desperate?”
Giorgia shook her head. “Most arranged marriages are deals, right?”
I shrugged. But some deals were more tasteless than others. I still wondered why Samuel had agreed to marry me. That argument of strengthening the bond between our families was nonsense, that was for sure. “Samuel mentioned that Renato isn’t the faithful type.”
Giorgia chuckled. “He’s a Casanova and way too sure of himself. He’s cocky and annoying. He’ll drive me up the wall.”
“That doesn’t make him sound like marriage material.”
“He’s not, but I picked him. Mom will be annoyed that she won’t get her way, and I’ll figure out a way to deal with Renato once we’re married.”
I sighed. “I’m just happy you’ll live close to me.”
She grinned. “See, that makes marrying him worth it.”