Page 32 of A Treasure To Keep
“Yes, I went to college! I have a business and fashion degree, asshole. Unfortunately, yes, I did date him. His parents are good friends with my parents, and they pushed us together. Power couple bullshit or whatever. And I was the fucking fool who thought he loved me. Three months after he proposed, I walked into my bedroom to catch him on top of my cousin. I sold his ring, he got engaged to Mirabella, and I met Andrea six months later when I got the stylist job. He’s always done that shit. Always blaming me and gaslighting me for anything that happens, even if it’s his fault. I was also a size four when we dated. With my body type, it was impossible to keep unless I was eating lean meats and vegetables for every meal. When we broke up, I finally ate what my body needed to fuel itself. Even though I went up to a size twelve, I’ve never felt better.” She tucks her bottom lip in between her teeth, with that insecure expression on her face I saw earlier when Giovanni first saw us.
“I’m confused. You’re close to a foot and a half shorter than me, and I’m only a few inches taller than Alessandro. We’re both more dangerous than Giovanni could ever be, and you’re afraid of him? You have the balls to stand up to Alessandro and I with ease. That asshole doesn’t deserve the toilet paper you wipe your ass with, let alone any of your thoughts.”
Her face twists with disgust when she processes what I said. “That is the grossest thing you could have ever said. Let’s get everything for Luci’s baby shower and get back before I have to take her hair out of the curlers.”
El walks away from me, the clicking of her heels on the floor getting quieter as she gets farther away. Eventually, I catch up to her when she has the checkout lady call me over the intercom. She couldn’t call me instead? I guess not.
I don’t miss the shock on the cashier’s face when I appear at the register, assuming she was calling for a young child, not a massive tattooed man. We don’t talk as I load the items in theback of my truck while El leaves me behind. I guess we’re not heading back to the house together for the baby shower. Which I found out the other day, I’m not allowed to stay at the house for.
When I appear in the driveway, El is waiting, leaning against her car. The moment she sees me, her haunted expression changes to her typical guarded face. She will do everything in her power to hide any sign of weakness. She lowers the bed to my truck, unloading everything to carry the bags into the garden.
An hour later, El and I have everything set up in the garden for Luci’s baby shower. Alessandro walks into the garden, followed by Andrea and Enzo. Alessandro is insistent on taking advantage of every minute to stay around. The further along in this pregnancy Luci is, the more protective he is of her. The man is 100 percent pussy whipped. Alessandro nods his head while he processes what El planned for Luci.
“I never doubted you would do an amazing job, but you’ve exceeded my expectations, mon trésor.” Andrea kisses the space behind her ear as El melts into him. Fuck Giovanni. Andrea is the man who deserves her.
“This is beautiful, El. Luci will love this.” A small smile appears on Alessandro’s face, and I can practically hear the sound of a whip in the background. He’s almost as bad as Andrea. “But I don’t understand why we have to leave. Luci needs to be protected—” El breaks off Alessandro, standing up to him as always.
“Which is why Domenico is here, which means you four can leave. Bye-bye!” El shoos us out of the house, loading up in my truck as we head out for the afternoon. Where? No fucking clue,but Andrea will let me know. Something about since El planned Luci’s baby shower, it’s only appropriate that Andrea plans Alessandro’s afternoon. I don’t get it, but all I need to know is where to go.
Enzo, Alessandro, and Andrea laugh as I follow the GPS. I can’t shake the image of El’s face when Giovanni spoke to her. It pisses me off that she lets him take up a speck of space in her head. I wonder if Andrea knows about him. I’ll ask him later; then, we can sandwich El in between us as we show her how perfect she is.
Chapter 35
El
Ifinally got the boys . . . other than Domenico, out of the house as I put the final touches on the baby shower in the garden. Luci’s mamma, Caterina, and nonna, Stella, will arrive soon, and Luci’s midwife, Quinn, said she would join us. The Leone’s on-call doctor, Dr. Rossi—well—Aria arrives first, surprisingly with a gift, and sets it on the table. “I can’t thank you enough for coming, Aria.”
She studies the garden, her perfect poker face hiding what she’s thinking. “This is over-the-top lavish. I wouldn’t expect anything less from you. I see only basic security is here, and I noticed Domenico sneaking off to the guest house. How did you get Alessandro, Marco, and Enzo out of the house? I’d assume Alessandro would stomp his foot and complain like a petulant child.” Aria has been married three times, I think, but hates men. Most of us are convinced she’s a hopeless romantic, even though she has no tolerance for bullshit. I love her for that.
“Andrea helped me. We have the afternoon to ourselves.” My phone dings, and a text from Stella pops up, letting me knowthey’ve arrived and she has 1 percent battery. Our plan to get the two of them here included Caterina leaving her phone at her house and Stella letting her phone die. My hope is that getting Stella and Caterina here will help heal their relationship. Hypocritical of me, I know, considering my relationship with my parents.
I open the front door as Stella and Caterina get out of their car. Stella’s wild gray hair blows in the wind, her bright smile an exact copy of Luci’s. Caterina attempts to hide her nervousness, even though the fiddling with the pendant on her necklace gives it away. Before Luci was engaged, she would always fiddle with the crucifix on her necklace. Now, she fiddles with her ring. We greet each other with kisses on each cheek, and I lead them through the house and out to the garden.
They both spin around, taking in the decor before Stella’s eyes fill with tears. Oh no! If she cries, I’ll cry, and that’s not a pretty sight. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t. Fucking. Cry. I’m focused on blinking away tears when Stella grabs both of my hands, smiling at me sweetly.
“El, I can’t thank you enough. I hate how everything ended the night Luci came back to Philadelphia. I want a relationship with her and my great-grandchild. I think this baby shower will be the perfect time to take those first steps.” Long story short, Alessandro kidnapped Luci because Stella’s family owed Alessandro’s family payment for a debt, which could only be paid off through a marriage. Luci’s nonno, Aldo, broke into the house the night before Alessandro and Luci were supposed to get married and took her back. They ended up with Luci’s ex-boyfriend, Elio, in Wyoming, and Alessandro shot Luci when he found her. It was by accident; he meant to shoot Aldo, but whatever. There were massive amounts of drama in the hospital, ending with Luci returning to Philadelphia and marrying Alessandro that night. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking; that’sa long, short version of the story. That was about two-ish months ago.
“I’m glad I could figure something out. Trust me; I know family dynamics can be complicated. Luci would want me to find some way to get the two women she loves more than anything here. I’m pretty resilient in that way. On that note, I have to get Luci dressed and her hair out of curlers. I believe you two met Aria back in Wyoming. You three enjoy the food, drinks, and conversation. I’ll be back with Luci in half-ish an hour.”
I pop upstairs, thankful that for the time being, Alessandro has turned off the stupid sensor to that door until Luci has her daughter.
I announce my arrival with a cheesy, yet necessary quote from one of my favorite old TV shows. I’m carrying a light pink dress in my hands and present it to her. “Luuuuuciiiii, I’m hooooome! Alright, everything is done and we still have to finish doing your hair and getting you dressed in this.”
Luci takes the dress from me, holding it like it’ll burn her if she even thinks of wearing it. “El, I’m not sure about this dress. Do you have another option?”
Oh, silly, silly, Luci. Does she know me at all? “No, babe. You’ll rock this dress, and we will shower you and little miss with fabulous things. Now come and let me help you get dressed and we can head down to the garden since all the boys are out of the house. Except Domenico, I guess.” I take the curlers out of her hair and help her get into the tight pink dress before she adorably waddles her way downstairs.
I stand behind her, watching her process what I’ve done to the garden. I hung lights but kept the flowers the same. Alessandro and Luci have spent the last several months transforming this garden into the one Alessandro’s mother had before she passed away, soon after giving birth to him. It’s not my place to take away from any of that.
I’m ready to crawl out of my skin with excitement when Stella and Caterina come out from around the corner. The three of them cry when they embrace each other. I have to admit to myself that I wish I could have that type of relationship with my mamma. At this point, what our relationship is currently is what it will always be. All because of the one thing I inherited from her. Stubbornness.
I snap that thought out of my head and walk toward the three of them. “I’m guessing that’s an ‘Oh my god, El, you did so good! I can’t believe how amazing you are at your job!’ Right? I know I’m right.”
The three of them laugh, Stella laughing the hardest as she approaches me. She takes both my hands in hers, giving them a gentle squeeze. I can’t handle how adorable she is. “I like you. I don’t approve of a pretty girl using the Lord’s name in vain, but I can forgive that because of how amazing this all is. I cannot thank you enough for making this happen.”
I watch from a distance as the three of them catch up. Thankfully, Quinn chooses the best time to arrive, shutting down questions about Luci’s eating habits and weight during her pregnancy. Once that’s nixed, I decide it’s the best time to interject.
“Alright! Now that everyone is here, I have an afternoon of fun planned. But first, mimosas for everyone except Luci, who has orange juice and alcohol-free champagne.” We make our way toward the table with cupcakes, food Andrea made, the mimosa station, and load up our plates. Throughout the rest of the afternoon, we play games, chat, and eat good food.