“How do you know that’s what I was going to say?”
“You already said it. I was just waiting for you to confirm it.”
I sighed.
“Confirm it, and I’ll let you change out of your suit.”
“Really?” I blurted.
“Ha!” She poked me in the chest. “I knew you had a weakness for clothing and shoes… Imagine my disappointment when my future husband couldn’t even take the time to tell me if I looked nice. Your real suit is in the closet. This was left over from Halloween. Apparently, Trace made Nixon dress up last year after losing a bet.”
“Thank God.” I looked heavenward.
“Ahem.” She elbowed me. “The words. Please.”
I sighed then forced out the words. “You look pretty…”
She tilted her head.
“…like a princess,” I finished.
Andi’s megawatt smile nearly toppled me over. I didn’t have a chance to fight it off or to put up any walls so it wouldn’t spear me directly through the heart. Instead, I was defenseless as the smile wreaked havoc on my heart rate as well as the rest of my body — not having a physical reaction to the girl would mean I was basically dead. Then again, she’d said as much to me, so there was that.
Her smile was like seeing something beautiful for the first time, only to not believe it even existed for your pleasure of staring at it in the first place.
“Sergio…” Andi reached up for my face and brought it down to hers, then placed a soft kiss on my lips. “Thank you.”
I lingered. Unaware that I was lingering… until she jerked back, breaking the moment, then skipped out of the room.
I stared after her for a few minutes, unsure of how to proceed. I’d been in her presence less than twenty-four hours and already she was winning.
At everything.
Huh, and up until now I hadn’t even realized I was in a game.
Andi one, Sergio zero.
CHAPTER SIX
Andi
MY HANDS WERE STILL SHAKING AFTER my run-in with Sergio. I wasn’t sure if it was the cancer or the nerves at being so close to him.
Regardless of how horrible he’d been to me…
One thing was absolutely true about the man — he was absolutely stunning.
Like a mythical knight in a romance novel, his features were chiseled so perfectly that you almost wanted to get a closer look just so you could find a flaw. His strong jawline accentuated a near perfect mouth with full lips and straight white teeth that, when he wasn’t hissing at his prey, framed a breathtaking smile.
His hair had been recently cut, but it was starting to grow out past his ears, giving it a wavy luscious look that screamed rock star with bad boy habits and a similar sexual appetite. It had to drive women crazy. In fact, it was shocking that he was even single.
Then again, he did have a high body count attached to his name. Killing didn’t exactly scream commitment, and I already knew he kept his secrets close to him.
I wasn’t sure if he was just playing off the tortured and wronged hero, or if he really was in a dark place.
Either way.
He was stuck with me.
So he needed to man up and do something about it rather than pout and scream empty threats in my direction.
People like that pissed me off — ones who couldn’t see past their own misery to actually see that they were gifted with another day.
Luca had taught me that.
He’d taught me that each sunrise was a new promise, a new beginning, a new chance at extraordinary.
I gathered my thoughts and made my way downstairs. It was a flurry of excitement. The girls were yelling at the guys to hurry up with the food while the guys were sweating bullets, pun intended, while trying to tie their ties and move tables at the same time.
“Hurry!” Mo whistled then started clapping her hands in a cadence that reminded me of my old piano teacher.
Trace let out a laugh as Chase tripped over his feet then yelled at Tex to move the napkins. A lot of cursing was going down on my wedding day. That much was certain.
“You sure you want to marry into this?” Nicolai said from his spot in the corner.
Ah, of course he was in the corner. The man brooded well. He had it down to an art form. Arms crossed, shoulders straight back, amused smirk firmly in place while pieces of dark hair fell across his forehead. If Sergio was dark, Nicolai was darker, and that was saying a lot. I wouldn’t exactly trust him with my first born… or a goldfish for that matter.
“Two Russians in my home, God save us all.” Phoenix smirked as he made his way over to us from the other side of the room. He held out his hand. “Nicolai, always a pleasure.”
Nicolai shook his hand and nodded. “Business is good.”
I knew that question. It was a typical mafia question. “Business is good” was always said as a statement, never a question, because if it wasn’t, it typically meant you were the reason it wasn’t going good. This was usually followed by a gunshot or getting messed up.
Phoenix’s face didn’t give way to any emotion. He simply shrugged and said, “As always.”
“Can we trust him?”
Nicolai asked the question I hadn’t wanted to even acknowledge needed answering. I wanted to inch closer but knew it would give me away. Instead, I perked my ears and pretended to be interested in the commotion around me.
Phoenix glanced at me out of the corner of his eye before answering. “Yes. And if something goes wrong. I’ll simply pull the trigger, so you won’t have to get on a plane.”