“I didn’t hear that,” Mom muttered as she pulled another pan of cinnamon rolls from the oven. “Nope. Didn’t hear a single word. My son is a good boy. He doesn’t touch underage girls whose father will kill him and bury him in the woods.”
“I’ll be eighteen in a few more months,” River reminded her.
“But you will still have an overprotective daddy who will cut off Mav’s nuts for even looking at you,” Mom argued.
“Dad won’t hurt him. I’ll make sure of that.” River accepted another roll and cut into it with her fork. After chewing, she pointed her fork at her boyfriend. “Now, let’s talk about you coming in smelling like a cheap whore last night.”
“I thought you were asleep,” Maverick grumbled.
“The scent of Misty’s perfume could wake the dead. The entire downstairs still smells like it,” Mom muttered unhappily.
“She and about three other sheep were all over Luca all evening,” my brother explained again. “He was drinking pretty heavily, and Lyric was giving him stink eye all night, but the dude wasn’t really into them. Like, his body was there, but his mind was elsewhere. They were more or less humping his leg, and he just stood there as if he was in another world.”
Mila grimaced. “There may or may not be drama with him today. Lyric warned me that things can go from zero to sixty in a second flat when his brother is in the same room with Violet Stevenson these days.”
“Let’s not worry about other people’s drama today,” I suggested. “This is our day. We’re the stars.”
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“Hell yeah, we are!” Mila said with a grin.
As the morning wore on and the house became more like a war zone with people running in and out, I tried to stay calm. But all I could think was that I just wanted Gian to wrap his arms around me and tell me how much he loved me. The whole waiting until the wedding to see each other seemed ridiculous the longer I had to spend away from him.
While Mila was getting her makeup done, another stylist was working on my hair, and I couldn’t wait another second. Lifting my phone, I called Gian.
“Precious?” he answered before the first ring finished. “What’s wrong?”
“I love you and I miss you and I just want a kiss so damn badly right now,” I rushed out.
“What about the whole not seeing each other until you’re walking down the aisle?”
“It’s mean of you to remind me of my stupidity,” I said with a pout and heard him laugh.
Fuck, but I loved his laugh.
“I love you, and I miss you too. And as soon as I see you, I’m going to kiss you breathless,” he promised. “It won’t be long now, my love. I’ll see you soon.”
“Please come and kiss me now,” I begged.
“I can’t, precious girl. I’m in the middle of something important.” I heard voices in the background, and I pulled my brows together when I heard my dad’s voice, as well as some of my uncles making a fuss. I hadn’t seen Daddy all day, and now I was wondering if he’d even come home the night before.
“Is everything okay? Do I need to send Mom to make Daddy be good?” Now, I was worried something was going on. Daddy wouldn’t really kill the father of his grandchildren on my wedding day…would he?
“Everything is perfect, Monroe,” he assured me. “Just putting the finishing touches on your wedding present.”
“You didn’t have to get me a present. I’m getting everything I ever wanted today. You. That’s all I will ever need.”
I heard his sharp inhale. “That is my line, baby. Now go get pampered while I finalize a few things. I’ll see you soon, I promise.”
“I love you,” I whispered.
“More today than yesterday?” he murmured, making my heart pound.
“And I already know I’ll love you more tomorrow than today.”
Chapter 25
Gian