Grinning, I haul her out of the shower, wrap her up in a towel and pull on a robe of my own. We head back to the living room where I set up the projector we look over the RSVP list. Of course, Valerie and her parents have already confirmed, along with Roman’s mother, Massimo, Hunter, and Chase, then Matthew.
Not too bad. Gunner points out his parents and Holden just kind of sits there until he sees his brother’s name pop up. He shoots me a glare. “I told you not to invite anyone.”
“Your brother heard about it from General Marcos. He called me.” I defend myself.
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I wanted to make it a surprise. I knew that if I told you before the invitation went out, you’d be angry.” I shrug. “He wants to support you, Holden. Aaron isn’t that bad.”
Sophie sits in his lap and kisses his neck. I’m sure she’s whispering sweet things in his ear, but I shrug and continue scrolling through. In total, we have eleven people confirmed so far.
“And I’ll take care of the florists tomorrow,” Gunner says. “Shouldn’t be hard.”
“High school French going to get you through all that?” Roman teases.
“I speak it fluently. I told you, I’m great at procrastinating.” He snorts. When I arch an eyebrow at him, he shrugs. “If I get stuck, there’s always that translation app that works in real time.”
And that seems to take care of everything.
We head to bed, meaning Sophie is with me since I know we’re still a little raw after our fight. I cling to her in the morning, then kiss her temple as I get up. I promise we’ll see her later, but she just snorts out something nonsensical before rolling into the spot I left.
She clutches my pillow close, inhales deeply, and snuggles in. How can she be so sweet and so fiery at the same time? I shake my head, forcing myself to get ready for the fitting, or I know I just won’t go.
Sophie’s that tempting.
But I get up with the guys, head to the luxurious shop, and try on a few different tuxes. Gunner looks at his pink tie, straightens it, and nods, but I can tell something’s bugging him. Roman sighs. “Out with it.”
“What if we all did white ties, to match Sophie’s dress and did colored button-ups instead. I think that it would look better.”
The men working instantly go to work, pulling out the matching button-ups for each tie. We change quickly, do the white ties and Gunner still looks dissatisfied. I don’t blame him. The white feels out of place.
“May I make a suggestion?” Giorgio, the shop owner says.
“Always,” Roman encourages.
Apparently, they go way back. A family thing I’m sure. Giorgio pulls Gunner in front, then takes off his jacket. He looks at the color of his shirt, the original color of the tie, then suggests doing a lining in that color, so we can roll our sleeves and it will show. Then, with the traditional white button-up and colored tie, there will be more impact. It won’t be as boring as Gunner feels, but we will still have all the clean crispness of the traditional look.
“Absolutely,” Gunner says with a nod. “That’s perfect. And it’s not too much to do before we leave in two weeks?”
Giorgio shakes his head and reaches up to pat Roman’s shoulder. “Anything for family.”
With everything else approved, we head out. Gunner pauses outside the shop and faces Roman. “Okay, I know I’ve asked before.”
“Not this again.” I rub my forehead. It hasn’t come up in over a year, and now that we’ve met Roman’s family it should be more obvious than ever, but Gunner’s stuck and I know it. Holden nudges me and I sigh. “Fine, you win.”
“I told you he wouldn’t drop it after our trip.” Holden beams, knowing he’s not paying for a single drink tonight.
“Is your family in some old-time Italian mafia?” Gunner persists.
Roman rolls his eyes. “We’ve discussed this.”
“Because a tuxedo shop is a great cover. That’s all I’m saying. And Giorgio is definitely a mafia name.”
“Anything is a mafia name if it sounds a little bit Italian.” Roman huffs. “Thank the movies for that.”
We all laugh as we get back in the town car. I added getting Sophie’s wedding band today since I was sure that we’d have the time.
Holden checks his phone and nods. “Sophie went for the deluxe package when she realized her mom was coming.”