“Not enough to only be with him.” My dad huffs.
“Dad.” I narrow my eyes. “Don’t start.”
He holds his hands up. “As long as your happy and don’t care about the whispers, I guess.”
“Come on, honey. We met at Woodstock and that wasn’t exactly an exclusive affair.” My mom teases.
My dad clears his throat, nods, and welcomes Sophie to the family in a better way. Roman takes over next, introducing Sophie to his mother. When Sophie speaks to her in Italian, Giana lights up and so does Nonna. They gush over her and Roman beams, pride radiating from him.
Sophie laughs and pats his chest, saying something in slow Italian that Roman corrects before kissing her palm. I rub Holden’s shoulder. “Everything good?”
“Yeah. No sign of crashers so far.” He mumbles.
“Nervous about introducing her to Aaron?”
“I’m nervous Aaron told my parents he was invited and they’ll attend tomorrow.” He sighs. “I don’t want them giving Sophie shit.”
“Don’t worry, my dad took care of that right away.” I chuckle. “Mom put him in his place.”
“Did she bring up Woodstock again?”
Holden and I both laugh before I take my seat. Gunner shakes his head. “Sophie’s not ready for Lucy and Hallie. If she thinks I’m wild …”
“Well maybe they can come to visit more and Sophie will have some female friends to go out with,” I suggest.
Gunner slugs me. I rub my shoulder. “Are you drunk already?”
“High on happiness.” He admits, then his huge smile reappears. “I kept expecting something to stop the wedding. I was sure some kind of shit would hit the fan and we wouldn’t even get here.”
Roman sits down and I see Holden carefully introducing Sophie to Aaron. They talk for a while and Sophie nods a few times and leaves with a smile. She presses a quick kiss to Holden’s mouth and gives a little wave as she walks toward me and Gunner.
She shrugs, then takes a deep breath as she walks behind us, resting a hand on my shoulder. “Okay, Gun. I’m ready.”
“Are you sure, sweets?” He tugs her into his lap. “Ready to be hugged, asked a million questions, make my dad cry, and everything in between?”
She giggles and pats his chest. “Well, I can’t handle them like I handle you, but I’ll survive.”
Gunner picks her up, making her squeal, and drags her over to the most talkative area of the room. I shake my head and Roman chuckles. “She’s been swallowed by the group.”
“Did Nonna understand what’s going on?”
He nods, then chuckles. “She was worried I was the one marrying all of you and had a number of questions.”
I laugh and feel the last of the worry roll off my shoulders.
Sophie sits back down after having to untangle herself physically from Gunner’s family for the second course. Just as she sits, the doors open and there’s Neal. He’s obviously drunk, furious, and has some kind of renewed confidence in his arguing abilities.
Miles stands first. “We already talked about this, Neal. Leave or you’re going to have to find a new job.”
“I just think there’s someone Sophie may want to talk to before going through with this wedding.”
I look at Sophie, utterly confused. She straightens her back and lifts her chin. That look in her eyes is deadly, a more lethal version of Roman’s domineering glare that silences rooms. She folds her fingers together.
Neal motions to someone and a handsome guy walks in. I can admit he’s handsome. He looks like an all-American athlete. Sophie schools her features into a cool indifference, but I catch her biting the inside of her cheek.
Valerie nearly coughs up a lung as she spews champagne everywhere. She manages to half swallow, but her voice still comes out. “Tristan?”
“Hey, sis.” Then his eyes look to Sophie. “No invite?”