“Will you stop worrying? You look amazing.”
I grunted.
“Do I need to take you upstairs and show you how much I love this dress?” His hand snuck under the hem, his icy fingers digging into my fleshy ass.
I swatted him away. “I’m already dressed inappropriately. Please don’t grope me where your family can see.”Proprietary wasn’t something I usually worried myself about, but meeting the parents always put me on edge. Meeting parents that lived in a mansion put me on a ledge. Beth’s mom was a nightmare. I only prayed Luca’s was nothing like the Senator.
Luca sighed. “I’m sorry, Sash. I didn’t really think about what this thing’s like.” Bending his neck down, he stared me in the eye and murmured, “I’m a terrible man. Please forgive me.”
He stuck out his bottom lip, his brown eyes begging for forgiveness.It was clear where Dante learned his lethal pout.
“Fine, you’re forgiven, but you owe me.”
“It’s my pleasure to be indebted to you,Ms. Mitchell.” He leaned close to my ear. “But I promise, you will be the sexiest, most beautiful woman at this party.”
I laughed. “I hope you’d feel that way. This is your family. It’d be kind of gross if you thought cousin Stephanie was hot.”
Luca looked away, and my nerves started to get the best of me. “Uh, it’s not just my family.”
I stopped walking and took a step into the grass to stay out of the way of the dawdling old folks. “What do you mean? You said your family’s Christmas dinner. Who else is going to be here?”
“My parents, Adriana, Dante, Marco, some other cousins,and a few family friends. It’s really no big deal.”
I pulled him by the jacket. “It absolutely is a big deal! It’s one thing to show up underdressed for the immediate family. It’s another to show up to some mini-gala looking like I’m ready to go to the fucking Ice Capades.”
Luca’s shoulders slumped. “Do you want to go home?”
Staring at the perfect colonial decorated in tasteful holiday splendor, I bit the inside of my cheek. I wasbeing a big fucking baby, but I wanted Luca’s family to like me. Adriana already had some unknown issue with me, and I needed someone on my side other than a seven-year-old.
“No. Let’s go.”
I started to walk away, but Luca pulled me back.
“What?”
He reached into his coat and pulled a long velvet box. “I was going to give this to you tonight, but maybe now is a better time.”
My hands shook a little as I opened the box. Diamonds and emeralds sparkled back at me.
“Oh, Luca, this is too much.”
“Nonsense.” He took the necklace and went behind me to put it on. “It was my grandma’s.”
I touched the cold stones and shivered at the sheer weight of them. “I don’t . . . I can’t—”
Luca’s hot breath on my neck shut me right up. “Yes, you can. I want you to have it. The emeralds are the exact color of your eyes.” He placed a kiss on the nape of my neck. “It was made for you.”
I nodded, trying to catch a glimpse of the shine around my neck. Removing my earrings, I put them in my clutch.
Luca turned me and smiled. His hand pushed back my bouncy red curls, grazing my neck. “Perfection. You ready to go in?”
“Let’s do it.”
We entered a beautiful foyer. A classic chandelier sparkled and set the tone for the entire room. Black-and-white marble buffed until you could see yourself fed into a grand staircase and a few hallways. Traditional grandeur wasn’t my aesthetic, but it fit like a glove in a space like that.Tasteful Christmas decor of holly, poinsettias, and garland touched every corner, and I couldn’t help but wonder who they hired for their holiday decorations.
“Oh, Luca,honey! You’re here.”
A middle-aged, dark-haired woman with striking European features glided toward us. She looked like a young Sophia Loren—a woman that only gets better with age. Sophia Loren could get it, and the same was true for Mrs. Moretti.