“I’m so happy you guys found your way back together.” She whispered in my ear. When she leaned back, her eyes shined with emotion.
“You’ve always been our number one supporter,” I said with a smirk.
Adriana threw her head back with a laugh. It amazed me how far we’d all come with one another.
“What did I miss?” Marco passed us our drinks and stood behind Adriana’s petite body.
“Just talking about how Adriana fell in love with me the first time she met me.”
“Sounds about right.” Marco smiled down at her. What a change from the man I met in the art gallery.
“Luca! Sasha!” Rosa floated into the room, my mom hot on her heels. She gave us each a kiss on the cheek and then took my hands and held them to the side. “You look lovely.”
“Thank you.” I blushed as I caught my mom’s eye over Rosa’s shoulder. I smiled, but she was too busy inspecting my outfit to notice, her gaze spending a lot of time on my cleavage. “Mom?”
Rosa stepped out of the way, letting my mom take her place. “This color is nice on you.” Mom kissed my cheek, gave me one more lingering look, and moved on to Luca. “And look at you. So handsome.”
“Thank you, Maggie.”
“You two mingle, eat some of these canapés, and we’ll round up everyone for speeches.” Mom bounced away, talking Rosa’s ear off.”
“Speeches?” I frowned at their retreating backs.
“Just some short toasts. Aunt Rosa, your dad, Ashley, and me.” Marco shrugged.
“Wonderful.”
Add speeches about me and my relationship to the shit Sasha hates list.
I spotted Ashley, Malcolm, Jazz, and Imani huddled in a corner laughing. “Be right back.” I patted Luca’s arm, then made my way across the room.
“There you are!” Ashley passed her drink to Malcolm and threw her body at me, her face landing in my cleavage. “You look fantastic!”
“Look at you!” I pulled back to better admire the deep purple dress that complimented her brown skin. “Had to show me up, huh?”
She put her hand under her chin and batted her eyelashes. “Always.”
Everyone laughed as they filed in for hugs and congratulations.
“You guys been here long?”
“We got here about ten minutes before you. Your mom brought us in here and ordered us to get drinks and food.” Jazz laughed, waving at my mom, who was cozied up next to my dad in the hallway. “She’s an interesting lady.”
“Don’t I know it.”
“Be nice.” Imani chastised Jazz, then smiled at me. “Congratulations!”
“Thank you.” I nodded and turned toward the rest of the room, smiling even though the sight of so many Morettis staring at me made me uncomfortable. “This is a lot, huh?”
“I can only imagine what the wedding will be like,” Imani said in a breathy voice, the idea of weddings and marriage doing something to her. Jazz was waiting for the ring to come in, and then they’d have their own high society parties to contend with.
“A fucking nightmare, I imagine,” I grumbled. Ashley dug her sharp little elbow into my ribs, and I swatted her arm. Rubbing my side, I glared at her. “If you don’t watch it, I’ll step on your little ass.”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time.” She blew a raspberry and took her drink from Malcolm. He towered over her in all his handsome, tailored glory, her fluffy, curly mane just brushing the knot in his tie. Pure admiration passed between them as he dropped a sweet kiss on her hair.
Imani giggled into Jazz’s side as she adjusted the top of her black figure-hugging cocktail dress. Her generous pear shape on display, matched with a delicious pair of blood-red heels, made the ensemble the most daring I’d ever seen her wear. “I had no idea Sasha doled out punishments.”
“Only to the very lucky.” Jazz stage whispered into her ear, wrapping her thin, bare arm around Imani’s exposed shoulder, her tall, lean body bending around Imani’s short, thick frame. “You ready for all this?” She jutted her chin toward the rest of the room.