Page 19 of His to Ruin

“Marissa Locatelli.”

A collective groan comes from everyone but Vinnie, who hasn’t had the pleasure of Marissa’s company yet. “Who’s Marissa Locatelli?”

“A two-faced bimbo slut.” Giulia can’t hide her disdain for the woman who teased her at the funeral of her first husband. Matteo had joined Marissa in cruelly mocking Giulia, and she’d cut him out of her life for several months before they finally got together.

“She stole Alessia’s boyfriend in ninth grade,” I add.

Alessia snorts. “If Dante Parisi’s her target, she’s welcome to him.”

I don’t believe that and neither do any of the others. Anyone with eyes can see that Dante and Alessia are hot for each other. It’s only pigheadedness that prevents either of them from admitting it. There’s no chance to tease her about that, because my mother walks in.

Stunning in a floor-length green silk dress, Ava Volante is a timeless beauty. Despite raising six unruly children, she doesn’t bear the wrinkles of many women her age.

“You girls need to take your seats,” she tells my brothers’ wives. She glances around the room. “Where’s Emilia?”

I was wondering about that myself.

“Alessandro dragged her into the linen closet ten minutes ago,” Alessia answers with a grin.

My mother rolls her eyes. “That boy! The way he accosts poor Emilia every chance he gets, you’d think I would have a grandchild on the way by now.”

“I don’t think they’re planning a family yet. Emilia’s too busy with work.” Aside from that, she’s only twenty-one, a year older than me. It’s not an argument that would work on my mother, though. She already had Antonio and Leo by that age. She sees nothing wrong with popping out kids the moment you get married.

“Well, someone needs to make me anonnasoon.” She stares pointedly at my sisters-in-law, who are all on their feet and heading for the door. Vinnie’s cheeks flush and she lowers her gaze as she passes my mother. Interesting. Is she hiding something from the family? Are she and Leo about to inflict his spawn on the world? I’ll have to watch her at the reception to see if she drinks any alcohol.

As the other women troop out, my mother motions for Alessia to follow them. When we’re alone, she curves a hand around my cheek and smiles softly. “You look beautiful,bambina.”

“Thanks, Mamma.”

“If you have any problems with Piotr, if he doesn’t treat you well, come to me. Boris loves his nephew, but he won’t hesitate to set him straight if he hurts you.”

“I’ll be fine, Mamma.” Even to my own ears, that wasn’t convincing. I don’t think Piotr would ever be violent toward me, but I don’t know how much care he’ll take of my feelings.

“Okay.” She pats my arm. “Matteo’s waiting to speak to you. Can I send him in?”

My brother and I haven’t seen each other since we returned to New York. I guess he was still smarting about me helping Giulia to run from him. Since they’ve reconciled, I assume he’s decided to forgive me. If he hasn’t, well, I can deal with that too.

“Of course. Tell him to come in.”

Careful not to mess up my hair and makeup, my mother pulls me in for a quick hug. She doesn’t show me the same affection as she does my brothers. We’ve been butting heads for years and I guess we’re not as close as we once were. It’s something I’ll try to put right once I’m settled into my life with Piotr.

“I’ll see you downstairs.” She gives me one last squeeze and steps out. Matteo comes into the room mere seconds later. Was he standing out in the corridor, waiting to see if I’d speak to him?

“Wow!” He shakes his head as if he can’t believe what he’s seeing. “You look beautiful, Livvy.”

“Thanks. You’re kind of handsome in that suit.”

“This old thing?” He grins as he tugs at his tie.

There’s a moment of awkward silence as Matteo builds up to whatever he has to say. My siblings and I aren’t great at making up after we fight. For one thing, none of us ever wants to admit we were in the wrong and, for another, we don’t like to dig too deeply into our emotions.

“So you’re not mad at me anymore?” I ask when I realize my brother doesn’t know how to say whatever it is he wanted to.

“No, you did the right thing. Giulia leaving me like that helped me gain some perspective.”

I can’t help scoffing at that. “One of my brothers recognized he was acting like a jerk? We need to mark this day on the calendar.”

“For more than one reason.” Matteo steps closer, concern etched in the lines around his narrowed eyes. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

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