Page 32 of Ties That Bind Us

“Well, I for one am really proud of you,” Angie said as she bounced Jax on her lap. His little swim trunks were too damn cute. “And from what it sounds like, you hit the jackpot with Nick. He sounds wonderful, I’ve never heard of a man from the Mafia letting the woman have any kind of choice once a deal like this was done.”

“Right, because you know so much about the Mafia,” Bella scoffed, rolling her eyes. She was taking my complacency really hard and had been trying to get me to run away basically since she’d found out. “Although, I will say he’s got good taste in jewelry.” She held my hand up and inspected the ring. It really was spectacular. I hadn’t expected all that much, but it was just another example of Nick going out of his way to put me at ease.

“When do we get to meet him?” Angie asked.

“I already have.” Bella shrugged nonchalantly. “And believe me, he’s every bit as attractive as he is charming. Which I guess explains why you’re being so compliant with all of this.”

“Okay, that’s not fair. I want to meet him too!” Angie pouted.

“I’m not really sure, Dad said something about a dinner in a few weeks so everyone could. And I know Nick wants to have an engagement party.” I smiled, still admiring the ring on my hand. I ignored Bella’s comment about being compliant. She didn’t understand the position I was in, and no matter what I said, she never would. And why was it any business of hers if I was going along with this? I was the one who had to make the most of it.

“It’s adorable how excited he is,” Angie continued. “Mike wanted nothing to do with any of it after he gave me the ring. I was basically on my own until I met him at the altar.”

Bella shot her a condescending glare. “Ang, you had three wedding planners. I would hardly say you were on your own.”

“What is your problem today?” Angie glared back at her.

“My only problem is that I think this is all a little fishy. Ava screws a guy in a hotel, and two months later he shows up on our doorstep demanding an arranged marriage.” She flashed us both a dirty look. “No one finds that odd?”

“He didn’t demand anything, this was Dad’s idea,” I reminded her.

“Right. That’s what he’s telling you, at least. You know nothing about him, Ava. You’ve been on, what, five dates with the guy? And what happened to the girl who had a serious phobia about anything past the third date?” Bella shot me a look that said she couldn’t believe how naïve I was being. My phone rang before I could respond.

“Hello?” I answered, recognizing Nick’s number, thankful for the interruption.

“Hey, beautiful, are you at home?” I loved hearing the excitement in his voice. When I told him I was, he said, “I’m picking you up in five minutes. We have lunch plans.”

“Don’t you think you should ask me first?” I asked, only half joking.

“No, you’re my fiancé now. If I want to take you out and spoil you, I’m going to.”

“I guess I could make time for that,” I teased. “I’ll probably need more than five minutes, though, unless it’s the kind of place I can go in my swimsuit.”

Nick didn’t answer for a minute.

“Nick?”

“Sorry,” he said quickly. “I was just distracted by the visual of you sitting across the table from me wearing a skimpy bikini. As sexy as that sounds, I don’t want anyone looking at that body of yours, especially my brothers.”

I nearly choked. “Your brothers?”

“Yeah,” he clarified nonchalantly. “I think it’s time you meet them.”

Meeting his family was somewhat of a formality at this point, but it didn’t make it any less intimidating. “Okay,” I stuttered.

“I’ll see you soon, babe.” He hung up before I had time to protest. I tried to compose myself, an uneasy feeling in my stomach. I suddenly felt desperate to impress them. His family was so different from mine.

“Who was that?” Bella eyed me suspiciously.

“Nick,” I said. “He’s coming to take me to lunch. We’ll have to continue this discussion another time.”

“You better not leave without bringing him out here to meet me,” Angie warned. Jax shrieked as if echoing her demand.

“Yeah, yeah,” I called over my shoulder.

I had barely slipped on a blue sundress when the doorbell rang. I shook my hair out with my fingers and put a quick coat of lipstick on. By the time I got down the stairs again, Bella and Angie were already standing at the front door, no doubt grilling Nick. Angie had even passed off the baby to him. He was making funny faces at my nephew, and bouncing him in the air as Jax dissolved into giggles. He was an absolute natural with babies. It was almost enough to make me want some of my own. Almost.

“Don’t you two have something better to do than scare my boyfriend off?”

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