Page 33 of Shameless in Vegas

I lift my arm to flag down one of the servers and swipe two flutes for us, handing one to her. “To my beautiful bride and our coming out party.”

She simpers as she clinks the glass against mine and then courteously tilts it in the direction of Mamá and Papá, who have rejoined us with their own glasses of champagne. “To my endearing husband and his kind and very tolerant parents for welcoming me into their wonderful family.”

Papá chuckles, clearly enamored by Natalia’s impeccable social graces, and tips his glass toward us. “Brindemos por la felicidad y una larga vida juntos.” We all clink our glasses together. “Salud, niños.”

We respond with a chorus of moresaludos, and Papá leads the way into the crowd. After patting a few shoulders and quickly shaking a few hands, he edges through a cluster of people, and the DeRouen family comes into view.

I suppress a groan and hold Natalia closer to my side. Thomas and Ursula DeRouen are the most obnoxious type of people in this circle—a fact made even worse by their years-long campaign to marry their daughter, Aubree, off to me.Thatis why Papá decided to stop and talk to them first. And for the first time ever, I’m thankful for his overbearing insistence that I avoid hooking up with her, and the fact that I managednotto.

Aubree stands just behind her parents, her hazel eyes lingering on me for a moment before they flick to Natalia and do full sweep up and down her form. I pretend to not notice and casually press a kiss to Natalia’s temple.

“Ernesto, Fortuna,” Ursula coos with a slow flit of her wrist in our direction. “So good to see you both.”

Happily-oblivious Mamá goes in for kisses on Ursula’s cheeks. “How are you doing this summer, Ursula?” She lifts her hand in a grand gesture at the space. “The yacht club has outdone itself again, no?”

“It islovely, but it’s still second place to your spectacular annual Christmas party,” Ursula says, daintily holding a martini glass between her shiny, acrylic fingernails. “I’m sure the planning is already underway. What is your vision this year?”

“Oh,” Mamá says with a tickled gasp. Planning parties will forever be Mamá’s favorite indulgence. “Well, I’m still in the very early stages, but I was thinking it would be so whimsical to do a Twelve Days of Christmas theme. You know, with trees lining the room, each decorated in the style of the verses from the song.”

Ursula all butsqueals, and the two women chitter about pears and partridges, and French hens, and so on and so forth, while Papá and Thomas discuss the recent sailing race that took place in Southampton between Columbia and NYU. Aubree is still eyeing Natalia and me, and I’m still pretending I don’t notice.

Dipping my head to place my lips next to Natalia’s ear, I whisper, “When this is over, I’m taking you back to my room, and I’m going to remove every stitch of your clothing, and then leave you wearing nothing but that necklace while I have my way with you.”

She cuts a mischievous glance up at me. “You read my mind,cariño.”

“So, who is this lovely young lady, Ernesto?” Thomas cuts through the group’s conversation.

Papá chuckles as he slaps my back and grips the side of my neck to drag me close to his side. “This lovely young lady is my son’s new bride.” He slaps my back again, and adds with a distinctly proud tone, “Mijito,introduce your bride to our friends.”

I don’t miss the widening of Ursula’s eyes, nor the annoyed purse of Aubree’s lips. This is awkward as fuck, but it’s better than Papá ragging on my history of being a total disappointment to him.

Clearing my throat, I give Natalia’s back a reassuring rub and gesture at her with an upturned palm. “Mr. and Mrs. DeRouen, Aubree, this is my wife, Natalia. Natalia, this is Thomas and Ursula DeRouen, and their daughter, Aubree.” I clear my throat again. “Our families are very old friends.”

Natalia politely dips her chin and offers a polite wave. “It’s very nice to meet all of you.”

“It’s lovely to meet you, too, Natalia,” Ursula chirps, tilting her head at a dramatic angle as she eyes my parents. “We must have missed the news of the engagement.”

Mamá opens her mouth to respond, but I’m ready to get out of this situation. “Yeah, we wanted to keep everything low-key and discreet given Isla’s position and the media circus that’s always following her around,” I say quickly, pulling an excuse out of my ass that I know they won’t be able to refute. “We had a small, intimate ceremony a couple of weeks ago with just family and our closest friends.”

“How lovely,” Aubree finally pipes up in a saccharin voice, her laser-like focus still trained on Natalia, who doesn’t appear to be fazed at all. “I don’t think any of us ever thought we’d see the day when Joaquin decided to finally settle down.”

Papá laughs heartily, and even though he’s been in really good spirits this whole time, something like PTSD hums just below my sternum, and I’m sure he’s about to make a snarky comment underscoring the sentiment.

“Well,” he says, gripping my neck again and giving me a firm shake, “there’s something to be said about waiting to settle down until you find exactly the right person.” He turns to me and pats my cheek with an open palm. “I’m very proud of you,mijo.”

Aaannndddthat’s as good as this day is going to get, so I’m ready to get to what I’ve been itching to do since we got to this boujee party.

“Thanks, Papá,” I say, slapping his back as well and then holding Natalia close to my side as we step around the group. “It was great seeing you guys, but I did promise my bride that I’d push her around the dance floor for a bit.”

“You two have fun,” Mamá calls after us. “Come find us later when they serve dinner.”

I haphazardly wave. “Will do!”

The band strikes up an old, sultry jazz number by the time Natalia and I reach a secluded corner of the space overlooking the ocean, and I draw her in for a slow dance.

She drapes her wrists around my neck and looks up at me under a coyly arched brow. “I have a confession,amor.”

I smirk at her, my hands bracing the small of her back. “What’s that?”

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