Page 74 of Cruelest Contract
She sighs and kicks her bare feet as they dangle a few inches above the floor. “I’m sorry Gabriel couldn’t make it today. That’s what’s bothering you, isn’t it?”
I swallow and taste bitterness. “My grandfather hasn’t been well. He couldn’t travel. And he thought it was a bad idea for Gabe to attend an event like this, given all the recent trouble. So they sent Angelo here alone.”
“Hmmm,” Alice says, her tone full of disapproval.
I can’t even muster a defense for Gabe. When I received his phone call yesterday the disappointment was intense. I really needed him here. Plus I thought he and Julian could talk. I’m still determined to pry my twin brother away from our grandfather.
“Speaking of Angelo,” Alice says, “he’s a hell of a piece of work. The second he starts talking, I forget how hot he is. That takes talent.”
I pretend to gag. “Bite your tongue. You are not allowed to think Angelo is hot. Angelo is a demon with good hair.”
She laughs. “Like I said, his personality ruins the effect. Anyway, he’s got nothing on those Tempesta boys.” She fans herself. “Holy testosterone. I’m barely able to restrain myself from climbing one like a tree. How are they all single?”
“I think they’re too attached to their fun.”
“I like fun,” Alice reminds me with a naughty grin.
“I know you do. But be careful around them.”
“You mean because of the…” She pauses and drops her voice. “Mafia?”
“Something like that.”
“I didn’t know Mafia cowboys even existed.”
“I think these might be the only ones.”
Alice suddenly turns serious. She pushes a curl away from my forehead. My hair is the exact same shade as my mother’s. Medium brown with hints of red in the sunlight.
“How do you feel about him?” she asks.
“Who, Julian?”
“No, the guy in that viral TikTok who ate an entire bag of Doritos in thirty seconds. Yes,Julian.”
I try to avoid chewing my lip and wrecking Alice’s careful makeup job. “I like him far more than any other guy I’ve ever been with. We have incredible chemistry. And I trust him. I know he’d never do anything to hurt me.”
“But are you sure you want tomarryhim, Cecilia? I’m not judging. I’m just asking.”
The idea of returning to my solitary apartment and hunting for another dead end office job feels unthinkable now.
Anyway, I’d be on borrowed time.
Sooner or later, my grandfather would discover another use for me. The next one would likely be far more unpleasant than marriage to Julian Tempesta.
“I want to marry him, Alice,” I assure her.
I’m not just saying this to set her mind at ease. I’ve already begun to think of Storm’s Eye Ranch as home. Before, my life was so solitary and lonesome that I adopted an unfriendly cat so I’d at least have some company. I don’t think I ever came to terms with just how lonely I was until I arrived here.
There’s a touch of melancholy in my best friend’s smile. “I’m happy for you but I’ll miss you so much.”
I nudge her arm. “I’m expecting tons of visits.”
She gives me a fierce hug. “If they do anything fucked up I’m giving them The Treatment times six thousand.”
A glance at the clock tells me there’s only an hour left until the ceremony, which will be held in the sunroom, a huge, enclosed porch at the back of the house.
Mel gently suggested the south field would be a far better spot with the mountain views in the background. I’m sure that would have been a beautiful location for the ceremony but I just couldn’t. No matter how much armed security is here, I would have been watching the sky, awaiting the chop of propellers.
