Page 140 of 7+Us Makes Nine

He, Tony, and Lorenzo had mostly formed a circle around me—the usual stance they tended to take whenever we were all out in public somewhere. For my whole life, these three had practically acted like my bodyguards. To say that they were protective of me, as the youngest, not to mention the only girl, was an understatement.

“This whole engagement and wedding happened so fast, we didn’t get a chance to check dude out like we wanted to, especially since we’ve all been so busy,” Tony said.

“Yeah,” Lorenzo chimed in. “We’re kind of pissed that Dad didn’t include us in the arrangement.”

“I’m sure he didn’t want you all the scare Gio away,” I said. Things between Gio and I had already been complicated enough. I didn’t even want to think about how much worse it would have been if he had to deal with my three brothers breathing down his back, threatening him at every move he made.

“But we’re your big brothers. That’s our job. And if he wasn’t scared away by us, that’s how we would have known dude was serious about you,” Dante said. “It’s too late for that anyway now, so just tell us—do you really like this guy, Ari? I know it’s the wedding day and all, but if you get cold feet about going through with this, we’ve got your back. We’ll shut this shit down immediately, and anyone who has a problem with it will have to answer to us.”

I shook my head and put an arm around Dante. “No, everything is fine. I love Giovanni, and couldn’t be happier with this arrangement.”

“Does he treat you right?” Lorenzo asked. “Is he good to you? Does he have a mean streak? I know that pretty boy type. If he’s not loyal to you, I’ll make sure he’s not so pretty anymore.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary,” I said, once again grateful that my brothers hadn’t been around during our courtship phase.

Tony sighed. “All right then. But promise us that if anything is ever wrong, you’ll let u

s know.” He reached forward and hugged me again.

“I will, I promise.”

“Okay, baby girl,” Dante said, and then kissed my forehead.

“See you in a little bit, sis. And don’t trip down the aisle, all right?” Lorenzo said, kissing my cheek.

“Ha, ha,” I said. “Don’t even joke like that. If I trip, I’m coming after you.”

He laughed and followed behind Dante and Tony to the door. When they opened the door, my father was standing on the other side of it, just about to knock.

“Not you three knuckleheads,” he said. “Get out of here. Seeing the bride early is bad luck.”

“That’s for the groom, Dad,” Lorenzo said, coming to a halt even though Tony and Dante had disappeared down the hall. He looked at me. “You haven’t seen your lover-boy today, have you?”

I turned my head, trying to hide the blushing coming over my cheeks. “No,” I lied.

“Then it’s all good,” he said.

“Hey, Lorenzo.” We heard Angela’s voice first, and then she appeared beside him.

Lorenzo smirked. “How’s it going, Angela? You look wonderful today.”

She giggled. “Thank you.”

I shook my head. Even though Angela always took so much pride in claiming she knew how to not get played by men, I’m sure that she would have fallen for Lorenzo—or any of my brothers, for that matter—in a heartbeat.

Daddy sighed. “Renzo, go find your brothers,” he said, apparently just wanting to get him away from Angela.

Lorenzo nodded at her. “I’ll see you later. Save me a dance, all right?”

“Of course,” she said, winking.

“Angela,” I said, once Lorenzo was gone.

“What?” she said, her eyes wide and innocent. “I'm just friendly. Hi, Mr. Marino. How are you?”

“Already stressed out, trying to make sure my boys behave,” Daddy said.

Angela and I laughed.

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