Page 71 of Secret Babies For My Brother's Best Friend

She rolled her eyes at me. “Why do you always have to be so dramatic with me, Luca? Your poor Nonna isn’t in the state to deal with your games now.”

“I can hear you talking about me!” Nonna called out from the living room. “Why are you just standing there when this is where things are happening?”

My mother and I took a long inhale at the same time. “Ready?” I asked her.

“I have cookies in the oven.” She winked at me and quickly unhooked herself from me to escape back to the kitchen.

“Luca, you’re going to have to weigh in on this,” Gabby said, holding up two squares of fabric.

Scarlett immediately burst out laughing from her vantage point in the armchair by the window. She could tell by the look on my face that I didn’t care about what Gabby was going on about.

“Trust me, Gabby,” Scarlett said, “you don’t want Luca to weigh in on anything swatch-related.”

“But we’re at a tie between blue and aqua,” she complained, waving the squares in my face as I passed her.

I went to sit on the floor at Scarlett’s feet, resting my head against her knees as she played with my hair.

“Blue and aqua are the same color,” I commanded, waving her off. “Next!”

Nonna laughed heartily, wagging her finger at me. “I’m not going to stop them when they turn on you.”

“I’m not wrong,” I shrugged. “Who better to have in your corner than the man who built an empire by making important decisions when others couldn’t?”

“If I have to hear about your empire one more time…” Gabby tossed her swatches at my face.

“Yeah, me too.” Sofia joined in by throwing her pen at me.

Instantly, the game caught on, and everyone, except Maria, were picking up random objects and pelting me with them. I raised my hands to protect my head from small projectiles while everyone, including Nonna, had a good laugh at my expense.

“Oh, man, I see I got here just in time,” Christopher said, shaking his head in disappointment. “You call this having things under control?”

“I’d like to see how you do it,” I said, getting to my feet.

Christopher shook his head vigorously. “No thanks, I’m good. Besides, if I’m in here with all this… frills and stuff, who’s going to be firing up the grill for lunch?”

“I’ll bring the beers,” I said, walking out with Christopher.

“Oh, honey,” Julia called out. “Check on Diana upstairs before you head out back. She’s napping in Leo’s bedroom.”

Christopher smiled widely. “Sure thing, honey!” And then, once we were out of earshot, he added, “Anything that’s not in there.”

“Thanks for bailing me out,” I said with a relieved laugh. “Don’t get me wrong—I love your sister and can’t wait to marry her. But all this wedding stuff is driving me insane.”

“You don’t have to explain it to me,” Christopher replied. “I was up against the same thing when Jules and I tied the knot. I don’t know what it is, but something weird happens to women when weddings come around. Whether it’s theirs or someone else’s.”

I laughed softly, pushing open the door to Leo’s bedroom. Julia had set up a little pillow bed on the floor, in the center of which Diana was still sleeping peacefully. Christopher paused in the doorway with me, and we both just stood there, staring down at his daughter.

“Crazy how the old days become a distant memory once this starts happening,” he said, deep in thought.

I considered the past I’d left behind when I met Scarlett and could hardly believe that was my life. “Crazier how we don’t even care about it,” I said then. “I wouldn’t go back to that life if every tech company in the world offered themselves up to me.”

Christopher looked at me with raised brows. “Wow, my sister’s really got you whipped, hasn’t she?”

“I’d think carefully before answering that,” Scarlett said, appearing out of nowhere.

Christopher shook his head in disappointment. “Always running the spy game, this one.”

“I’m not spying,” Scarlett said, coming to wrap her arms around my waist. “I just haven’t had a moment alone with my fiancé since this morning. I was hoping to steal you away for a minute while everyone downstairs thinks I’ve gone to the bathroom.”

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