Alessandro’s face turned crimson with anger. He scowled, opening his mouth to respond. The truth was, no matter what he said, he knew Giacomo was right. Alessandro was tough and protective of the family, but he was still just that.Family, not security. He had his own bodyguards in New Jersey. He was not hired to protect me. He was asked to keepan extra eye on me, which was probably Valentino’s way of asking him to stay close in case I needed something family related.
“Alessio,” Laura sighed, “please just let security do their job. Go finish doing whatever you were doing for Valentino.”
Mouth balled tightly in fury, he gnawed the inside of his cheek, glaring at Giacomo before giving his sister a single nod and returning inside.
“Wow, he actually listened.” A tiny, shocked laugh escaped my mouth.
“He does sometimes,” she huffed. “At least, when it really counts. He knows how important this is. Other times he does everything he can to defy everything and everyone, including Valentino. It drives him bonkers.” She giggled.
As we strolled through the garden, she tried her best to discuss the wedding, showing me photos of flowers, bridesmaid dresses, and centerpieces. Though I was trying hard to focus, I could not pay attention whatsoever. Planning a wedding while Valentino was out there finding Felipe and Jesse seemed bizarre and wrong.
“This is all too much right now.”
Laura came to a stop next to the replica Statue of David fountain. She twisted to face me. “Listen,” she set the iPad down on a black, wrought-iron bench, “this is not even stuff he can help you do, anyway. This is bridal stuff. I know it’s hard to do this, but he wants you distracted.”
“I’m just freaking out about Felipe,” I hissed as not to further alarm Giacomo. “I’m worried sick. Distracted isn’t something that I can justbeduring a time like this!”
“Well, at least Val didn’t drop a bomb on you, then run out the door.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Noah told me he wanted to be with me forever, then left.”
My mouth fell open in shock.
Lips pursed, she nodded. “Yep! So that happened.”
“Tell me everything.” I suddenly smiled. “Did he propose?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I don’t know.” She threw her arms out to the side. “I actually have no freaking idea what happened. He was rushed out and it was left in the air.”
“Hopefully, you guys will be able to talk more about it soon.”
“We’ll see.” She picked her iPad back up. “And as much as I know you don’t want to plan your wedding right now, what else are we going to do? We can’t go off the property. We can’t do much else. It’s too cold to go swimming. So, let’s just get done what we can which isn’t being distracted. Let’s call itfocusing elsewhere.”
“Fineee,” I whined, “but I’m doing this in full protest, and that’s just another way of sayingdistraction.”
“Valentino will be happy when he gets back and sees you actually kept busy.”
“I know. He’s a worrywart.”
“A what?”
“Ugh,” I groaned, “I forgot you guys don’t know certain American expressions.”
I glanced over to see Giacomo speaking into the mic on his earpiece’s cord. He appeared anxious, but when he made eye contact with me, he became stoic. These days, I knewthatlook well. They often became stoic so as not to alarm me, which always distressed me more.
“Giacomo?”
He lowered his hand, clasping them behind his back.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing you need to be concerned about, Miss Ayala.”
“Does it have to do with Valentino?”
He nodded. “I’m just getting minor updates on their whereabouts.”