Page 20 of His to Break

Despite her towering over him, Ava grabs Leo’s arms and somehow manages to maneuver him past her and onto the seat next to me. She goes to join Olivia and Emilia on the other sofa. Leo makes himself comfortable, crossing one leg over the other and resting his arm along the back of the sofa.

Ava beams at us. “Look at you. Such a perfect couple.”

I’m sure she imagines her son has put his arm lovingly around me, but he’s actually got his hand curved around the back of my neck in a warning grip. I guess he doesn’t trust me around his family yet.

“Have a sandwich, honey,” I grit out. “They’re delicious.”

He leans forward, without loosening his hold on me, and takes a square of carrot cake instead. He pops the entire thing in his mouth and then helps himself to a chocolate cupcake.

“Ugh!” Olivia grumbles. “How do you keep in such good shape with that sweet tooth?”

Leo’s lip curls into a malicious grin. “Keeping your sorry ass out of trouble requires a lot of energy.”

Olivia narrows her eyes at him. “You seem to forget I did you a huge favor this morning.”

“You went shopping. It’s your entire reason to live.”

His sister flicks her hair back in a gesture of annoyance. “I’m not as shallow as you think, Leonardo.”

“Livvy, it would take a team of archaeologists years to uncover your hidden depths.”

Olivia growls at her brother. These two obviously make a sport out of antagonizing each other, but their mother doesn’t like it. Ava looks stricken. She’s probably endured decades of sibling squabbles. I decide to jump in before this gets any more heated.

“Olivia was a great help. I got everything I need.”

“Hardly,” Olivia scoffs. “You bought enough jeans to last you a lifetime and only one cocktail dress.”

My mouth pulls down into a frown. “How many cocktail dresses do I need?”

“Several,” Leo says. “As my wife, you’ll be attending a lot of events.”

“Oh.”

“She didn’t buy a single evening dress,” Olivia adds.

“You didn’t?” Leo gives me an admonishing look that makes the tips of my ears heat up. It wasn’t pleasant when these two were sniping at each other, but having them both focused on my apparent lack of shopping prowess is ten times worse.

“You’ll need something formal for next Friday,” Ava tells me.

“What’s next Friday?” Leo asks.

“Your wedding celebration,” Ava replies. “It’s the only date Emilia had free for the next few months. I checked with Antonio and he gave us the go-ahead.”

Next to me, Leo tenses. “Antonio doesn’t run my schedule.”

Ava looks contrite. “Of course not. I’m sorry, Leo.” She pulls out an impressive lip wobble that makes my husband sigh. “Is the date not good for you?”

“It’s fine, but consult me next time.” Leo sounds pissed. He turns to me. “You’ll need to get a new gown. I’ll arrange the jewelry.”

I hadn’t even considered jewelry. My ears are pierced, but I favor small, discreet diamond studs. I rarely wear anything else. In fact, it occurs to me now, I don’t even have a wedding ring.

“Buy something fabulous,” Ava tells Leo. “This is Vinnie’s introduction to our world. Some very important people will be there.”

She’s confident in the power of the Volante name if she thinks VIPs are going to drop everything to attend a party a mere twelve days from now.

“You’ll have to select the guests carefully,” Leo says. “The Vicente only holds…”

“One hundred and fifty,” Emilia replies. “That’s if we open up the space between the dining room and the ballroom.”

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