Page 7 of Isabella

Standing, I slide my hands around his neck, bringing our faces so close his breath warms my lips, but before I can speak, a knock at my bedroom door sounds.

Nicco tenses slightly while I close my eyes and let out a sigh before opening them.

“It’s just Liana,” I whisper to him, pulling myself out of his grasp. “I’m going to let her know we’re heading out soon.”

I walk over to the door and say, “Hey, Liana” as I swing it open, but when my eyes lock with the person standing across from me, my heart drops to the deepest depths of my stomach.

“M-Mom…” I pull the door toward me so my body blocks her view of my bedroom, but I know how unsubtle my movement was when she narrows her eyes before brushing it aside and greeting me.

“Surprise, darling,” she says cheerfully, extending her arms out to give me a hug.

I throw myself into her embrace, shutting my bedroom door behind me. “Yes, what a surprise, Mom,” I say, my voice an octave higher. “What’re you doing here?” I tried to lower my tone, but the anxiety of my mom showing up unannounced atthisspecific moment made it impossible.

My mom pulls back from me, but her arms remain on my shoulders as she takes in my outfit—a long-sleeve terracotta knit dress that ends right above my knees and melds to my body, paired with tall taupe boots.

“Did I interrupt something?” she asks, raising her brow like she knows there’s something going on.And she’s not wrong.But I can’t tell her Nicco’s in my room.

When we started dating, I promised him I would keep our relationship a secret, and to this day, the only people who know about us are Liana and his best friends, Leo and Dante. We’ve kept this a secret from both of our families for the past year. There’s no way I’ll let all that effort go to waste now.

As much as it kills me to have to lie to my mom’s face like this, I know I have to do it for Nicco. “Oh, no, I was just?—”

My bedroom door flies open, I freeze, and my mom’s eyes widen as her gaze gets drawn behind me.

What the hell is Nicco doing?

“Hi, Mrs. DiMaggio” comes from the deep, calm voice of my boyfriend who I have yet to acknowledge as I stand here trying to figure out what the heck he’s doing. “I apologize for interrupting you and your daughter.”

My mom’s gaze remains locked on Nicco’s while she drops her arms from my shoulders. “Niccolò Silvestri?” my mom questions. “Wow, I haven’t seen you since?—”

“My mom’s funeral,” Nicco finishes behind me, the moment causing déjà vu as it brings back memories of the first time we saw each other at the club last year.

My mom gives him a sympathetic smile. “Yes, your mother’s funeral.” She cuts a quick glance at me, and my spine straightens even more so than it already had at the questions swirling in her eyes, but she brings her attention back to Nicco and says, “How have things been for you and your father?”

“They’ve been great, Mrs. DiMaggio. Thank you for asking.” That’s as far from the truth as you can get.

Nicco and his dad have a very strained relationship, which is why we haven’t told anyone we’ve been seeing each other the past year. He knows his dad would only see me as a distraction and demand he break up with me. Why he’s decided to come out and tell my mom tonight is beside me.

“Oh, darling, you can call me Cece.”

My mom’s reaction to finding Nicco in my room has been way too nonchalant, so I’m not sure how to respond to all this.

Nicco’s hand drops to the small of my back, and I let out a long breath, trying to relax. I turn my head and bring my gaze to his profile, trying to read any kind of cue from him, but he gives me nothing while he continues speaking to my mom.

“Cece,” he repeats. “I see where Isabella gets her beauty from.”

That cheesy line has me rolling my eyes, snapping me out of the trance this entire situation has seemed to put me in. “Oh gosh, Nicco. Could you be any more of a cliché right now?”

A smirk forms on his face as he looks down at me. “I had to say something to pull you out of whatever silent spiral you put yourself in.”

I open my mouth to speak, but he beats me to it.

“But that wasn’t a line. Had I not known any better, I would’ve assumed your mom is your older sister.”

I roll my eyes again and bring my hand up, slapping him with the back of it on his chest. “Okay, relax there.”

Bringing my attention back to my mom, I notice she’s still wearing a smile on her face, which doesn’t surprise me. She’s always been the definition of an elegant woman, but even I know behind that exquisite smile of hers are a dozen questions.

She looks between Nicco and me, then settles her gaze on mine. “It looks like you two are on your way out, so why don’t I join you both.”

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