Page 35 of Right With You
His dismissal had been absolutely no surprise, but I still found his stubbornness to be most irritating. He wouldn’t buy into the supposed sham of sunscreen, nor did he believe in marrying for love despite having done exactly that himself. He looked down on people without wealth and status similar to his even after his own son married a poor waitress from the States.
And yet, he’d extended his hand. That was something. And it gave me a modicum of hope that maybe all of this would work out. We’d leftla bise—the French cheek kiss of greeting—behind a long time ago, but the handshake, it meant something.
“Wish I could be a fly on the wall at the old family dinner tomorrow. That sounds fun,” Kenny said, steering my focus back to the here and now.
“Yeah. It’ll be a blast. I just hope Elise will be okay.”
We walked toward the car I’d driven to get us here, and once we were tucked inside and navigating to wrap up the day at work, Kenny circled back.
“I know you’re set on convincing Gérard you’re engaged to Elise. I fully support not getting engaged to some rando you don’t know whose main goal is to develop her portfolio.”
I could feel abutcoming, so I waited, curious to see what kind of wisdom he might lay on me.
“But, if you’re that worried for Elise, maybe you need to call it. You need to put her first if you care for her at all. Sit down with your grandpa and see if you can reason with him about the trust instead of pushing this.”
The engine hummed as we rode along as though he wasn’t accusing me of using Elise. The worst part was, I couldn’t deny it. She wouldn’t either. Iwasusing her. That was the entire premise of the agreement.
But.
I did care for her. I’d always liked her and noticed her, but the more time we spent together, the more compelled I felt to be around her. The more I wanted from and with her.
The more I wished maybe this wasn’t all just a ruse.
But she didn’t want that. And I wouldn’t forget it.
“She’s not going to get hurt. Anything that happens is about me and my grandfather, not about her. She knows I think the world of her.”
But my words were false.
She didn’t know what I thought about her at all. We’d spent our time checking boxes on lists of get-to-know-you questionnaires and practicing holding hands.
At the memory of her hand in mine and her head on my shoulder as she slept during the movie last week, my heart clutched. Her exhaustion weighed on me, as did the reality that she was choosing to spend her precious time with me instead of resting or doing other things she needed. I didn’t take that lightly.
“Yeah, that’s the thing, though. Itisabout your grandfather and you, but it’ll also be about her. If she’s standing in his way of you being with this other woman, he doesn’t strike me as the kind of man who’s going to tolerate her, let alone be welcoming or kind.”
Guilt and dread swirled in my gut. “I know. I’ll talk to her.”
I’d more than talk to her. I’d make sure she understood that anything coming out of his mouth reflected on him and not her. Based on his complete refusal to acknowledge my engagement, which I’d told him via text had occurred last week, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a Class A jerk. Of course he’d be technically well-mannered, but he hadn’t traveled all this way to be diplomatic.
Kenny kept me distracted with colorful commentary on my grandfather and his assistant all the way back to Saint. I managed to stay focused on my own work prepping for the busy week of celebrities in town for the gala this weekend, and reminded myself that in just a few hours, my sister would be here.
Maybe it made me weak for needing my big sister, but I did. I needed her and Michele as reinforcements and to stand with me.
* * *
Aurelie’s dark hair hung in razor-sharp sheets down either side of her head. She looked fresh-faced and ready for the day when she opened the door to her suite and hauled me in for kisses on each cheek, then a hug.
She squeezed me and did her obligatory lean back and lift, though she could only get me an inch off the ground since I outweighed and had at least five inches on her.
“Did you get bigger since I saw you last?” she asked, tapping her chin.
I chuckled, my heart bursting to see her in person. “It’s been almost two years, so it’s possible.” I certainly hadn’t gotten taller, but being out of active-duty life meant I’d put on some muscle now that I didn’t need to be quite as fast or ruck march forty miles at a time.
“Is that him? Is it our baby brother?” Michele threw the door wide and caught me in a signature Michele embrace complete with lung-compressing squeeze.
I cringed against his hold for show, then laughed outright when he kissed my head like I was a small child and not a man who was taller than him. When he’d married Aurelie four years ago, he’d dived in with more enthusiasm than I could ever have anticipated. He was my biggest fan—I was second only to Aurelie in his mind.
Honestly, he was like the Italian version of Kenny in more than a few ways.
