Page 10 of The One
Then she looks at me, and I follow her gaze. Shoot, I’m still wearing my wedding dress. In all the chaos, it slipped everyone’s mind.
“Isa, help your sister get changed quickly, and then meet us at the car. Come on, girls.”
She squeezes my shoulders again and steps to the door, waiting for each of my younger sisters to give me a hug.
“Be good,” she reminds me again before leaving, Mia, Sienna and Ari in tow.
Isa pushes from the wall in the corner where she’s been tapping her foot nervously. She’s been quiet the entire time, clutching at the necklace Luca gave her before he left. She walks over to the window where I’m standing and gives me a tight hug.
“Mari, I’m scared for you,” she whispers, pulling me closer. “I’ve never seen Father so furious. He won’t let this slide.”
Rubbing my throat when she lets go of me, I swallow hard.
“I know. I’m scared for me too,” I whisper back. “If Signor De Marco hadn’t stepped in, I’d be dead now.”
The truth of that statement hits me like a ton of bricks.
“If not by our father’s hand, then by Renaldo’s. I humiliated him in front of everyone important.”
My stomach lurches all over again. If I had eaten anything since entering this room, we’d have a repeat of what happened earlier.
“He declared the wedding was off right after you fainted. With any luck, Father won’t be able to smooth things over.”
“I don’t know, Isa. Father could convince Eskimos to buy ice. There’s a reason he’s in line to be the next consigliere.”
She sighs. “He can be so charming. Too bad we never see that side of him.”
Isa takes a step back and begins rolling up the plum fabric of her dress.
“What are you doing?” I ask her, watching her with a raised brow.
She pulls something from her garter and holds it out to me.
“Giving you this before I forget.”
Thisis a small, unassuming-looking cell phone.
“So we can stay in touch,” she tells me with a proud smile.
“You’ve got one too?” I ask. Why I’m not sure because the answer is obvious. I’m just a little stunned.
She nods her head. “Of course.” Pointing at the phone in my hand, she adds, “I’ve programmed my number into it already.”
I look down at her still exposed leg, and she shrugs her shoulders.
“I strapped it to myself so it wouldn’t be found in your luggage. Father had it inspected before it was loaded this morning.”
Of course he had. Antonio Accardi leaves nothing to chance. God forbid, anything inappropriate, like a dildo—not that I own one—comes from his house. Anything that might make him look bad is a risk he won’t take.
And I suspect my luggage would have suffered the same fate once it reached the Conti estate. Control-freaks, the lot of them.
“How did you manage to get them? It’s not like we can leave the house.”
“Luca taught me a thing or two while we were together.” She says the last part wistfully, a sad smile on her face.
I hug her tight. Even five years after Luca disappeared, she misses him. He was meant to be her happily ever after.
“Father nearly caught me with the bag. Luckily, he was on the phone and couldn’t ask questions,” she adds, resting her chin on my shoulder.
