Page 5 of Mine Again
Five years ago
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Isa… happy birthday to you.”
Mari and Mia sing louder than necessary, clapping offbeat to embarrass me.
It works.
I laugh, rolling my eyes as the waiter sets down the enormous chocolate cake in front of me, seventeen candles burning brightly, dripping wax onto the glossy dark icing.
But I barely see any of it.
Not with Luca sitting across from me.
Not with him looking at me likethat.
Like I’m already his.
Like I’ve always been his.
His gaze never wavers. Steady. Certain. Quiet in a way that sets me on fire from the inside out every time.
It’s not loud or showy, not the kind of look that begs to be noticed.
It’s the opposite.
Private. Intimate. For me and me alone.
And it makes my heart trip all over itself. Because I know exactly what it means.
Luca Caruso is two years older than me. Officially, he’s been my fiancé since my birthday last year.
Our fathers arranged our betrothal long before I was old enough to understand what it even meant. Long before I learned what it felt like to belong to someone. And long before I ever thought I might want to.
But I do now.
God, I do.
His mouth lifts at the corner, barely a smile, but I feel it like a touch against my skin. Like a secret only we share. The way we always do.
Sometimes I think he knows me better than I know myself. Maybe that’s not so surprising. He’s always been there.
Watching. Learning. Waiting.
For me.
We’re sitting in a private dining room at Celestro, one of Sicily’s best seafood restaurants. It’s a birthday dinner arranged by my father.
But it’s not really for me.
Seventeen isn’t worth celebrating unless you’re a son. My father regretfully has none. Only five daughters, a fact he laments every chance he gets.
He couldn’t care less that it’s my birthday. Left to him, this would’ve been a simple dinner at home while he dealt with Mafia business.
But that was exactly Luca’s point.
“We’re engaged,” he told my father. Calm. Certain. Already sounding like he speaks for both of us. “It’s good to be seen out together.”
And that’s all it took.
