Page 110 of See Me

You let her get married!?

Enzo:

I was beautiful… I mean, look, Evie’s beautiful, isn’t she?

The next is a picture of a gorgeous brunette in a white mini dress and veil.

Luca:

You’re drunk! You’re a deadman!

Enzo:

They gave me a bouquet! I couldn’t say no.

Scrolling through a few more messages of pictures and emojis, I can’t help but giggle at Enzo. He’s wearing a tuxedo t-shirt and holding a bouquet. I can’t not laugh at him. My face splits into a huge grin as I see picture after picture of the wedding. The groom is hot as sin, and the way he looks at Evie tells me this isn’t just some spur of the moment Vegas wedding.

I look up to see Luca’s eyes, black and angry, watching me as I smile at the phone. I wipe the smile off my face and clear my throat. “So bad. I mean this is terrible, right?”

“Yes, Ella. This is bad. He was supposed to be watching out for her. Not letting her getmarried.”

“Maybe he’s a good guy. I mean look at this.” I hold up a picture of Enzo holding the groom like he’s the bride and walking over the threshold of a hotel room. “They seem to have bonded.”

He snatches the phone out of my hand. “I’ve never even met him. And Enzo just met him. There’s no way he can know if he’s good enough for her.”

I grin.

Luca rolls his eyes. “Stop.”

“What?” I feign innocence.

“Don’t say it.”

“Don’t say what?” I lean in and stretch up on my toes to wrap my hands around his neck. “Don’t say that you’re absolutely adorable when you’re protective?”

He groans and rolls his eyes, but his hands skim down my back to grip my ass, and I let out a little squeak. “Not exactly the noise I was going for, but I can work with that.”

The crowd starts a count down, and Luca’s eyes never leave mine as we study each other. Is he wondering what I’m wondering? What is this next year going to bring? Is this a new beginning? One where we get real and learn who the other really is. Or is this the end? We had our fun. The ruse is over. Time to get back to reality?

So many questions flit through my head in the short ten second countdown. But I know exactly which one of those I want to happen when he snakes his hand behind my neck and gives my hair a little tug before his lips brush over mine in a sweet kiss right as the clock strikes midnight.

He pulls back and growls at some guy pounding on the counter demanding another drink, the softness in his eyes coming and going as quickly as the new year changes over.

We both get back to work, quieting the unruly crowd ringing in the new year in a haze of hard liquor and hook-ups. I eventually make it back over to my girls at the end of the bar.

“Is Luca okay? He looks angry,” Cassie asks.

“Family stuff. His cousin kinda got married in Vegas and Enzo was supposed to be watching her.”

“Aww. I hope he cools off,” Jess says.

I look over to see Luca tense and rigid as he scrolls through the messages still coming in from Enzo and Evie. My bodyhums in anticipation. He’s going to need to take that anger out on something.

Orsomeone.

My thighs press together, and my tongue darts out to wet my lips. “I hope he doesn’t.”

THIRTY-TWO

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