The Unwanted Wife(42)

“Look, guys, this is too much fuss,” Theresa protested. “Why don’t we just head back to my house and have a nice dinner or something?”

“Too late now, sunshine, we’re here, so you’re going to have to deal with it.” Rick grinned before dropping a kiss on her cheek and then reaching over to taking Lily’s carrier from her. “Happy birthday, Theresa, you look ravishing.”

The knee-length silk slip dress was a little too low and made her swollen breasts look slightly too voluptuous for her liking. She felt a little uncomfortable in it, but Lisa had chosen it, saying that the ice green color did wonderful things for her hair and eyes.

“I mean, did you guys even think to make reservations?”

“Theresa, with your dad and husband being who they are, do you really think getting into any restaurant you want is ever going to be a problem?” Lisa scoffed, and Theresa wrinkled her nose, conceding the point. Lisa flounced through the door, and Rick stood aside to let Theresa in.

The maître d’ smiled and led her through without question. Surprised, she followed him with a little frown on her face. He led her through double glass doors. The place was packed with people, and for some reason no one was sitting down. She squirmed uncomfortably when everyone turned to stare at her, not quite sure what on earth was going on.

“Surprise!” She nearly jumped out of her skin at the collective shout, and then finally noticed that she recognized most of the faces in the room. Rick, who had stood outside of the room until after the surprise, in case it scared Lily, moved to stand beside her.

“What’s going on?” she whispered in panicked confusion.

“It’s a surprise birthday party, you ditz,” he teased, dropping another fond kiss on her cheek before heading off to find his wife in the throng. People were milling around her, kissing her and shaking her hand. She recognized Gabe Braddock and all of Sandro’s Friday night buddies along with their significant others. Rick’s brother, Bryce Palmer, came up and gave her an unceremonious pat on her back and a gruff “happy birthday” before disappearing back into the woodwork. The man hated crowds. She could imagine this scene wasn’t really to his taste, but he was here and she was so utterly confused by that. Why was he here, why were any of them here? How did Lisa even know to invite Gabe Braddock and that lot?

“Happy birthday, my love.” A familiar pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist, and she was tugged back against a broad chest. Sandro dropped a kiss on her neck. She turned in his arms and stared up at him in bemusement.

“You did this?” she asked in disbelief. “But I thought you didn’t—”

“Cara,” he interrupted with infinite patience. “I’m not a stupid man, I wasn’t about to repeat my past mistakes. I love you and I wanted to show you how much.”

“How long have you been planning this?” she asked.

“God, since before my father died. The plans were put on hold until after I returned, and then with Lily’s birth they stalled a bit, but I wanted to do something special to make up for all the times your birthday was neglected or forgotten over the years.” She knew he meant by her father as well as himself and was helplessly touched by the gesture.

“Thank you.” She smiled and stood up on her toes to kiss him. He cupped her face and kissed her hungrily.

“You look beautiful,” he told her.

“You don’t look too bad yourself,” she said, stepping back to take in his tailor-made tuxedo.

“Hey, break it up you two.” A brash male voice intruded into their intimate little cocoon, and they both turned to see Gabriel Braddock’s smiling face. “Sandro, it’s like every time I see you with this gorgeous thing, you have your hands all over her. Share the wealth, bro.” He stepped forward to envelope Theresa in a warm hug.

“Happy birthday, gorgeous. We’ve missed you.” Considering how they’d met her only once, months ago, Theresa initially doubted the veracity of that statement, but the sincerity in his face led her to believe that he actually meant his words.

“Thank you.” She smiled. “I’m sorry I never came to any of your other football nights.”

“You had a difficult pregnancy, perfectly understandable,” he dismissed with a careless flick of the hand. “And congratulations on your beautiful daughter, by the way. Sandro’s been flashing pictures of her at us for weeks. It’ll be nice to see her in the flesh. Where is the little darling?”

“My cousin’s husband has her.” She glanced around for Rick and saw him showing Lily off to his business partner, Vuyo, and his brother, Bryce. The little group was soon joined by Bryce’s business partner, Pierre de Coursey, and Pierre’s wife, Alice. They were all fussing over the sleeping baby.

De Coursey and Palmer had recently offered her a year’s internship at their prestigious company DCP Jewellers, after she finished her jewelry design course at college. Sandro had sent a copy of her portfolio to the men and they’d been impressed with her “raw talent.” It was yet another example of Sandro’s commitment to making her as happy as he could. He knew how much her designing meant to her and had believed in her enough to approach the jewelers on her behalf. At first she hadn’t been comfortable with the blatant nepotism, but both Pierre and Bryce had convinced her that they genuinely saw value in her work.

“Looks like she’s not wanting for attention, so I’ll take her beautiful mother out for a spin on the dance floor in the meantime,” Gabriel said, and whisked a laughing Theresa away from Sandro before the other man could protest, twirling her around to some upbeat music.

He’d had her for barely two minutes before someone cut in, and after that she was passed from partner to partner for the next half hour before Sandro finally claimed her.

“Think you can spare some time to flirt with your husband, cara?” he asked grumpily, and she blinked up at him uncertainly until she recognized that he was a little jealous. The fact boosted her confidence and brought a delighted smile to her face.

“I have a few minutes to spare between dances.” She nodded after a considering pause, and he growled before dragging her closer and tucking her head onto his shoulder. They swayed together slowly, and he started nuzzling her neck. She sighed and melted into his hard body, enjoying the warm, spicy scent of him. They were so wrapped up in each other that they didn’t notice anybody standing beside them until a voice penetrated the fog of desire.

“Sandro?” He made a protesting sound before raising his head and blinking at someone standing behind Theresa. She watched his face light up and a smile grace his lips before he launched into rapid Italian. Baffled, she turned in his arms and froze.

“Cara, this is my mother and two of my sisters. They flew over to meet you and the latest edition to our family. Mama, Isabella, Rosalie, this is my wife, Theresa.” The four women eyed one another warily, none of them quite certain what to expect. Finally, the youngest of the trio of gorgeous brunettes stepped forward with a smile. Theresa guessed that she had to be Rosalie.

“I’m very pleased to meet you at last, Theresa,” she said in lightly accented English, and to Theresa’s utter shock gave her a warm hug. “I’m Rosalie.”

“I…nice to meet you,” Theresa muttered helplessly in response, her eyes desperately seeking Sandro’s. He looked anxious but smiled reassuringly when he met her gaze.

“I was expecting them to arrive next week but they flew in late last night, just in time for your birthday.” She could see the apology in his eyes, as if he feared their presence would diminish her pleasure in the birthday party. She shook her head, the gesture so slight that only he caught it, and smiled at him.

“Well, what a doubly wonderful surprise then.” She shook off her shock and bestowed a genuinely warm smile on the small group of Italian beauties. Sandro’s sisters were receiving a lot of speculative male looks already.

“My daughter Gabriella couldn’t make it. She’s having some trouble with her oldest child,” Sandro’s mother said. “And of course, my mother-in-law is too old to travel. But they both send their best.” Theresa very much doubted that, remembering how particularly hostile those two women had been to her during the video conference.

“Mrs. De Lucci.” Theresa reached out to grip the other woman’s hands in both of hers. “I’m so sorry for your loss, and I’m sorry that I was unable to attend the funeral.”

“Don’t be silly, Theresa,” the older woman scoffed, doggedly blinking away her sudden tears. “You were heavily pregnant. Traveling in that condition would have been foolish. You did the right thing. Now, where is this granddaughter of mine? I’ve seen photographs of course but I’m ready to meet her.” The imperiousness in her tone brooked no disobedience, and Theresa grinned when Sandro practically saluted before abandoning them in search of his daughter.

She tensed when she realized that he’d left her alone with his intimidating family and braced herself for whatever would come next. She was under no illusions that they liked her or accepted her, knowing that they would all pretend to get along just fine for Sandro’s sake but that what went on behind his back would be another story entirely.