Mr. Fiancé(228)

I looked at Luisa, who looked to me. "What do you say?"

"How fast can we find a church around here?” I asked. "I promised Daniel and Adriana we'd be back for their wedding—I'm already missing the bachelor party."





Chapter 22





Luisa





Stepping off the jet back in Seattle, I felt like I was actually coming home. Carlo, Tomasso and I agreed to keep the marriage and the baby our little secret until we landed.

Margaret, Adriana and Daniel greeted us on the tarmac, Adriana catching me in a hug before I even had a chance to get out a greeting. "It's so good to see you again!" she said, grinning happily. “That means you’re coming to the wedding, right?"

"Something like that," I agreed, smiling. "It's good to see you again. I hope this time, I’m able to actually get to know you after your honeymoon. And I’m very excited to see your wedding."

"After the honeymoon? What do you mean?" Adriana asked, confused.

I wasn't sure how to answer, so I turned my head back to the jet. “Little help?"

Tomasso popped his head out from the plane, dressed once again in his suit, looking debonair for a man with a bandage on his right cheek, and he made his way painfully down the steps. “With what?” he asked, reaching the ground.

"What's this about after the honeymoon?" Adriana asked, confused. "I mean, I'm glad if Luisa is hanging around for a while, but I thought you were kind of stuck with short-term business trips."

"Oh, well . . .” Tomasso said, before cutting through the knotty issue by simply displaying his left hand which had been wrapped around the head of his cane, where his brand new, plain gold band rested on his third finger. "Sorry, Red. I know you wanted to be first, but things kind of happened."

Adriana gawked as I laid my left hand on top of his, where my matching band rested on my finger. "Would you like to hear the story?"

"You lucky fuck!" Daniel exclaimed, laughing and pounding Tomasso on the back and interrupting us. "How'd you do it?"

"Getting his ass kicked and choking her brother unconscious, mostly," Carlo, who was last off the plane, said. "Come on, let's all get going. Luisa and Tomasso can tell the story on the way to the rehearsal dinner."

We’d gotten lucky with our timing, as Adriana and Daniel's rehearsal dinner only had to be delayed thirty minutes. Since most of those in attendance were Bertoli men anyway, it wasn't like they wouldn't have waited all night if need be.

We piled into the rented limousine, Tomasso and me sitting together in one of the side-facing seats so that he could stretch out his leg. "All right, spill the beans," Daniel said once the car started moving. "Because this is just too crazy not to hear.”

The story of Tomasso's fight with Eduardo took the shortest amount of time, although it earned the most praise from Carlo. "Oh, Daniel, you should have seen him out there! He'd have given you a run for your money that fight."

"No, I wouldn't," Tomasso said, holding my hand. “I was fighting for my life out there. I was fighting for Luisa. I knew as soon as she told me she was pregnant that—”

"Wait!" Margaret said, interrupting. "You're pregnant?”

"Yes," I laughed, rubbing my stomach. "That was the cause of all my father's ranting and raving. Apparently, while falling in love, Tomasso and I were also making a new life."

Adriana leaned over and punched Tomasso in the shoulder, laughing. "You just have to be first in everything, don't you? Well, never mind, go on."

Tomasso rubbed at his arm and chuckled. "Anyway, you get the point. I was fighting for our lives.”

"I only pray it's a boy," Margaret said. "A daughter who’s half-Italian and half-Brazilian? Lord help this family."

"And the shiner and scratch you're sporting came from the fight, and not any post-nuptial cuddling?" Adriana asked, laughing.

"Nope, that's all Luisa’s brother. But seriously, until after the ceremony, let’s keep this between us six,” I said. When I got questioning looks, I pointed at Adriana and Daniel. "Tonight and tomorrow are all about you two. I feel bad that we may have taken some of the attention from you.”

"We'll have to include a seventh," Margaret said, "unless you plan to hide it from your new brother-in-law for the next two days. Angelo’s supposed to meet us at the party."

"Okay, seven. But really, this is about you. We can break the news about the rest later," I said, taking Tomasso's hand. "Let's celebrate Adriana and Daniel first."

Carlo, who'd remained mostly quiet through it all, smiled and nodded. "I knew you were a special girl. Especially when you had that forty-five pointed at your father."