“Yes,” he said all too seriously. “Where we’re going, it’s only going to be us.”
After a beat, he turned and looked at me, and I exploded with laughter.
“You’re fucking with me.”
“Pulling your string like you pulled that one.” I nodded toward it.
He sighed. “I’m going to have to be fast to keep up with you.” He pulled me into the closet. He pointed to a row of clothes and said, “Pick whatever you want. Mamma and Mia picked them out. Just until we can go shopping for what you like.”
“Magpie didn’t help?”
“No, I thought it best if she didn’t.”
“Why? Because I’d be wearing feathers?” Grinning, I took a step forward and hit my toe on something hard shoved underneath the lower level of clothes. “Ow.”
After Matteo rubbed my toe, he leaned over and dug out the hard chunk. “An old box fan. This room can get stuffy in the summer.”
“Do you mind if we keep it out?” I whispered. “I had one of these in my room back home with my mom. I could only sleep when it was on.”
“Yeah,” he whispered. “We’ll keep it next to the bed.”
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and turned toward the clothes. I started rummaging through them, not really caring where my hand landed because everything was so soft and pretty. I ended up deciding on a dress that ended right above my ankles and only had thin straps. The dress reminded me of a slip and felt like silk. It had a metallic pattern to it.
Matteo bent down and picked up a pair of sandals from the floor. “These good?”
Nodding, I took them from him. “Perfect.”
He leaned down and kissed me. My arms wrapped around his neck, and the shoes hit his back. He kissed me so hard, we started moving toward the clothes, neither of us realizing. When the knock came at the door, he had to pull me out of it.
He led me out of the closet and set me on the bed. He got down on one knee and started removing my heels.
“The door,” I whispered.
“This comes first. Then I answer.”
I said nothing as he removed both heels and then, with a tender finger, ran it across my toes. They were stained brown from dancing on a dirt dance floor in open toed heels. After, he stood, placed a kiss on my nose, then answered the door. Mariano.
“Nonno called a meeting.”
Matteo nodded. “Be there in a minute.” He shut the door, told me to take my time changing, and that he’d meet me outside.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll be the one in silver.”
He smiled. “In the darkness, you’re going to shine for me.”
A smile lingered on my face while I changed. The straps of the dress were thin, the top came into a V, and the waist came in, hugging the curves I had left. I kept the bracelets Matteo had given me on. I spritzed some perfume on that was in thebathroom and double checked my hair. Whatever Lourdes had used on my hair was like glue.
At first, I thought the villa was going to be intimidating, but it felt more like a home. Could have been our trailer back in Slidell, or just what it was, a gorgeous farmhouse, as Matteo had once called it, in the Tuscan hills. It wasn’t snobby at all, or cold. I enjoyed sliding my hand over every surface as I made my way downstairs.
The party was still going, and I smiled at Scarlett when I made it to the kitchen. “Need any help?”
She waved me off. “No,bebe. I just want you to relax and have fun.”
“Mamma likes everything to have a certain spot.” Mia smiled at her mamma’s back when she turned to dry a dish. “We’re still not allowed to touch her special dishes.”
Scarlett turned and flung a dishtowel at Mia, but it hit me instead. Everyone in the kitchen grew quiet, until I flung it back, and everyone started howling with laughter. Mia took my arm, still laughing, and led me outside.
The table with the desserts was still standing, only a few sweet treats left.
