It damn near broke her to learn that the man she’d let into her life was the same guy who had killed her parents, but I spent hours trying to make her understand that none of this was her doing and it couldn’t have been prevented. Enrique had been on a mission to avenge his parents’ deaths, and nobody could’ve stopped him. She also made the decision to find a therapist to talk with, and while you probably wouldn’t see me spilling my guts to a shrink, in her case, I agreed it was a good idea.
“I always knew their deaths weren’t an accident,” Lorenzo says. “Thank you for confirming it.”
“While that explains Enrique’s motive, it doesn’t lead us any closer to whoever is coming after us now,” Dominick says.
“No,” I agree. “It doesn’t.”
Daniella
“Oh my God! Dani!”Bri shrieks. “This ring is even more beautiful in person. I wasn’t sure what to expect since it’s Matteo we’re dealing with …”
“Hey!” I laugh. “Be nice. That’s my fiancé you’re talking about.”
Peyton and Bri both laugh.
We’ve been back from our vacation for a few days now, and Peyton reached out, inviting Matteo and me over for dinner. While dinner is being prepared by a chef they brought in for the occasion, the guys, including my brother, are in the office, talking shop, while the women are sitting out back, watching Damien play on his playset as the babies nap in their bassinet next to Peyton.
Even Matteo’s mom, Larisa, and her husband, Walter, are joining us. I might not have a big family, but being accepted into the Antonov family is almost as good.
“Dominick mentioned that you guys are planning to have the wedding in a couple of months?” Peyton mentions.
“Yes.” I sigh, already stressed from just thinking about it. “In six weeks, to be exact. Dominick will be Matteo’s best man, and Lorenzo is going to walk me down the aisle and stand beside me. It will be intimate. Just close friends and family since neither of us has many.”
“It’ll be amazing,” Bri says.
“I hope so. I’ve been trying to find a wedding planner on short notice, and I haven’t had any luck.”
“I can help,” Bri offers. “I don’t have anything else going on, and I love weddings. Maybe by focusing all my romantic energy into your wedding, I’ll manifest finding a man to marry.”
“What about Theodore?” I ask.
“We’re currently on a break,” she says, forcing a smile on her face.
“You’ll find someone,” I tell her.
“Maybe love just isn’t for me,” Bri says with a shrug. “I fell in love at twenty-one, it lasted for a year—the best year of my life—and then he died. Maybe everyone gets one chance to fall in love, and I had mine.”
“I don’t believe that,” Peyton says.
“Really?” Bri asks. “How many times have you been in love?”
Peyton pinches her lips together.
“See? Once,” she says. “It doesn’t matter. I have other things tofocus on … like helping plan Matteo and Dani’s wedding.” She turns her attention to me. “What do you say?”
“I say, if you want to help, I won’t stop you.”
Bri knows fashion and has an amazing sense of style, and she’s one of the most determined women I know—unless it’s regarding her lack of dating—so I have no doubt that with her help, the wedding will be done on time and be beautiful.
“Oh, Bri, any chance you can watch the twins tomorrow?” Peyton asks. “I have a follow-up OB appointment, and Dominick is insisting he go with me, and we’ve yet to find a new daytime nanny.”
“Why is he insisting on going?” I ask. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes.” She rolls her eyes. “I told him I’m getting on birth control, and he wants to know about it … to make sure it can be undone as easily as possible when the time comes for us to have another baby.”
“My brother is such a caveman,” Brielle grumbles.
“How many kids are you thinking?”
