“Because I do. I want to run my father’s company and I want to have that chance without having to lie to him. I want to be free from the assumption that I’m a mouse who does as she’s told and is too insecure to stand up for herself. I want to feel happiness and not have to hide it.” Why were her cheeks wet? Was she crying? Great, her humiliation was complete, and Joel still hadn’t said a word.
The lurch of the Porsche stopping and its door slamming jolted her out of her pit of self-pity. Blinking away her tears, she realized they were parked in front of her Zia Ella’s house. Had she really been venting for the entire car ride?
Her passenger side door ripped open, and Joel offered her his hand to help her out of the car. Happy to unload her, she bet. Guilt swamped her. She shouldn’t have dumped on him when he’d only been trying to help.
When she was out of the car, he frowned at her, scrutinizing her face until she averted her gaze. When the pad of his thumb swiped tears off her cheekbone her gaze bounced back to his, and she couldn’t stop the gasp of shock for the ache she saw in them.
Then he slammed the vehicle door shut and stomped down the path to her aunt’s house, leaving her in the wake of his anger. The force of it was almost visible, like heat waves on scorching asphalt. Half intrigued, half terrified,Lucy followed him slowly, unsure of what flame she’d ignited inside him.
When she made it to the stoop, he glared at her again, his look hard but still magnetizing. She was locked in by the power of that stare.
“Do you know what I want, Lucy?” The authoritative rumble in his tone sent a shiver up her back; goosebumps broke over her arms. “I want you to go inside and pack your bags.”
The door swung open, revealing her aunt on the other side. Ella’s toothy grin froze when Joel announced, “Lucy’s moving in with me.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
So what if he’d basically ordered her to move in with him? Or if it was too soon, and too emotionally volatile a decision to make following her outburst yesterday. After a restless night thinking about it, she decided she didn’t care about any of that, because the thought of being able to leave the noisy, crowded, wedding obsessed house she was currently residing in was too tempting to walk away from. Or so she was telling herself. And that was why, the morning after Joel had demanded she move in with him, her suitcase was packed and ready to go.
As she zipped her luggage closed, a high-pitched laugh—that sounded something like a hyena riding a firetruck—echoed down the hallway. She would have been able to pick out that laugh if she were standing in the middle of Milan train station. Abandoning her bag in her aunt’s guest room, she bolted to the kitchen where the joyous sound was coming from.
“Nat!” Lucy greeted her cousin, who launched herself into Lucy’s open arms. “Thank God you’re here! The mothers have been driving me crazy.”
“I heard that!” Maria shouted from the other room.
Natalie giggled as she took a seat at the kitchen island. “She was just in here showing me the napkins she’s picked out for the engagement party. They’re so hideous it’s hilarious. Now she’s gone to pout because I said she’d embarrass the family if she put those out at your party. Sorry not sorry.”
“Well, thank you for saving me from a napkin disaster.” Lucy pulled out a plate of espresso bean biscotti and set it on the island. She glanced at the kitchen clock, which read 11 a.m. “It’s a bit early for you, isn’t it?”
“I know, right?” Natalie snagged a biscotti and took a bite. “It’s ridiculous that any human should be up this early, but I have a client who needed an emergency blow out for a blind brunch date, so I had to go into the salon earlier than usual.”
Natalie had the Barone entrepreneurship spirit. Just over a year ago, at the tender age of twenty-five, she’d opened her own salon. One of the many reasons Lucy admired her cousin so much.
“Wow, it is so quiet in here without Mar around, I can hear myself chew. We should have married her off years ago.”
Lucy laughed out loud at Natalie’s quip. Of the cousins, Mariana and Natalie were the closest, not only because they were the same age, but because Mariana had been an only child and Natalie the youngest of three, so Natalie had spent more time in Zia Ella’s house than at her own. It had worked out well, and their similar boisterous personalities and complimentary looks had everyone in the family calling them The Twins.
“Do you miss her?” Lucy asked, filling the kettle in the sink.
“Not as much as I used to.” Natalie shrugged. “I’m kind of used to her not being around as much since she got busier with Jeff. I mostly notice it when I’m here and she’s not. It will be weird visiting her at the mansion. I can’t believe she waited to move in with him until after they were married. I mean, who does that?”
Lucy grinned. The thing about growing up with only girl cousins in a close-knit family was that she often felt like she had five sisters instead of one. And she’d loved every second of that. “How long is Mariana honeymooning?”
Natalie snorted. “I dunno, forever? Jeff’s family has gazillions. She’s going to live the perma-vacation.”
Lucy couldn’t imagine living the trophy wife’s life, not having to lift a finger for anything she got, not working. If boredom didn’t kill her, a sense of worthlessness would.
“Speaking of gazillionaire,” Natalie said around another bite of cookie. “I didn’t think it got richer than Jeff’s family, but then you come in with the Morgan bomb, and I was like ‘mic drop! Someone in the family snagged a Forbes billionaire!’ I love you, Lu, but I never would have guessed it would be you.”
The kettle whistled, so Lucy took it off the burner and poured the hot water into the French press. “Don’t be ridiculous. The Morgans do well, but not Forbes well. Besides, that’s not why I married Joel.” Oops. Shit, she was going to have to get better at this, and fast. Luckily, Natalie didn’t seem to notice her slip up, as she was laser focused on thumbing through her phone.
Lucy brought the coffee pot and two cups to the island where Natalie sat. “Also, I’m insulted. Why wouldn’t I be able to snag a Forbes billionaire? Rude.”
“No offense, but you don’t get out enough to meet the upper echelon,” her cousin muttered as she focused on herphone. “Vanessa? Maybe. But you—see here!” Natalie thrust her device into Lucy’s hand. “Joel Morgan is on the list. Told you so,” she said smugly and proceeded to pour them both a coffee. “Honestly, Lu. How could you not know your fiancé was richer than God?”
“Everyone is richer than God. He’s a deity, not a businessman,” Lucy mumbled as she stared at the screen, and Joel’s handsome face staring back at her. Holy shit. When did this happen? She always knew Joel was wealthy. Morgan Construction built and owned half of San Francisco. But Forbes wealthy…there was no way anyone made it that big building apartment towers. Jesus. What had she missed?
“Well, some might argue.” Natalie stirred sugar into her coffee. “Anyway, see, you don’t get out enough to know your fiancé is a billionaire. I swear, if I hadn’t seen the lovesick look in his eyes, I would have bet my salon that the two of you were making the whole thing up.”
