I tap my finger to my chin and furrow my brow. “Was that anattempt at an insult? We all know I’m short. Why would pointing it out hurt me?”
Her lips thin, and she huffs in frustration.Good.She’s almost fun to fuck with. But she isn’t worthy of any more of my time.
“I was raised by Marco Fucking DeVille. That’s usually enough to keep people from trying to piss me off.”
“Such a brave little bitch, hiding behind Marco’s name,” she taunts.
A loud snort bursts out of me at the fucking audacity. “I don’t hide behind shit,” I chuckle as I glance down at my watch. “But I’m on a bit of a schedule. Kind of a busy day. So here’s what you need to know about me. You don’t scare me. My family, including Luca, is myeverything. I wasn’t justraisedhere. I wastrainedhere. Iworkhere. And I’m damn good at my job.” I pause, waiting for all of that to take root. For the fear to set in. She wipes her palms on her dress and swallows a shaky breath.Ah, there it is.“I’m Ariana DeVille, that’s who the fuck I am.”
Chapter 72
Perks of being a DeVille
Ariana
“You ready, baby girl?” Mom asks as she steps into the hallway.
“Yeah, Mama. I’ll be right there,” I tell her, my eyes still on my future mother-in-law. Tina clears her throat and rushes into the bathroom behind me, slamming the door.
Mom’s eyes follow her before coming back to me. “Do I even want to know?”
I shrug a shoulder. “Probably not.”
“Alright then. Let’s go find your sister.” She holds her hand out for me.
And that’s that.
Lil’s just finishing up breakfast. I reach out and tug on the locket around her wrist. “Mine.”
She swallows her last bite and huffs. “Fuck, I thought for sure she’d wait until you were in the dress, not wearing booty shorts and Luca’s shirt.”
After grabbing another coffee from the cart, Mom ushers us to the room we used when we tried on dresses. It’s set up forpedicures, manicures, hair, and makeup. She wasn’t kidding about having big pampering plans.
I hope Luca snuck in here and had the makeup professional cover up that hickey earlier. Lil’s good and all, but she doesn’t have the airbrush stuff. Yet. She’s eyeballing it really hard, though.
We change into cute pink silky pajama sets with robes and settle into massage chairs for our pedicures. “Why don’t we have any of these?” I glance at Mom. “We should have some in the theater room.”
“I’ll think about it.”
Closing my eyes, I sigh as my muscles relax. “I should have registered for one.”
“Or two,” Lil says. “We could read in them.”
Becca and Callie join us, and we take our time getting ready, snacking on cheese, crackers, and fruit along the way.
In the walk-in closet, I change into my new strapless bra and thong, pull the garter up my thigh, and carefully step into my dress so Lil can zip me up.
Mom’s already tearing up when we walk out. Thank god for waterproof mascara. It’s going to get a workout today. “You look beautiful, sweetheart.”
Smiling, I hug her to me. “Thanks, Mom. We all look pretty snazzy. I bet the guys all look good, too.”
I sip yet another iced coffee, keeping it far away from my dress. It’s almost gone when there’s a knock at the door. “Ladies, I’ve been told to tell you there’s five minutes until we should be starting, as long as you’re all ready.” Shit, hearing my dad’s voice is making me blink back tears. Nope, can’t do that.
“Is Luca in the backyard, babe?” Mom asks, cracking the door open.
“Yes, my love.”
Mom opens the door wider, and Dad steps in. “Okay, let’s go get into our places so Marco can walkAriana to hers.”
