"Can I take your hand first, Julia?" Serenity held out her hand, that distant look in her eyes. "I need to see—"
"Yes." Julia stepped toward her. "Of course."
The moment they connected, Serenity went rigid.
Then she smiled—huge, joyful—and laughed.
"I saw a wedding. A happy one. Dancing, music, so much joy." She squeezed Julia's hands. "Your face had frosting on it."
Julia blinked. "So I was the bride?"
"I think so. Though I can't say for certain—there were multiple people with frosting on their faces."
"Food fight?" Stone asked.
"Maybe." Serenity looked frustrated. "There was so much happening. I'm sorry I can't see more clearly."
"You give us what you can," I said gently. "That's enough."
Stone shifted his stance. "Let me get this straight. You're planning a real wedding—not just legal paperwork—and you’re doing it, not because you have to, but because you want to."
“That’s right.” I took Julia’s hand again. "We’re also running out of time. Carlo's deadline is only a few days away. Once we’re married, he’ll have to give us more time and listen to what we have to tell him.”
“How soon?” Serenity asked.
“Not sure. That’s why we need your help to plan our next move.”
Stone and Serenity exchanged a long look.
"You're both insane," Stone finally said. "This could blow up spectacularly."
"That's not a no," I pointed out.
"It's not a no. We're in. Someone needs to keep you alive long enough to figure out if you're actually in love or just in survival mode."
“Say what you want, but we have nothing to figure out.” I glanced at Julia. “We’ve decided.”
Her smile was all the answer I needed.
“So what do we do next?”
Julia raised a brow. “Tell the family?”
I shook my head. “Since they haven’t killed us already, that should do the trick.”
She laughed.
Stone crossed to the round table in my office and pulled out a chair. "Sit. Both of you. We need to think this through."
We sat. Serenity joined us, already pulling out her tablet to take notes.
"First things first," Stone said, his voice shifting into tactical mode. "The legal protection. When do you need it?"
"Yesterday," I admitted. "Julia could be subpoenaed at any time. If the Feds connect her to the Russo family—"
"When they connect her," Stone corrected. "It's not if. They're already circling. It’s only a matter of time before law enforcement connects the pieces.”
“You think they’re investigating?”
