"What does he want?"
She read the text, her face paling. "He heard. About the wedding. He's asking if I've lost my mind."
"What are you going to tell him?"
"The truth." She started typing. "That I'm marrying you tomorrow at the courthouse—" She looked up. "Wait, we already did that. Today. We're already married."
"Legally married," I corrected. "We still need to do the small family wedding. The one that's actually a trap."
"Right. So many weddings. I'm losing track." She deleted what she'd typed, started over. "I'll tell him we're having a ceremony in New York. That he's invited. That it's real."
"He's going to hate me."
"Probably. But there’s nothing he can do about it now."
She hit send. "Hopefully."
Her phone buzzed again almost immediately. She read it, frowned. "He wants to meet. Tomorrow morning, before we fly out."
"Why?"
"He says—" She scrolled. "He says if I'm really marrying you, he needs to make sure you're 'worthy of a Russo.' His words."
"That's not ominous at all."
"He's protective. It's actually kind of sweet… if I wasn’t suspicious that he’s been trying to kill me."
"Sweet isn't the word I'd use."
"He won't hurt you. Probably."
"Your confidence is overwhelming."
Stone glanced in the rearview mirror. "You should meet with him. Better to have him on your side when you face Carlo."
"Assuming he decides I'm worthy," I muttered.
"You are worthy," Julia said firmly. "You jumped in front of bullets for me. You're investigating my father's murder. You married me in a courthouse with a borrowed ring." She held up her hand, where Serenity's silver band caught the light. "You're definitely worthy."
"We'll get real ones before the New York wedding."
"When?" Serenity asked. "You fly out tomorrow. Meeting Carlo at seven. That doesn't leave much time for ring shopping."
Julia's eyes widened. "She’s right. We need rings. Real rings. The family will notice if we show up without them."
"Tomorrow morning," I decided. "I’ll ask the jeweler to open early for us. We’ll meet Silvio in my office before the airport. We'll make it work."
"This is the most stressful wedding planning ever," Julia said.
"We're doing it on hard mode," I agreed.
“Okay. I’ll tell him nine at your office.” She sent the text.
Stone pulled up to his house. A beautiful craftsman style home in a quiet neighborhood. "Come on. Let's eat, plan, and try to keep you two alive long enough to enjoy being married."
As we waited for Stone to put in his security code, Julia leaned against me. "Thank you."
"For what?"
