Page 75 of The Arianna Arrangement

Her smile was forced, telling me she was in on whatever secret Sandro was keeping from me. “Yes. He would have been so pleased with this.”

I was at my limit. Knowing that they were keeping something from me, something big from the looks of it, had me ready to light a match and burn shit to the ground.

But even though I was pissed at my brother, I didn't want to cause him any more stress. At the moment, anyway, so it was time to make my escape. “It was a long ride here and I’d really like a chance to shower and freshen up before dinner. If you’ll excuse us.”

Tucker and I took off, hand in hand, towards the wing his family always stayed in. His father and uncles followed us, after greeting my brother and mother, and before long, we were safely tucked behind the door of our room where I could let down my guard.

Well, as soon as Tuck made sure the devices were in place.

As soon as he had, he took me into an embrace, pulling me flush against him and holding me tight. “Let it all out, Vita Mia. Tell me what’s going through that perfect head of yours.”

“They’re keeping secrets and I don’t like it.”

Tucker hummed as his hands ran up and down my back and he pressed kisses across my head. “I caught that as well. And while I also don’t like it, I’m not sure it’s something we need to worry about. We knew your father was up to something by pushing the children issue so hard. We also know that Sandro is not your father, so while he’s keeping secrets, what he’s up to probably isn’t as bad as what your father was. If I had to guess, Sandro keeping us out of the loop is to protect us.”

“Wouldn’t letting us in on it protect us better? How are we supposed to know what to look out for if he shuts us out?” That was what I hated most about keeping secrets.

After Bradley had attacked Potter, we kept Leyla out of the loop. If he’d approached her, asking her to meet him, she would have had no idea he was a threat and could have ended up in a dangerous situation. Wasn’t that essentially what Sandro was doing to us by not letting us in on his secret?

“I don’t know, Vita Mia. All I know is we all have a lot on our plates right now, so I’m not going to complain if he wants to keep more from piling on ours. For now, let’s just get through this weekend. Once Sandro is married, and the Blackwood stuff figured out, then we can get to the bottom of your brother’s secrets. Deal?”

I let out a sigh, but it didn’t take away my frustration with it. That much was evident in my tone. “Deal.”

Tucker just chuckled. “Get in the shower so you can start getting ready and I can shower in time for dinner.”

The deep breath hadn’t let out my frustrations, but I knew what would. “Or… you could shower with me.” I waggled my eyebrows, but Tucker just laughed.

With one more kiss to my temple, he stepped away. “As much fun as that would be, I’m afraid we’d be late to dinner if we did that and I don’t want to disrespect your family that way.” He stepped closer again, pulling me to him so I could feel just how hard he was. “But when we come back to the room later tonight, I’ll make sure to fuck all those frustrations out of you, baby.”

Since tonight wasn’t the rehearsal dinner, it would just be family at dinner. I mean, a pretty extended family as the Givenchy men were here and I was sure that Marco and Elio would be there as well.

That didn’t, however, change the dress code. It seemed Sandro was holding to our father’s standards. Looking at myself in the mirror, the burgundy lacy v-neck dress that fell to my knees was cute and respectable, but damn, what I wouldn’t give to be in sweats with my hair in a messy bun instead of loose curls.

“You look gorgeous, Vita Mia.” Tucker held an arm out for me as we headed out into the hall and towards the dining room. His father and uncles were waiting for us in the hall, apparently wanting us to all walk in together as a united front.

When we entered the dining room, Marco and Elio were already seated, in the seats to the right and left of where my brother would sit. My mother was at the far end, but not in the seat she’d taken the last time I was here. Instead, she was to the left of that seat.

Marco turned to us when we walked in. “Seating arrangements have changed. Ari will sit across from her mother. Tuck, you’re by me. The rest of you may fill in the open seats, except at the ends of the table.”

Wow. This was definitely different. Since the marriage between Tucker and I was arranged, I’d not sat at this table separate from him while he was here. I mean, my father and mother frequently didn’t sit next to each other as my father wanted his men close to him, but she was usually only a seat or so away.

The other end of the table was always open.

However, what surprised me more than the seating arrangement was the fact that my mother was wearing black. I guess maybe she was still pretending to be in mourning?

Since it wasn’t the rehearsal dinner or wedding, I guess it wasn’t a faux pas.

As soon as we’d taken our seats, the door opened again and Sandro walked in with Valentina on his arm. Her short sleeved white dress with silver jewels in a damask pattern was adorable.

Not that I could tell her that. At least until after the wedding, we needed to keep up the facade of not liking each other.

Sandro pulled out the seat next to me, and Valentina sat before he pressed a kiss to her temple and headed to his seat at the opposite end.

I would have to have a long chat later with my future sister-in-law. Sandro placing her at the other head of the table was an honor my father had never given my mother.

From the look on my mother’s face, she wasn’t thrilled with it.

Everyone was quiet until the servants came out and placed food in front of Sandro and Valentina. Then, the men started talking and Valentina’s attention turned to me. “Arianna. So good to see you.” She looked me up and down with a judgmental eye and I braced myself for whatever she was about to say. I knew it wouldn’t be kind, because we were on the same page about this alliance. “Have you put on weight?”