I enjoyed the rest of her family much more, though, especially watching Ava interact with her sisters. Their joking and banter reminded me so much of my brothers and me. Bella was going to be a hard sell, but it seemed like Angie was already totally on board with me marrying Ava. It was nice to have her support because I knew how close Ava was with her sisters.
As a pleasant surprise, even Vince was starting to come around. He had kept his distance for most of the night, but he hadn’t tried to start anything with me, which I considered a victory. He was fiercely protective of Ava, and I could never fault him for that. Leo spoke with him for a while, running interference for me, but Vince was mostly occupied with his wife and daughter. Seeing him with his family was like seeing an entirely different person. I was used to his ruthless, hot-headed side, but he was anything but with his beautiful little girl. She clearly had him wrapped around her finger, and as I watched them interact, I found myself wondering what mine and Ava’s daughter would be like.
I rested my hand on Ava’s thigh as I normally did, just to let her know I was there. She was turned slightly away from me, talking with Bella. I loved watching her in situations like these, where she was comfortable and relaxed, getting small glimpses of her personality and soaking in every detail of her. The corner of her lips turned up slightly as she spoke, and her cheeks turned rosy from the wine. She didn’t like being the center of attention, but she thrived there, working a room and making everyone feel like they were the most important one there. It was incredible to me how captivated by her everyone was, yet she was so humble to that fact.
All I could think about was getting her out of here and back to my house, and I didn’t notice Bella getting up from the table.
“Are you okay?” Ava said quietly, snapping me back to reality.
“Absolutely.” I leaned over, brushing my lips against her cheek. “I just thought you were talking to Bella.”
“She went to get us some more wine.” Ava angled her body toward me, intertwining her ankle with mine underneath the table.
“You might want to slow down.” I smirked, leaning in and keeping my voice low so she was the only one who could hear me. “I need you completely coherent for what I plan to do to you tonight.”
Ava’s cheeks turned an even deeper shade of crimson, her seductive eyes focused only on me. Apparently, I had rendered her speechless, and I grinned in satisfaction.
“And if you keep looking at me like that, I might have to just lay you on this table and fuck you in front of everyone.”
Her eyes nearly bulged out of her head. “Nick!” She hit my arm, playfully scolding me.
“Relax. I don’t like an audience. The only eyes I want to see that body”—I looked her up and down, licking my lips—“are my own.”
Ava rolled her eyes. “I’m going to the bathroom.”
“Careful, I might follow you.” I watched as her dress rose just the tiniest bit higher on his thighs as she stood. Fuck, I couldn’t wait to get it off of her tonight.
“Down, boy.” She slapped my hand away from her ass. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her as she left the room, and fought with every ounce of strength in my body not to follow her. I had to behave; her father and brother were in the room, after all.
As soon as she got back, I couldn’t contain myself anymore and was ready to go. She was coming back to my place tonight, and I wasn’t going to let her say otherwise. Hell, it was about damn time she moved in anyway.
We began to say our good-byes, and were all standing in the foyer, when my dad began to speak, holding my mom’s hand. I wrapped my arm around Ava protectively, pulling her into me.
“Alessandro, Sonya, we just want to thank you both for opening your home to us tonight. We are thrilled to be welcoming Ava into the family and are so glad that we could all put our differences aside to—”
Vince scoffed loudly, causing everyone to turn to him.
“Differences?” he hissed. “That’s what you call your son killing my brother?”
Fuck. Things had gone well, and we were so damn close to getting out of here. Why was he doing this now?
“Vincent.” Alessandro’s voice held a strong warning but Vince didn’t seem to care. He walked slowly toward us, and I felt Ava tense in my arms.
“What?” She turned to me in hurt and confusion. “What is he talking about?”
All the opportunities I had had to tell her over the last few weeks flashed through my mind. Why hadn’t I just fucking explained it? Why had I felt like I needed to keep it from her? It was an accident, I was sure she’d see it that way. Right now, there was nothing I regretted more.
“You don’t know, do you?” Vince fix his eyes on Ava.
“That’s enough, Vince!” Alessandro bellowed, charging toward him. Vince threw his grasp off as if it was nothing.
“You all are content to let this go on, and she doesn’t even know the fucking truth?” Vince yelled to no one in particular, wobbling slightly from the alcohol in his system.
“Vince, what are you talking about?” Ava looked at him, determined to get some kind of answer.
“Did you ever think to ask your fucking fiancé how he knew Andrew, Ava?” Vince hissed, venom spewing from his tongue.
“I think we should go.” I took Ava’s hand, trying to move her toward the door.
