“We’ll get to know each other.” Lucy slips her arm through mine. Even though she’s smaller than me, she tugs me away from them with ease. “Let the boys talk for a little while, right? They always think their business is so important.”
“It’s not?” I ask, a little off guard.
“Most of the time I’m pretty sure they’re just measuring dicks and talking about killing each other.” She smiles sweetly at me. “Sometimes they have real business, but you know how it is.”
“Yeah, sure,” I say as Lucy takes me into the backyard. We sit on the patio furniture. “I’m sorry, I’d offer to make you tea or something, but I have no clue where he keeps any of that stuff. I’m not really much of a host right now.”
Lucy laughs lightly and waves a hand. “Don’t worry about it. Honestly, I wanted to talk to you alone for a few minutes, just to see how you’re holding up. I know what you’re going through right now.”
“You do?” I tilt my head, feeling pretty skeptical. It’s hard for me to believe anyone could have any clue how I’m feeling. My father’s dying, and I was forced to marry a stranger this morning. I don’t know how it could get any worse.
“My marriage to Adriano was an arrangement. We didn’t have the best start in the world.” She wrinkles her nose, her smile getting bigger. “We met at an orgy.”
“An… orgy?”
“A sex party. Adriano puts them on, or he used to. I think people figured out he was recording them.”
I stare at her blankly, trying to decide if she’s joking or not, but she seems perfectly sweet and earnest. I’m not sure what to make of it.
“Well… I guess that’s good? I mean, not the recording part, but the way you two met?”
“My grandmother sent me there to seduce him.” Lucy sighs, leaning back in her chair. “Those were the days.”
“Your grandmother…” I trail off, feeling like I just got thrown into a giant freezing lake.
“Anyway, sorry, I don’t mean to talk about myself. I know how the first few weeks can be pretty hard, especially in your situation. This was all really rushed and last minute, right? That’s not what Adriano wanted.”
“He wanted to make sure I was safe,” I say, finding myself defending Luca even though I don’t actually want to.
“Do you need anything? Anything at all? Even simple stuff, like a toothbrush, clean clothes, anything to make you more comfortable.”
I sit up straight. “I really want to go home and pack, but Luca thinks it’s too dangerous. Maybe if you?—”
“Don’t you worry, you can leave it to me.” Lucy nearly bounces with excitement. “I’ll head over to your place as soon as we’re done here and get you all set up.”
“No, I mean, I wanted?—”
“Anything you want in particular? Or should I just bring everything? Oh, this is going to be fun. I’ll start by choosing some really good outfits.”
“Sorry, I think I’m not being clear?—”
But Lucy’s not listening. She’s already planning how she’ll start with underwear and finish with toiletries. “Give me a few hours and you’ll be all set by the time I’m finished.”
I want to argue, but she seems legitimately excited to go shove all my stuff into bags. I don’t have the heart to tell her that I’d rather do it all myself.
“Elisa will help. That’s my sister. I have a feeling you two are going to get along really well.”
“Amazing, I can’t wait to meet her.” Lucy’s smile could melt a glacier. Even though I’m still frustrated, I find it impossible to be angry with her.
We talk a little more about acclimating to new places. She asks me questions about my home life before coming here, and basically, we spend a few minutes getting to know each other. The guys come out ten minutes after that.
“Sorry to run, but work calls,” Adriano says as he steers his wife to the door.
“Don’t worry, I’m going to your place right now,” she says and pats her husband’s cheek lightly when he gives her a hard look. “Don’t worry about it, darling. I’ll bring muscle.”
“You’d better,” he murmurs and kisses her cheek. He steers her to the door with a possessive arm around her shoulders. “You two sit tight. Luca, don’t do anything stupid. We’ll figure this shit out with the uncle soon enough.”
“I’m not feeling patient,” Luca says darkly, glancing at me. “The stakes are too high.”
