“I did. How about we come inside, and I’ll introduce you.”
“Oh! Yes, my God, where are my manners?” She shoves Terina aside and steps out of the way.
The grand entry is plenty large for all of us and then some, with a crystal chandelier hanging from the two-story ceiling above and a curving staircase built into an alcove off to the side. The floors are glossy marble, and the white walls and windows make for perpetually bright surroundings. It echoes. I was never a huge fan.
I place my hand on the small of Danika’s back and keep her close. “Mom, Terina, this is Danika. We’re getting married, so I thought you might like to meet.”
All three women stare back at me, and I have no idea why.
“What?” I ask.
“You’re getting married?” Mom breathes. I can practically hear the tears pooling in her eyes. I’m twenty-five, yet she acts like I’d joined the priesthood.
“She’s marryingyou?” Terina blurts, then instantly clamps a hand over her mouth. “Oh my God. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it.”
My lips part to unleash a scathing rebuke when Danika’s hand presses flat on my chest in a possessive gesture as she scoots even closer to me. I swear she casts a spell with that hand because she sucks the wind right out of me, anger included.
“We totally understand,” she says with a smile. “It’s all happened very quickly. I’m so sorry to catch you off guard like this.” The thing about Danika is she doesn’t just handle the slight with grace. She seems genuinely unruffled by their comments.
Mom plows forward and pulls Danika into a suffocating hug. “Oh, Dani. We’re absolutely thrilled you’re going to be a part of the family. Is it okay if I call you Dani? You should call me Zuzu. My name’s Azzurra, but everyone calls me Zuzu. It’s easier.”
Danika is sucked from one hug into another as Terina takes her turn. “And I’m Rina. No reason to be formal around here.”She takes Danika’s hand and grins. “Come sit and tell us all about yourself and how you two met. Ma, why don’t you grab that tea from the fridge? Tommy, help her with the glasses.”
Terina is three years older than I am. I’m not sure if it’s that or the fact that she’s the youngest girl, but she’s always run the show. When her husband passed away unexpectedly, not long before Dad died, she seemed to get even more bossy. I need things to be a certain way in my life, but Terina tries to control the entire world around her. It’s got to be exhausting.
Watching her makes me wonder about Danika and how she’d feel if something happened to me. I’m not sure I like the answer either way. I wouldn’t want her heart broken, but it might be worse to think she’d be relieved to be rid of me.
The thought is an insidious virus that takes root in my brain.
I want Danika to want me and not just be resigned to her situation. But how can I make that happen when I don’t know how to be anyone other than myself? If I could have changed, I would have done it long ago.
I set the four glasses on the coffee table, then pour the tea while my mother dishes tea of her own. An entirely different kind of tea, that is.
“I was just so surprised because Tommy here has never brought anyone home, and not just girls. He never even brought a friend over his whole childhood.”
Danika smiles and nods. “I wasn’t social as a kid either. I had a speech delay after losing my hearing in my left ear when I was an infant, and it took a while to overcome some of the resulting challenges.”
And she did overcome. All I see when I look at her is radiant perfection.
“That’s awful. What happened?” Terina asks.
“I got a CMV infection from my mother at birth. It’s one of those viruses that isn’t dangerous for adults, but a smallpercentage of newborns can end up with hearing loss. Mom felt horrible when they confirmed I’d lost hearing, but I’m just so grateful it was only one ear.”
Her father abandoned her. Kids likely teased her. She had speech delays and who knows what other difficulties, yet somehow, she’s not remotely bitter. That shit could have scarred her, but her positive nature kept her focused on the light instead of wallowing in the dark.
I’m not the greatest at optimism, but at the moment, I can hardly believe my luck that this incredible creature tumbled into my world. And she’s agreed to be mine.
I’ve got to find a way to make her want me so she never decides to leave.
Not that I would let her go.
Danika ismine.
CHAPTER 25
DANIKA
I’m all outof smiles on the ride home. I enjoyed meeting Tommy’s family, but with the return to the city comes the return of reality—Gran is still missing. Tommy says he’s working on finding her, but that doesn’t ease the relentless worry.
