Total pages in book: 197
Estimated words: 199143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 996(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 996(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
“What does that even—”
“Means she didn’t get the fucking snacks,” Cella grumbled. “Now we’re going to have to drive to the store.”
“You pout a lot,” Liliana told her sister. “You’re going to give yourself wrinkles.”
She knew that would do it. Cella’s lips pressed together in an effort to keep herself from smiling, or laughing ... or both. She failed miserably, which only led the other four girls into a fit of laughter, too.
“And what’s wrong with wrinkles, my darlings? Wrinkles tell the story of your life.”
Liliana spun on her heels to find her grandmother standing in the entryway of the kitchen. Cecelia Marcello, no matter her age, still preferred a pretty dress and heels to something more comfortable. Although lately, Liliana had noticed, her grandmother opted for a shorter, stockier heel to her shoe. Better support, she supposed. Cecelia did not like for it to be pointed out, though.
The girls quieted as Cecelia came further into the kitchen.
“Your wrinkles are beautiful, Grandmamma,” Liliana said.
Her sister, and cousin, agreed. Their friends only smiled.
Cecelia winked, and bopped Liliana on the nose with the tip of her finger as she passed her by. The same way she always used to do when Liliana was a little girl, and as her grandmother would say, thought she was being smart. She wasn’t such a little girl anymore—gone were the days of puddle jumping, and instead, were replaced by days in a studio for hours upon hours to be something beautiful and captivating on a stage.
But this weekend was not about being a ballerina. It was her time off. Time to relax, and get back to feeling like a real-life human.
“Your fathers, and uncle are outside on the steps. Please do not interrupt their meeting when you head to the store for snacks, ladies.”
Just how long had their grandmother been listening to them in the kitchen? Liliana wished she could say she was surprised, but she really wasn’t. Cecelia was sneaky—a lot like the rest of them, in their own ways, she supposed.
“You got it, Nan,” Catherine said, dropped a quick kiss to Cecelia’s cheek as the rest of them headed out of the kitchen in a large group of five.
Liliana hadn’t known very much about the meeting her father and uncles were having today, but she knew it was supposed to be important. And that was only because that’s literally the only thing her father told her. Well, that and the fact that people were coming in from out of state. Lucian didn’t even tell her who it was, or where they were coming from. Simply that they would be having a dinner, and she and her friends should join them for it since they had already planned the movie night at the Marcello mansion.
“Do you know who’s coming today?” Liliana asked Catherine.
Her cousin shrugged. “Didn’t bother to ask.”
Yeah, Catherine was good like that. She didn’t stick her nose where she would be told it didn’t belong. And God knew their uncle Dante—Catty’s father—would be quick to tell anyone who was stepping out of line to mind their own fucking business.
Even if that person was a woman.
“Oh, fresh meat ...”
Cella’s words drifted off as Liliana stepped out on the large marble entrance that lead outside the mansion. Her gaze drifted across the huge, circular driveway surrounded by an immaculate, rich green lawn to find exactly what her sister had been talking about.
Or rather, who.
An older gentleman stepped out of the back of a black vehicle. A second later, a younger man stepped out of the other side.
Liliana blinked.
One was certainly older, yes, but that didn’t change the fact that she could clearly see the similarities—even from a good thirty feet away—between the two men.
Probably related.
Father and son, maybe?
Who knew?
“Hush, you,” Lucian said to his second oldest daughter as Cella stuck her tongue out at her father when they passed him by. Their father only winked. “Keep doing that, and it might fall out someday.”
The girls were already at the bottom of the steps when their father’s retort came from the steps. Probably too quietly for the people across the driveway to hear, not that it really mattered. The girls’ laughter colored up the yard, drawing attention their way.
He was staring at her, then.
The younger one.
Liliana stared back as she followed behind her cousin, sister, and friends to where their waiting SUV was parked along the far side of the driveway. He kept staring at her, unblinking and frozen in place. She just kept staring back.
He was handsome, she thought. Strong jaw, sky-blue eyes, and a suit that looked like someone had tailored it perfectly to his form. And what a fucking form it was, really. Broad shoulders, and taller than even her.
She liked a tall man, really.
Liliana realized then that the longer the unknown man stared at her—his gaze didn’t even drift to the other four ladies she walked with—the tighter her chest became. And not in a bad way, either.