Chapter 16

NOVALEE

M essing with Memphis while he was asleep was one of my favorite past times. Memphis didn’t enjoy my dreamtime humor, but if he wasn’t such a deep sleeper, then he would’ve woken up when I stuck those glow sticks in his nose. So, it was his own fault. I lost count of how many times I did the classic shaving cream in the hand and feather tickling his face – because some things never went out of style.

While my best friend’s slumber skills were incredibly amusing, they were also frustrating when it came to waking him up. Just for school alone, he had twelve alarms set on his phone and three clocks around his room. I swear that boy would sleep through an earthquake. I kind of hated him for that.

If a fly farted in my room I would wake up. Then again I also knew what I did to him when he was asleep, so, one could argue that I wasn’t a light sleeper, but a paranoid one. Or at least that’s what Memphis called it. I called it smart. Couldn’t sneak up on someone if they would wake up to an ant walking across their floor, which Memphis knew about me. He knew everything about me. By product of growing up together.

Gio on the other hand…

My eyes roamed over the sprawled out form on the bed releasing steady even breaths.

I had no idea what would wake him up, or if I wanted to? A part of me felt like this was a trick. Not only was Gio asleep at two o’clock in the afternoon, but he was only half on his bed. His right hip and legs were hanging off the side of the mattress, and his upper body was twisted in this weird half U shape.

I’d seen some strange sleeping positions in my life. Especially, when alcohol was involved. Hell I once passed out with my face in the mud and ass in the air. I had a cramp in my back for days. That sucked, but if I had slept the way Gio was now, my entire body would be a cramp.

How much did he have to drink this morning? And did he have any left?

My eyes roamed over the left arm he had stretched out over his head, to the right hand tangled up in his half unbuttoned navy shirt. Did he fall asleep while getting dressed? That took some serious skill. I’d drank a lot of alcohol and never once passed out while doing something like that.

I looked down at the belt tossed on the floor then to the black suit laid out at the foot of his bed. Maybe he was changing? Atlee did say something about a dinner date.

Not sure what kind of date Gio had in mind—I didn’t think he was the dating type—but the suit was definitely overkill. My faded purple flannel shorts did not meet that kind of elegant dress code, nor did the giant blue stain on the bottom of my shirt. Not to mention I wasn’t the fancy type. Some fast food places were out of my league. What was Gio up to?

My eyes narrowed as I tipped my head.

What was this bastard’s plan?

I wasn’t buying his peaceful expression, even though I did find it slightly entrancing. The look on his face was such a stark contrast to the typical scowl he usually wore. There were no angry lines pulling his brows together, or vein throbbing on his forehead. There was just him. Giovanni Mancini hidden under all that hate and rage. He was so beautiful it was creepy. Where the hell was his pissed off annoyance. Sleeping or not, he should still hate me.

Well, there’s only one thing to do in this situation.

I lifted my arm, ready to swing my hand through the air, when the door was thrown open.

My hand froze in the air as Romeo walked in and cocked a brow. “What are you doing?”

Yeah, this probably didn’t look too good. Luckily for me, I was a quick thinker.

“Stupid fly.” I muttered while swatting my hand around.

I don’t know if he bought it or not. When his eyes landed on Gio, he had other concerns. “Why is he asleep?”

Was he talking to me?

“Don’t look at me.” I shrugged. “I just got here.”

But he was looking at me. Very judgingly so. If I didn’t know any better I’d say Gio’s brother was annoyed and maybe a little stressed. I recognized that crinkle in his forehead. Maw Maw got the same one every time she tried to talk to me about something serious. She could’ve saved herself a lot of grief if she would just give up, but no. I still got all the lectures.

“Why aren’t you dressed?”

“Damnit, did I put on my invisible clothes again.” I looked down at my flannel shorts then arched a brow at Romeo. “They should really warn you about this at the clothing for superheroes store.”

Did everyone in this house spend the morning drinking?

Romeo’s stare narrowed. “Do you think you’re funny?”

I did.

Apparently, he did not.

“We don’t have time for this.”

Okay, I was getting a sense of urgency from him, but… “I don’t even know what this is.”

I came back to Gio passed out as if he was drunker than I had ever been, while his brother was concerned about the clothes he apparently couldn’t see me wearing. That wasn’t exactly a lot to go on.

Romeo huffed out a sigh and crossed his arms. “Guests will start arriving in an hour.”

“Right.” I nodded. That would make perfect sense if I knew what he was talking about. “And what guests are these?”

That question impressed him even less than my humor. “Gio, didn’t tell you?”

“Pfft,” I snorted. “Of course he did.”

Romeo stared at me for a second before saying, “you have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”

“No,” I shook my head. “Not a clue.”

To be fair I didn’t listen to half of what Gio said, so there was a high probability that he did tell me.

Storming across the room, Romeo muttered something in what I assumed was Italian and cracked his palm off Gio’s cheek.

Why did he get to slap him? I could’ve done that.

Gio jolted awake and sat up so fast that he fell off the bed.

His ass landed on the floor hard causing me to chuckle.

“What the fuck?”

Why was Gio looking at me? I didn’t do anything.

“He hit you.” I said while pointing at his brother.

Gio turned his glare onto Romeo. “What the fuck, Romeo?”

“Why the fuck were you asleep?”

The look Gio gave his brother rivaled some of the murderous stares he’d given me.

“You’re kidding, right?”

Romeo hung his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just tell me you got Dad and Aldo back here?”

Did he get them back from where? And who was this Aldo?

“No thanks to you.” Gio barked then pulled himself off the floor. “Do you have any idea what those two are like when they’re three bottles in?’’

Ah, that explained why he was asleep. I had to wrangle Maw Maw in the house once after she had a little too much at her bridge game. That shit was exhausting.

Romeo once again folded his arms over his chest. “Would you have rather picked up Ronan?”

“Fuck no.” Gio said while giving him a dirty look.

I had no idea who this Ronan was, but anyone who could make Gio scowl like that was okay in my books.

“Then stop fucking whining and get ready.” Romeo said. “Dinner starts in an hour.”

Was this the dinner date that Atlee was talking about? I was so confused. “Will someone tell me what is going on?”

Both the Mancini brothers looked my way, but did either of them answer me? Of course not. Why would they do that? The only response that did come was when Romeo looked at his brother and asked, “you got her a dress, right?”

To which Gio waved his hand, “it’s over there.”

I followed his wave to a bag hanging on the wall next to his dresser. Even from here I could tell that whatever was in there was way too fancy for me. First off the bag was made of cloth instead of plastic and it had a zipper. A goddamn zipper. Like something one would get from a bridal shop, or the stores that were too good to be in the mall. One thing was for sure…

“I’m not wearing that.” I emphasized my point with a firm arm cross.

Neither one of them said a word. They didn’t have to. The look on their face told me all I needed to know. One way or another I would be wearing that dress. Fighting Gio was one thing. Heck, it was quickly becoming my favorite activity, but considering what Romeo did to my bat—which he still owed me a new one for—I had no desire to go up against him again.

“Ugh, fine.” I rolled my eyes. “I’ll wear the damn dress, but you two need to tell me what’s going on.”

Gio explained, “my uncle is in town so we’re having a family dinner.”

That’s what this was all about? Big deal. We had family dinners every night. “Why do I need to get dressed up for that?”

Maw Maw and Veda were lucky if I got dressed at all for our dinners. Last night I ate in a t-shirt and panties.

“It’s a family dinner.” Gio said.

It took a second before the way he said family registered.

“Oh. It’s a family dinner,” I explained using finger quotes. “Not family family, but family .”

Gio waved his hand and gave a nod. “Exactly.”

Now I understood. Well, mostly understood.

“Okay, but why am I here?” The family, or mob, had nothing to do with me.

“You’re my fiancé.”

Ugh, technicality. Besides, “I don’t see a ring on my finger.”

Romeo looked at his brother. “You haven’t given her the ring yet?”

Gio had a ring?

“Don’t worry,” Gio grumbled. “She’ll be wearing it.”

No the hell I wouldn’t.

“She better. Now, both of you get dressed.” Romeo said then pointed at me. “And do something with your hair.”

“You can’t tell me what to do. Only Gio can tell me what to do.” Not that I would listen, but he could try.

I regretted that statement the second the corner of Gio’s mouth twisted into a smirk. “That’s right. Now be a good girl and go get dressed.”

This son of a…

I was about to tell him off when I suddenly remembered my bet with Atlee and bit my tongue. The need to tell Gio to fuck off was strong, but not as strong as my desire to never refer to Atlee as sir.

So, I plastered a smile on my face, sang, “I will,” in the sweetest tone I could muster, and skipped across the room to grab the bag holding my unwanted dress.

“There’s some make-up and stuff in the bathroom for you,” Gio said while unbuttoning the rest of his shirt. “Try and make yourself look good.”

Could I throat punch him? Cause I really wanted to throat punch him.

“Fine.” I hissed through my smile and headed for the bathroom.

If he wanted me to look good then I would look good. I’d look so good that everyone at this stupid dinner would be staring at me. Look out Mancini’s cause you ain’t never seen this Novalee Ford.

Forty-three minutes and twenty-seven seconds, that’s how long it took me to get ready. And let me just say, my time management skills in this case were amazing. I started with my make-up and somehow remembered every tip Veda had ever given me. If my sister could’ve seen the shit in the case in Gio’s bathroom, she would’ve lost her mind.

Everything was Chadwick Cosmetics and brand new. She used to save up for a month just to afford their lip gloss. I thought she was crazy, but after using some of it myself, I could see why she loved the stuff.

The light dusting of purple on my eyes with just a touch of gold in the center, caused the green in my hazel hue to shine through. I followed that up with some blush and touch of bronzer so the light would accentuate my cheekbones, and finally mascara and red tinted lip gloss, because there was nothing like a natural shiny lip to say kiss me. Not that I wanted Gio to kiss me or anything, but he would rue the day he told me to try and look good.

I would give him points for one thing though. He had everything I could possibly need. From a hair dryer and curling iron to lotion and perfume. And not the expensive eau de le blah blah blah, but the tropical scented body mist that I bought from the corner store. I wasn’t sure if I was disturbed by the fact that he knew what I wore, or that he liked it so much that he didn’t get a single other scent?

The dress was definitely not from the corner store. It was a white backless chiffon gown with a plunging neckline so low that it made me glad I didn’t have cleavage. There definitely would’ve been some nip slippage if my boobs were any bigger.

The material was soft on my skin and caressed my curves as if the dress was made specifically for me. But my favorite part was the slit running up to the top point of my left thigh. I may have spent a few minutes doing poses in the mirror while kicking my leg out like a Vegas showgirl.

I finished my look off with a stylish updo with a few diamond encrusted daffodil pins, and some curls hanging down to frame my face.

Taking one more look in the mirror, I checked to see if I had missed anything, then nodded.

Damn I looked good. I looked so good that Memphis would check me out.

“Take that, Gio. Bam.” I pointed at the mirror, gave myself a wink, and did the electric slide while singing, “uh huh. Uh ha. Uh ha, uh ha, uh ha.”

“What are you doing?”

Ugh, why did Gio have to ruin all my fun?

“Don’t you knock?” I spun around and stopped cold.

Gio Mancini was the epitome of toxic hotness on a normal day. But Gio Mancini in a three piece tailored suit had me wanting to wrap myself up in all his red flags and plunge head first into the depths of the underworld. Holy hell.

He was just as awe struck by my appearance. His green eyes flared with desire as they roamed over my curves.

“Wow.”

Hold on… “Did you just say wow?”

He snapped his eyes off my breasts, up to my face, and cleared his throat. “No.”

“Yes, you did.”

“No I didn’t.” He insisted.

“Yes, you did. I heard it with these magical things called ears. Everybody has them. They are right here…” I reached up and tugged on one of my earlobes. “on the sides of our heads.”

“Yours must be broken.”

Broken ears? What the hell was that? They weren’t cars. It wasn’t like we went to the ear repair shop to get a tune up.

“Speaking of ears…” Gio walked over and placed a case on the counter. “I have some jewelry for you.”

“I don’t want to wear your jewelry.”

“Why not?” Gio asked. “Girls like jewelry.”

That was true. Most girls did like jewelry, including me. But I did not want to walk around with something that cost more than our trailer hanging off my neck. What if the clasp broke or an earring fell off? I’d spend the next three years looking for it. No thanks.

“You can’t buy me with gemstones.”

“I don’t need to buy you.” Gio stepped up behind me and reached around either side to brace his palms on the counter. “You’re already mine.”

Having him this close to me, looking all fine in his suit with that look in his eye was dangerous. All I could think about was running my hands through his hair while he did dirty things to me. And this dress was too clean and nice for any of that.

Searching for a distraction, I turned away from him and let my eyes fall down to the black leather bound case. “Are they sparkly and expensive?”

Gio leaned in and breathed in my ear, “is there any other kind?”

That should not have sounded as seductive as it did. Curse you three piece suit.

“I don’t do expensive.”

“I don’t know…” Gio’s intense green stare met mine in the mirror. “I think you do expensive real well.”

“Clearly you haven’t seen my collection of cheap plastic necklaces.”

Half of them I may have stolen from Memphis, but I had some good pieces in there.

His brow arched. “Why would anyone wear plastic jewelry?”

Wow, he was out of touch.

“This may be a shocker to you, but most people can’t afford to be dripping in diamonds.”

I worked at a diner that served nontexan Texan food, with a cook who smoked while on the job. I was lucky if I could afford a snack from the food truck, let alone diamonds for family dinner.

Gio ran his nose up the side of my neck, causing a shiver to race down my spine and growled in my ear, “I’d like to see you dripping in diamonds.”

“I’m not your pet project.” I didn’t need his diamonds to look good.

“But you are my pet.”

My face dropped. “If Gattina means pet I will kick you in the balls right here and now.”

“No,” he let out a chuckle which he should not be allowed to do when he looked like that. I was having a hard enough time keeping my hands to myself. “ Gattina doesn’t mean pet.”

“Are you going to tell me what it does mean?”

Finally, this was it. I was going to find out what he’d been calling me.

At least that’s what I thought until he brought his lips a breath away from my ear and said, “no.”

Asshole . “Give me the damn jewelry.”

Maybe I could stab his eye out with it.

Gotta say, I was a bit surprised when Gio opened the case. I was expecting some gaudy big gemstones, but the jewelry inside was actually tasteful. The earrings were small daffodils with a diamond in the center hanging off dainty what I assumed to be platinum or white gold bands. And the necklace was made of the same metal with a larger daffodil pendant and a bigger diamond in the center. They were beautiful and oddly me.

“Huh, I kind of expected something bigger.”

“I was going to get something bigger…” Gio picked up the necklace and carefully fastened it around my neck. “But I didn’t think you’d wear it.”

He was right. I wouldn’t. It bothered me that he knew me enough to know that.

“If you think I’m going to thank you for this, you’re sorely mistaken.”

“Oh you won’t thank me. In fact I’m fairly sure you’ll hate me when I show you the next piece.”

Oh god, he was going to give me a ring.

Gio reached in his pocket and placed something on the counter that made my brows knit. And it wasn’t a ring. It was a… I don’t know what it was. It was metal, kind of egg shaped, but not as round, with what I could only describe as a stem with a big gem at the end. How I was supposed to wear that thing, I had no idea. There were no chains or hooks that I could see.

“What the hell is that?”

The only response I got was a coy smirk.