Page 157 of When She Tempts (The Fallen)
Dem smiled at me from across the room. “Yes. Initially, I wanted to do it at the basilica in Naples where our parents got married, but it turns out it’s undergoing a restoration. We don’t want to wait for it to be finished, so we’re thinking of going back to Ibiza. Actually, that’s why I called you. We want to get married at the cathedral, and we’ll probably do the reception at one of my restaurants, but some of the smaller events will be at the house. Would that be alright with you? We don’t want to trigger any bad memories.”
I give him a smile. “It won’t. We spent a long time in that house together, Dem. I have a lot of fond memories there, and one bad one. I have no intention of letting Lazaro’s attack spoil the house for me. Is Vale okay with it?”
He nodded. “It was her idea.”
I laughed at his crooked grin. “All right. Well, then it’s settled.”
That night, as I lay beside Giorgio, I couldn’t sleep. In my mind, a movie of a wedding played out, but it wasn’t Vale and Dem’s.
I saw Giorgio and myself on the big lawn outside the house under a grandiose flower arch. Our hands were linked as a priest read out our vows against a backdrop of azure-blue water. I love that color. I spent my youth swimming inside of it, and it's also the color of Giorgio’s eyes.
The movie kept playing, and at three am, I woke Giorgio up.
“What is it,piccolina?” he asked groggily.
“Let’s get married.”
That woke him up properly. He sat up, blinking sleep out of his eyes. “When?”
Right to the point. It made me laugh. “I don’t know. But soon. And I want to do it in Ibiza.”
“Your brother is also getting married in Ibiza.”
His mind must have still been foggy with sleep. “I know. I was the one who told you that a few hours ago, remember?”
“You want a double wedding?” he asked, as if that wasn’t a ridiculous question.
I hit him with a throw pillow. “Are you crazy? Of course not. I don’t want to steal his and Vale’s limelight.”
Giorgio grabbed the pillow out of my hands and threw it to the floor. “It makes sense. Everyone is already flying down.”
I frowned at him. “So we do it because of efficiency? How romantic.”
Giorgio paled. “That came out badly. It’s not what I meant.”
My frown softened. He’s treated me like a queen since we almost broke up, and I can see in his eyes that he loathes upsetting me. “Don’t worry about it. But no, I think we should wait. I want Vale and Dem to have their special day.”
He did have a point, though. Everyone was coming down…
“What if we space it out by a few days?” Giorgio offered, his tone carefully neutral.
“You mean like we get married a few days apart?”
“Yes. A weeklong celebration. It would give us time to rest in between.”
I brought my nail to my mouth. “That actually sounds…kind of fun.”
“You’d be able to plan everything with Vale.”
“I already told Dem I’d help with the planning,” I said, running through the idea in my head. “I mean, I wouldn’t mind, but I’m not sure Vale and Dem would be fine with it. Weddings are a big deal. They’re individual. Special.”
Giorgio folded his arm beneath his head. “Why don’t you mind it then?”
“Because Dem and Vale are my closest family. Sharing the celebration with them would be special in its own way.”
Giorgio smiled. “Why don’t you ask them? See what they say?”
So I did.
