As he steps toward me, Zane eyes me up and down, indulging upon the entirety of my outfit and then sniggers. "You know a twisted bitch shouldn't wear white."
I don't snap; just enjoy his comment as my gaze falls down myself. The dress, while form fitting, has an attractive heart-shaped neckline to it, and the bodice is covered in silver strip details leading into the white skirt. The two parts are broken by a delicate belt with an embellished middle. I giggle and look back at him.
"Positively innocent, right?"
We both laugh and he puts a hand out for me to take. As I do, I take the final step down and feel like there’s a new air around us. I can’t describe it and I know we’re not about to go back to trying to be a couple, to be madly in love, to consume one another, but it’s nice to be on a level grounding with Zane and not have to worry about the threat of our relationship caving in. I never thought a fight and an explosion would do it, but apparently, we just needed to learn to clear the air and trust in one another before we got too heavy.
He chuckles, almost bashfully, before looking back at me. “In all honesty, you look truly beautiful.”
I’m forced to look away at the sound of his compliment, and I feel like an impish schoolgirl, being told her crush fucking loves her, too. I’m twenty-four and blushing over a man. But he’s not just any man, is he? He’s the one person I can’t shut out, even when I try.
“So, you two seem more friendly than you were the other day when you were tearing into one another,” Carlo remarks as he closes in with Enzo not far behind him. “What was it that changed things? You taking on Roscoe or her blowing up a building and literally heating things up?”
“I didn’t mean for that,” I try to say, but I can see my brothers don’t believe me. “How was I to know that the gas canisters were full?” I ask, trying to refrain from grinning. “Okay, fine, I had a sneaky suspicion, but I’m so fed up with people trying to get one up on us. It’s time we really showed them what the Abbiatis are capable of.”
“Oh, you’re doing that,” Enzo scoffs, and I take note of how disappointed he sounds. “Apparently, Papà’s worst decision was keeping you a secret weapon,” Enzo comments. I hear a tight element to his tone that tells me that he does not like my recent behavior. “People are enjoying how fierce you are.”
“But you’re not,” I muse back, my tone becoming solemn.
“No, I’m not,” he agrees quickly. “I don’t like the girl that’s come back from Amalfi Coast, but I love her no less. I just want you to be a bit more precautious, Lia.”
“I’ll try,” I tell him, giving a small smile. “Now, can we get the evening over with, please?”
“C’mon,” Carlo motions to the door, but as we go to leave, I’m stopped.
Enzo grabs me by the elbow, forcibly stopping me from leaving with the motion. I turn to look up at him and he releases me, but I can see he’s really trying to understand mine and Zane’s haphazard relationship.
“I don’t know what’s occurring between the two of you, but please, do not start blowing hot and cold. There is enough drama in this house to last a lifetime; I can’t tolerate the melodrama of Amelia and Zane.”
“She still won’t have me,” Zane teases, forcing himself to play the wounded man. “All you’ve got to be aware of is that I’m a daring bastard, but she already knows that.”
He gives me a wink, and I feel remembrance bare itself to me. “Let’s go,” I say, unable to forget that day when I told him that I’d be bad for him. There may be issues, but his fight to be here is always stronger on every turn.
We all file out of the house, and I feel Zane close behind me, as we’re the final two. The air becomes electric, and I want nothing but to stop, turn, and just cause the sparks to fly more, but as I hear my father demand he go in the front car, I remember where we are.
My father swoops into the first car. Following by Giovanni and Enzo, he tells us he’ll go with them and take Lorenzo with him. The rest of us pour into the second car, and I find myself between Manuel and Zane. I’d rather be in this car than have to deal with Lorenzo and Zane close. Since I pushed him away, Lorenzo has been bitter toward me, in a way I never even thought possible. I’ve seen Enzo get irritated with his rudeness and sudden overuse of Italian in the house as if to almost alienate Zane at meals time. He’s also started to become blossoming buddies with Giovanni and that scares me to no end.
"So, this party?" Zane begins but quickly trails off while we drive out of the grounds to the house in the hopes that someone else will continue the conversation. When that doesn’t occur, he continues, "What's it for exactly?"