Cocking his head to the side, Luke asked, “Rena did that for you? Interesting.”
Julia held the stack of cards to her chest for a moment. “She thinks I might be able to make a connection at the wedding.”
Nick looked at Max and shrugged. “Okay, I’ll bite. A connection for what?”
Julia instinctively brought a hand to her necklace, and she flashed a brave smile at Gio’s three brothers. “I moved to New York to try to sell my jewelry designs. So far, nothing, but I’m not giving up. I’m hoping to find an investor.”
Nick nodded toward Gio. “I’d say you’ve already met one.”
Julia winked at Gio and said, “No, I’m just with him for the sex.”
Max choked on the sip of coffee he’d just taken. Nick’s mouth fell open, and Luke shook his head.
Gio’s eyes flew to Julia’s in surprise.
Julia burst into laughter. “You should see your faces. No wonder you fight so much. You’re all way too serious.” She composed herself, folded her hands in mock contriteness, and said with just a trace of humor, “Even my dad would have laughed at that joke.”
Gio looked down at Julia, half coughed, then chuckled.
Julia’s eyes were brimming with laughter, threatening to erupt again. She waved her hands in a plea for him to stop. “Don’t laugh, Gio, because I shouldn’t when I’m still trying to make a good impression.”
“You have,” Max said and joined in their laughter. “I didn’t think anything could shock Nick, but I believe he’s speechless.”
Nick said, “I’m just trying to figure out how Gio ended up with a woman who is actually fun.”
Julia smiled. “I may have scrambled his brains the first time I met him. I hit him with that lamp pretty hard.”
Luke said, “I believe it was physicist Joseph Henry who said, Great discoveries only take root in minds well prepared to receive them. He needed some scrambling.”
“Funny, Luke,” Gio said gruffly, raising a hand to his temple as he remembered that blow. “It could have killed me.”
Conversation was halted while the attendant set trays of food on a table between them. Once by themselves again, Max said, “I want to know why you hit him with a lamp.”
Julia blushed. “I thought he was breaking into Rena’s desk . . .” As she retold the story, Gio noticed his brothers were genuinely interested, and relaxing for the first time since they’d entered the plane. Julia had a gift when it came to breaking down barriers. As they joked together, Gio was reminded of how he and his brothers had interacted when they were younger. Julia had given him a glimpse of the past, and he wasn’t sure what to do with the way it made him feel.
The next two hours flew by. Conversation flowed easily, and Julia kept the mood light by periodically reading a new index card to the group. They took turns using the small bedroom in the back of the plane as a dressing room, slowly transforming from casual to party-ready.
When Julia returned to the main part of the plane dressed in a floor-length navy gown, Gio couldn’t take his eyes off her. She’d styled her hair in a loose bun that made a man want to reach out and release those barely contained curls. The dress fit her snuggly and emphasized her curves so deliciously that had they been alone she wouldn’t have kept it on for long.
She caught him looking at her, and the smile she gave him knocked what was left of his sanity out of him. In that instant, he didn’t care about anything but having her again. By the way a blush spread up her cheeks, he knew she’d guessed his thoughts.
The pilot’s voice interrupted and requested everyone fasten their seat belts for the final approach to Isola Santos.
Gio tensed instinctively as he was slammed back into reality. He looked out the side window and caught his first glimpse of the island. The enormous glass-and-chrome building Dominic Corisi had built still dominated a good fourth of the island. The sight of it made him angrier than he’d expected it to.
Julia was also looking out the window. She turned and asked, “That’s the island? Wow, that is quite a compound. Did your family build that?”
“No,” Gio said, hearing the disgust in his own voice. He leaned over her, and as the plane circled before landing, he pointed to a much smaller, stone mansion on the other side of the island. “That’s the Andrade mansion.”
Luke looked out the window beside him. “It’s been in the family for hundreds of years.”
Julia innocently continued on with a painful line of questioning. “So, what is the large glass compound? Are they leasing land to a university or something?”
Max looked at Gio cautiously. “Uncle Victor sold the island when he hit financial difficulties. The new owner built that glass shrine to himself.”
“Mother offered to buy the island, but Dominic Corisi outbid us,” Gio said bitterly.
“Your mother?” Julia asked, then looked as if she regretted saying it out loud.
“Surprised that we have one?”
“No,” Julia said, wide-eyed. “Of course you have a mother. I’m sure she’s very nice, too. She couldn’t make it today?”
Max was the first to answer. “She never got along with our uncles. She came from old money and our father came from . . . let’s just say . . . less-refined stock.”
Nick defended his father’s family. “The Andrades had money. Perhaps not at the Stanfield level, but enough that they summered on their private island each year. And this generation has more than made up for whatever they didn’t have before.”
Julia interjected, “So, we’re not talking about the completely unacceptable type who would have to work year round. Thank God.”
All four brothers turned to look at her. Julia merely raised her eyebrows and waited. Luke laughed and turned to Gio. “I do believe your girlfriend is just what this family needs.”
Julia gave them each a cheeky smile that removed the sting from her words. “Just calling it like I see it.”
Gio watched his brothers melt before her charm. I keep telling myself what Julia and I have is nothing more than a physical attraction. She doesn’t belong here. But what if I’m wrong?
His stomach twisted painfully at the thought.
Blissfully unaware, Julia looked out the window again and said, “So, the new owner is letting your cousin get married on your old island. That’s nice.”
Max shook his head. “Stephan is marrying the sister of the man who bought the island. Corisi intends to return the island to Stephan as a wedding present. So, it looks like it’s back in the family.”
“Not our family,” Gio said harshly. He regretted voicing those words as soon as they were out. In a heartbeat his brothers’ expressions closed, and tension once again crackled in the air. Julia reached out and took his hand in hers.