“She is that.”
I catch Sylvia frowning, which reminds me that she’s with me.
“Um, sorry.” I wrap my arm around her shoulders. “You’ve met Sylvia, right?”
“We have. She very kindly showed us to the wedding marquee,” Gia offers.
Hunter looks between us, and I can see his confusion with my arm around Sylvia, as though I’m claiming her as mine.
“Ramon, do you have a minute?” Dante interrupts, and after the introductions, I move away with him.
“What’s wrong?” I question as soon as we’re out of earshot.
“I was walking past, and you looked uncomfortable. Plus, Noah was watching you and looked pissed…and,” he sighs, “my sister, Emelia, is…annoying.”
Chuckling, I tease, “Glad I only have brothers. All those guys after my sister would give me grey hair.” I shudder.
“That isn’t funny,” he mumbles under his breath. “She doesn’t date.”
“Hmm.” I stop and turn him to look at his sister who, at the moment, is helping herself to another glass of champagne. “She’s beautiful. There is no way that she doesn’t date.”
“She doesn’t—leave it.”
Taken back by the sharpness in his voice, I cast a surprised look in his direction. He runs his hands through his hair and winces.
“Sorry. She’s a sore spot with me right now. Let’s change the subject to you.”
“If we must.”
He smirks. “Oh, we must…Noah?” Raising a brow, he waits for me to expand, but what the hell do I say when it’s obvious that he’s figured everything out?
So the truth then?
“You guessed right.” I smile. “He’s Carla’s brother.”
“So you said when he was introduced.” His eyes are full of amusement.
“Bastard,” I mutter.
“Ramon, it’s me you’re talking to. Do you seriously think I’d give a damn?”
“You might be family, but you’re religious. I didn’t think the church approved.”
All of a sudden, Dante looks sick to his stomach. His complexion has paled and the pain I see in his eyes causes me to pause beside him.
I reach out and grab hold of his arm. “What’s wrong? And don’t fob me off.”
“As long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters at the end of the day.”
Dante recovers, but there’s something off with him. I may not have seen him that often over the years, but he’s acting strange.
“If you need to talk, I’m a good listener,” I offer.
With a wry smile, he responds, “I’m okay.” He glances toward his sister and frowns when he finds her in an animated conversation with one of the male servers. “Not everything is as it seems,” he adds. “I’ll see you later.”
Dante is going to annoy me until I get to the bottom of what’s going on with him. I hate that there is something wrong but don’t know exactly what. But it will have to wait.
Needing to talk to Noah takes precedence.
Noah
Watching Ramon heading toward me, my heart kicks up a notch. His dark hair is ruffled with the slight breeze and he’s probably been shoving his fingers through it. I’m so glad he’s letting it grow out again. But as he gets within five feet of me, his dad drags him away.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think his father was trying to keep us apart today. But I do know better and his father looks too stressed to even be thinking about his son’s relationship with me.
I just wish Elias had waited until I’d actually spoken to Ramon, or even exchanged a caress of our hands. Just something to tell me that Ramon really was here with me. I’m not a clingy guy, but with Ramon, I need his touch of reassurance while being amongst so many of his family and close family friends. If we weren’t so much up in the air with the trouble at the site, and with Ramon telling the rest of his family, I wouldn’t feel so damn insecure.
Shaking the dull thoughts from my head for now, I force a smile onto my face. The last thing I want is for Pippa to catch me frowning. She’ll be on me so quickly that it will take my breath away and she’ll want to know what Ramon’s done. I smile naturally at the thought. She blames him for every frown, smirk or smile that she’s ever seen on my face.
“Don’t you like weddings?”
I turn and hide my worry as a heavily pregnant Lily stands behind me.
“I love weddings…shouldn’t you be sitting down somewhere?”
“Oh, pooh. I’ve had enough sitting down to last me a lifetime.” She smiles fondly. “I love Michael completely, but he won’t let me up. I know he’s only thinking about me, but I need to stretch on occasion…So, do you want to tell me why you and Ramon have stayed apart all day?”
“You’ll have to ask Ramon that question.”
“Ah.” Lily moves closer and wraps her arm around mine. “Walk me toward the marquee.”