“Oh, my God! It’s beautiful!” I exclaim softly.
“I don’t know much about jewelry. Your mom said it’s two carats.”
He takes it out of the box, lifts my hand to his lips, and then slides the wedding set onto my finger.
My hand starts to shake as I hold it up to the light. The round diamond sparkles, the small diamonds all around it glistening. It’s an exquisite piece.
“Thank you!” I squeal, raining kisses all across his chest. “I will never take it off.”
***
“Well, good morning,” I say, blinking in shock at the group standing outside my front door.
Salvatore, my parents, Manny, and Lola all step inside the apartment. I thought this meeting would be between Salvatore and myself. I presumed wrong.
My mother wastes no time at all grabbing my hand and staring down at the ring on my finger.
“It’s right where it belongs,” she murmurs, running her finger over the diamond and then placing her hand on my cheek.
“It’s exquisite. Thank you, Mom.”
“You’re welcome, honey,” she says, pulling me in for a tight hug.
“We hope you love your accommodations,” Lola says as we all take a seat in the living room.
“Love?” I question. “I’m more than in love. Thank you for letting us stay here.”
“Nonsense,” she says with a flick of her hand. “I can’t remember the last time I even stayed here, it’s been that long. It’s yours for as long as you like.”
“Thank you,” Cain and I say at the same time.
“Let’s get down to business, shall we?” Salvatore suggests before turning to me.
“Calla, I’m delighted the two of you decided to move here. It makes what I’m about to ask you a lot easier.”
“The answer is yes,” I say boldly. “I would be honored to work for you. That is, if I’m accepted to NYU.”
He regards me for a moment. They all do. I feel like I’m being dissected by several pairs of eyes. I sit up straight, my shoulders firmly back.
“What?” I finally ask, unable to stand the silence anymore.
“You’re a very bright and observant young woman,” says Lola.
I glance over at her and she looks happy. Her smile is infectious. Her dark hair is pulled up on top of her head. The silver streaks splattered throughout shine from the steady streams of light coming in from all of the windows.
“Thank you,” I say graciously. “However, I’m not feeling very observant at the moment. Something tells me you all know something I don’t.”
“Ah. That’s where you’re wrong, Calla,” says Salvatore, eyeing me shrewdly. “You see, this observance of yours, the way you can read people... it’s a gift. The moment I saw the way you handled that slimeball Monty, I knew you were the right person for this job. You’re loyal and trustworthy. After the challenges of the past month, you have shown yourself to be courageous, independent, and unafraid to speak your mind. This, my dear, makes you a very powerful woman.”
Now that I look at everything that has happened in the past month, he’s right. I’ve taken my husband back after six years. Absorbed the news about my father being a cold-blooded killer and that my mother is also an ex-killer and the sister to Salvatore Diamond. Discovered that Manny, or should I call him Roan now, is my cousin.
I still cannot believe after all this time that his real name is Roan. A man who followed my every move for the past several years. Internally, I laugh at that one. If I was that observant, I would have picked up on the fact I had someone following me most of the time. Either that, or he’s very good. The latter sounds much better.
“By answering yes before I asked also goes to show you trust me. You trust all of us in this family to do right by you. That is why I’m here to tell you, your intuition is correct. We do want you on board with my counsel team. Although, you will not be working for me.”