“So, this is what a little money can do,” I joked. Catching Lady Eveline’s attention in the reflection, I bowed my head in gratitude. “Thank you so much for your help.”
“You’re more than welcome, my dear. There’s just one more thing to do,” she said.
“What’s that?”
With a wide fanged grin, she responded, “Now, we have to teach you how to curtsy.”
When Enzo had said the word “patio,” I pictured a small backyard with maybe a few tiki torches for lighting. The outdoor space Luke escorted me onto was the size of a football field. It took up one whole side of the castle and extended onto a balcony that overlooked the hillside. Tall cast-iron torches blazed to cast a soft glow into the evening sky.
A fresh breeze blew across me, and I shivered, but not because I was cold. I surveyed the entire scene, taking in the many people milling about who appeared far more comfortable in this setting than I felt.
Luke pulled me closer to him. “Would you like my coat?”
I shook my head, determined to maintain the facade that Lady Eveline had so carefully constructed.
“You look amazing tonight,” he growled into my ear, sending a different kind of shiver down my body.
“Thank you,” I replied, gazing back at him without having to look up. The height equality gave me a new appreciation for my sky-high stilettos.
He nuzzled into my neck. “Almost good enough to eat,” he whispered, running his teeth against my sensitive skin.
Raising my shoulder to cut off his access, I squeezed his arm. “I don’t think this is the appropriate place for such an open display of affection,” I scolded in a low voice, noticing several eyes watching us.
He emitted a dramatic sigh. “I suppose you’re right, but I’d have far more fun taking you back to my room and—”
“Luca!” an elegant woman shrieked from across a long distance. She tittered his name several times and flitted over to us, her heels barely touching the ground.
Luke groaned. “Brace yourself,” he muttered.
The stranger approached clapping her hands, her eyes trained on my fiancé. She grasped his arm, yanking him out of my hold, and tugged him closer to her. Pressing her impressive breasts against his chest, she stood on tiptoe and kissed him on both cheeks more than once. She assaulted both our ears with high-pitched Italian spoken so fast, I doubted whether or not she could be understood.
After a few failed attempts to pull away, Luke gripped her wrists to pull her claws out of him and push the annoying woman away from him with a little force.
She pouted a little, an expression I knew she had perfected since childhood. Scolding in more Italian, she spoke loud enough to create a scene.
Luke wrapped his arm around my waist. “In English, please, Amara,” he insisted. “So that my guest can understand.”
Her eyes blazed with ice, but she forced herself to gaze at me for the first time. “Mi dispiace. I am sorry you find me so rude.”
I clenched my hand behind Luke’s back into a fist at her backhanded apology that placed the blame on me rather than herself.
“Oh, it’s all right.” I threw my head back, feeling the borrowed diamond chandelier earrings brush against my skin. “I just don’t want Luke to have to translate all night for me. I’m sure he has better things to do.”
Amara’s eyes inspected every inch of me. Finding nothing to complain about, her little mouth quirked into a half grin. “Your dress is lovely. I am sure I admired it when I went shopping before. It is one of last year’s collections, is it not?” She batted her eyelashes at me as if she hadn’t just hurled a disgusting insult at me.
Cassio approached behind her, shaking his head and rolling his eyes in a dramatic fashion so Luke and I could see him. He clicked his tongue in disapproval. “Amara, tonight is for frivolities and to welcome Luke back home. To insult his guest is to cause an affront to the family itself.”
The petite woman’s lip jutted out even more. “I was complimenting her dress.”
“Is that what you were doing?” Cassio challenged, raising one eyebrow. “Then let me add my personal compliments. Ruby Mae, I find you most ravishing tonight.” He bowed his head in respect, a gesture he had not offered to Amara.
Luke gazed at me, his eyes burning with lust. “My sentiments exactly.”
A little huff came out of Amara’s mouth. “Yes, well.” She failed to hide her disdain for me, sneering. “I hope you enjoy your stay here.” Turning on her heels, she found someone else to pay her some attention.
Cassio grimaced. “I wish I could say you won’t have to deal with her much, but unfortunately, I heard from a very reliable source that your parents have invited her to stay.”
Luke cursed under his breath. “For how long?”
His friend shrugged. “I didn’t hear the rest of the conversation. But since she holds favor with your mother, I would assume for the entire time you are here.”
“Perfect,” I exclaimed, knowing what Cassio was too polite to say. “They’re trying to set you up with a more suitable prospect.”
Luke let go of me and maneuvered to my other side, grabbing my left hand in his. “Then we will have to convince them that they are barking at the wrong bush.”
I gazed at him in puzzlement. “Are you trying to say barking up the wrong tree?”
He snapped his fingers. “Yes, that.”
“Although if the dog is Slobby Bobby, it would be more like drooling all over the roots of the tree,” I joked, needing the moment of levity to steady my jangled nerves.
A server with a tray of glasses passed by, and Cassio stopped them. He passed two crystal goblets full of dark red liquid to Luke and me and took one for himself.
Holding up the glass, Luke’s friend proposed a toast. “Here’s to survival.”
“And to love conquering all,” my fiancé added, clinking his glass
