Love Arranged (Lakefront Billionaires, #3)(79)

Despite not being a morning person, she took the time to pull off an intricate-looking braided hairstyle, making herself look like a princess with her cheerful sundress and high heels with butterflies on the straps. Her shoes are beyond impractical for the amount of walking we’ll have to do, but they’ll force her to rely on me for stability as we walk across the grassy parking lot, so I won’t be complaining.

On the contrary, I’ll buy a pair in every color to encourage such behavior.

She glares. “What are you doing here?”

“I thought I could start making amends with your mom by joining you both at Mass.”

“She’s not coming today.”

“Why not?”

“She’d rather rest. If she feels better, she’ll still go to lunch.”

Shit. “But you’re still going?”

She nods.

“Then let’s go before we’re late.”

She looks like she wants to argue, but she clamps her lips shut and locks up the door instead.

When she teeters on the stairs, I’m quick to wrap my arms around her so she doesn’t fall over. “Those heels will be the death of me.”

“Good idea. I’ll be dreaming of stabbing you with them all morning.” She pulls back with a smile.

“Now I don’t feel bad for thinking about them wrapped around my waist later.”

Maybe I do like when Lily stops talking, but only when I’m the one making her speechless.

I open the door and help her into the passenger seat. Before she can reach for her seat belt, I grab it.

She huffs to herself. “I can do that.”

“No one said you couldn’t, but I like taking care of you.”

She averts her gaze. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Make me think this is real.” Her voice drops, and I feel guilty for being responsible for that doubt.

“What if I want it to be?” I ask, surprised by my own outburst. “Or what if it has been real between us for a while but I was too stubborn to accept it?”

“That’s a lot of what-ifs.”

“I only care about one.” I snap her seat belt in place before kissing her temple.

“What if we gave this a try?”





CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX


Lorenzo


The universe is playing a cosmic joke on me because as soon as we make it to my car after Mass, Richard Ludlow is exiting his only a few spaces away.

I’m not sure why he is attending church when he’s going to end up in hell, but I suppose the same can be said for me. Appearances are everything in this town, so we both play our parts, although I do wish his exterior matched his ugly personality.

He doesn’t have to pass by my car on his way to the church, but he chooses to do so anyway so he can stop and say, “I hear congratulations are in order.”

Lily and I stare at him.

He quickly dismisses me and focuses on Lily. “I’m surprised how quickly your relationship has progressed since you were sleeping with me not too long ago.” He pauses, his gaze flickering over to my face.

Lily’s eyes widen and her mouth opens, but I rope an arm around her and speak before she can.

“Were you expecting me to have some sort of reaction?” I ask, amused by the vein pulsing in Richard’s cheek.

His brows pull together, forming a confused crease between them. “You know?”

“Did I ruin your surprise just now? Do you want a redo so you can have your big moment?”

He gapes like a dying fish. “You really don’t care?”

“It’s my ring on her finger, so why should I?”

“Fuck, man. I wouldn’t be caught dead with a woman who fucked someone else to get back at me. I don’t care how great she is in bed.”

Lily sucks in a sharp breath, and I see red. She teeters on her heels from how quickly I release her and storm over to Richard.

He shrinks into himself as I get closer, only to flinch when I yank on his lapels and force him to stand as tall as his five-foot-nine frame allows.

My hand curls into a tight fist by my side, but I resist the call for bloodlust, choosing to fight with my words.

“Listen here, Dick,” I whisper, so low Lily can’t hear me. “Talk about Lily like that again— Scratch that. If you so much as look or speak to her—even to say please or thank you—I’ll reach out to those connections your family loves to gossip about.”

“W-what?” The word is broken up by his stammer.

I grin. “You know how the saying goes: Every lie has a little bit of truth to it.”

“Are you…threatening to send the mafia after me?”

I pick a piece of invisible lint off his shoulder. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

He exhales slowly, right before I rip his false sense of security away.

“I’m promising to, should you so much as take a breath within a hundred feet of my future wife again.”

All the color drains from his face.

I exert an admirable amount of self-control as I step away from him and head back to Lily, who is staring at us with brows that reach toward her hairline.

Richard storms off toward the church. Once he is no longer in our direct line of sight, Lily slumps against the passenger door.