Chapter Eighteen
The sun was dipping over the horizon the second time Gio and Julia approached the large glass mansion. This time Gio didn’t hesitate. Holding Julia’s hand, he walked straight across the lawn, up the stairs, and through the large glass doors. An older man crossed to meet them as soon as they entered.
“Gio, it’s good to see you again.”
Gio didn’t return the compliment. He merely nodded and said, “Julia, this is my uncle, Alessandro.”
His uncle smiled warmly and winked at her. “The Andrades have always had good taste in women.” He looked over his shoulder and waved for his wife to join them. “My own wife is as beautiful today as she was the day I met her. Elise, come meet Gio’s date. Imagine the babies these two would make.”
Elise rushed forward and swatted at her husband. “Don’t mind him. Ever since Maddy gave us a grandchild he has baby on the brain.” She gave Julia a kiss of welcome on both cheeks.
Looking playfully affronted, Alessandro covered his wounded heart with one hand. “Theirs would not be any baby. With my brother gone, Gio is like a son to me. His children would be my grandchildren as much as mine are.”
Julia felt Gio tense beside her and she quickly intervened. “I noticed there is quite a large group here already. Are they all staying in the main house?”
Alessandro looked puzzled by her question, then answered, “Oh, yes, there are plenty of rooms. Or were you asking about the mansion? We didn’t open it for this event. It’s empty anyway. I don’t know if the generator would work after all this time. I’d have to ask Dominic if anyone has maintained it since he’s owned it. Honestly, I don’t have the heart to go see it. Perhaps after Stephan renovates it I will feel differently. It will be nice to have it back in the family.”
Gio’s hand tightened painfully on Julia’s arm. Julia glanced up and cringed at the burning fury she saw in his eyes. Alessandro saw it, too, and a line of concern formed on his forehead.
Elise’s light tone revealed that she had missed the building tension. “I looked for both of you when your brothers arrived, but they said you went for a walk. I can understand wanting to after such a long flight. We’re so happy to have you here. Come, let me introduce you to some of your cousins who were not able to make it to New York this summer.”
Julia whispered as they walked. “You’re hurting my arm, Gio.”
He looked down and instantly released her. “Sorry. I wasn’t aware . . .”
She took his hand in hers and gave it a supportive squeeze. “I know.” His features were set in harsh lines.
As she and Gio followed Alessandro, Julia felt like she’d stepped into a movie. The men were handsomely attired in tuxedos that screamed of money and power. The women were dressed in floor-length gowns and dripping with diamonds. Julia fingered the prototype necklace she’d worn. The metal was copper instead of gold. The stones were faux.
Did I really think I could network here? Which one of these women would spare a second look at my costume jewelry when they’re wearing enough diamonds to buy and sell a small country?
Julia recognized Nicole from across the room. She was exquisitely dressed in a flowing powder-blue Prada gown and looked perfectly at home amidst the somewhat gaudy display of wealth. After Rena’s informative crash course in the wedding guests, Julia understood why. Nicole had been raised in this world, and her brother was one of the top ten wealthiest men in the world.
Nicole caught Julia watching her and said something to the tall blond man beside her. The man, who had to be Stephan Andrade, looked up and nodded to his fiancée, and they both started walking across the large foyer toward them.
Alessandro hugged Nicole to his side and turned to introduce her to Julia. “Nicole, have you met Gio’s girlfriend?”
If possible, Nicole’s smile grew wider at the label. She leaned in and kissed Julia’s cheeks in greeting. “Yes, I have. Welcome, Julia. I’m so pleased you could make it.”
Stephan shook Gio’s hand. “Thank you for coming.”
“You can thank Madison. She was . . . persuasive,” Gio said with some irony.
Stephan laughed. “That’s being kind. Maddy is too used to getting her way. She means well, though. And it’s impossible for any of us to stay upset with her, so I suppose it’s our fault she has boundary issues.” More seriously, he added, “Whatever brought you, it means a lot to me that you came. Nothing is more important than family.”
Alessandro smacked Gio on the shoulder. “It’s good to have all of us together again.”
Gio made a sound deep in his chest, and Julia tugged on his hand. He looked down at her, and she did her best to send him a telepathic message. Behave. They love you. Julia turned her attention to Nicole and said, “You must be out-of-your-mind excited. What a beautiful location for a wedding. I saw tents going up on the far lawn. Is that where the ceremony will be?”
Nicole said, “That’s where the reception will be. For the ceremony, we’re doing something outside.” She smiled dreamily up at her fiancé. “There is a hill about halfway between this house and the old Andrade mansion. At the very top of it, you can see both clearly. There isn’t room for chairs at the top, but the symbolism of two families coming together through our union is worth having everyone stand for the short time we’ll be there.” She looked across at Julia shyly. “That probably sounds corny.”
Julia shook her head. “Not at all. It’s a beautiful idea.”
Innocently, Nicole said, “You and Gio should take a walk over tomorrow and see the old house. It’s lovely.”
“It really is,” Julia agreed spontaneously, then blushed. I did not mean to say that.
Stephan looked at Gio curiously. “You went over to see the old place? I didn’t realize you had any interest in it.”
Face tight, Gio said, “It was part of my childhood as much as yours.”
Stephan nodded slowly, then glanced at his uncle with a curious expression. Alessandro shook his head tersely in a move that clearly meant, Drop the subject.
Nicole gave the room a quick scan. “I have to tell Maddy you’re here, Julia. I wonder where she went.”
“She knows,” Julia said, then covered her traitorous mouth with one hand. Thank God I’m not a spy. I’d fail miserably at it.
Nicole’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Really? She didn’t say anything. That little stinker. Usually she tells me everything.”
Hopefully not everything. Julia bit her lip beneath her hand.
“There’s Abby,” Nicole exclaimed with excitement and waved her over.
A beautiful brunette walked over with a tall dark-haired man. The crowd parted for them in a way they hadn’t even for the bride- and groom-to-be. Abby and Dominic Corisi: the new American royal family. Even Julia found them easy to recognize. Their whirlwind romance and wedding had been highly publicized, and their new daughter was on the cover of every gossip magazine at the grocery store. The billionaire, and the middle-school teacher who had won his heart. What was not to love about their story?
Starstruck, Julia watched the beautiful couple and sighed audibly.
Dominic greeted Gio with a handshake. “Good to see you again.”
Abby shook Gio’s hand warmly, then looked from Julia to Nicole.
A mischievous smile spread across Nicole’s face as she pointed at Julia. “This is Julia. She came with Gio.”
Abby’s face brightened with unexpected recognition. “The Julia?”
Gio tensed beside Julia. “Excuse me?”
Dominic hugged his wife to his side and said with some humor, “You don’t want to know.”
Suddenly not looking very happy, Gio looked down at Julia suspiciously.
Abby noticed and blushed. “Wow, I have been hanging out with my sister too much.”
Stephan looked back and forth between the two. “Is this about the bet?”
Nicole glared up at him and said, “No.” He looked about to say something else, but Nicole quickly said, “Don’t ruin it.”
Alessandro let out a hearty laugh. “Gio, now that you’re back you’ll have to get used to the women plotting against us. Don’t worry about it. It’s always harmless. And if you ask Maddy, she’ll tell you everything. She’s the weak link.”
Nicole whispered something to Abby.
Julia joked to Alessandro, “That may change after those two talk to her.”
The older man bent his tall frame and gave Julia the saddest puppy-dog expression she’d ever seen on a grown man. “Could you resist your father if he looked at you like this?” Alessandro turned his head more to the side, focused his eyes on the floor then, slowly raised them to meet Julia’s, silently pleading.
Julia burst out laughing. “You’ve got me. I would tell you everything.”
Straightening and puffing with pride, Alessandro rewarded Julia with a pleased smile. “It’s all in the eyes.”
Nicole chastised him playfully. “Uncle Alessandro. You’re shameless.”
He shrugged, clearly not bothered by her teasing. He waved to someone across the room and said, “If you’ll all excuse me. I was going to introduce Gio and Julia around, but it looks like that’s not necessary.” Before he walked away he said, “It is good to have you here, Gio.”
A woman came by and motioned for Nicole to follow her. Nicole said, “The photographer would like to take pictures of the wedding party now.” She smiled at Julia. “We’ll talk later.”
Stephan nodded to Gio and followed Nicole into one of the side rooms. Abby and Dominic excused themselves and did the same.
Gio took Julia by the arm and guided her in the opposite direction. “I didn’t realize I had brought the Julia to the wedding. Do you know what they meant?”
Not one to lie, Julia answered honestly. “Not entirely. I think the women are hoping that you’ll settle down, get married, and become close to this side of the family again.”
“What does that have to do with you?”
Julia took a deep breath. I’m sure he didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Still, let’s see if this takes some wind out of his sail. “They seem to think the right woman can bring a man back from even the darkest place.”
Instead of countering her comment or brushing it off, Gio mulled it for a moment before saying, “And what do you think?”
Mouth dry, Julia said, “I suppose it depends on the man and if he wants to come back.”
He pulled her into a secluded corner, his eyes dark with emotion. “People don’t change.”
Julia put a hand on his chest, just above his heart. “What a sad world it would be if that were true.”
He kissed her forehead. “You are one amazing woman, Julia. I wish . . .”
She covered his mouth with her hand. “Sometimes less is more. I am happy with amazing.”
* * *
As Gio guided Julia through the party, it was easy to forget why he’d come. A constant stream of family members came over to greet them. Many of them he’d lost touch with. Some he was meeting for the first time. Although his father was one of three sons, the generation before theirs had been larger. First, second, third generation—the level of separation wasn’t mentioned. About half the people in the room called themselves his cousin.
Random children he didn’t recognize ran up and down the stairs in what appeared to be an organized game of hide-and-seek. Some parents gave chase; some gave up.
After the formal speeches of thanks by Nicole and Stephan, Victor Andrade stood at the top of a wide stairway with a microphone in his hand. The crowd quieted again.
“There is no greater gift than to be able to share the end of my son’s bachelorhood with all of our friends and family. We welcome Nicole into our family and look forward to the little ones they will bring to us. For now, let’s enjoy the ones we have.” He beckoned to someone off to one side. His blonde wife stepped forward, leading several men carrying large white polished boards. “Katrine saw this in a magazine and fell in love with the idea.”
The crowd watched as the workers quickly transformed one side of the stairway into a wide slide with a thick white pad at the bottom of it. One of the men handed Victor and his wife what looked like a white, velvet mattress with handles sewn into the top. They sat side by side at the top of the stairs. Victor said, “After the children have their fill, I hope you will try this for yourselves. Life is too short not to fill it with as much love and laughter as you can squeeze into it.”
They pushed off from the top, and the crowd cheered as they flew down the slide and came to a gentle stop on the padded bottom. Laughing, Victor stood, then offered a hand to his wife and helped her up. She fixed her hair with one hand and beamed a smile at the surrounding crowd.
A herd of children charged up the other stairway and formed a line.
This was what his mother had always loathed about her husband’s family. He remembered as a child being told to sit instead of join in. A Stanfield would never laugh as loudly they did. A Stanfield always remembered the importance of the family’s reputation.
She’d done her best to keep his brothers and him separate from what she considered vulgar behavior. Yes, he had visited the island many times, but he’d never stayed overnight. Every visit had felt like a betrayal to his mother, who said they had never accepted her as one of them.
Nor, she’d warned, would they ever accept her sons.
He’d believed her.
He’d believed everything. He hated that he was no longer sure he should have.
Gio felt his gut twist with guilt. His brothers were off to one side of the room, included but still separate. Despite their earlier acceptance of the invitation to come, he knew they also had mixed feelings. Their mother stood between them and exuberance as surely as if she were there chastising them for being tempted to join in.
At his side, Julia pulled on his hand and asked, “Do you want to try it?”
He shook his head, not knowing what she was referring to.
“The slide,” she clarified and looked at it with longing. “Have you ever seen anything so incredible?”
His answer stuck in his throat as he took in her unfiltered excitement. “No,” he answered honestly. His heart beat double-time in his chest. Julia didn’t cling to everything she’d ever done wrong and let it hold her back. She was more alive in that moment than he’d ever allowed himself to be, and it made him want to experience the wedding through her eyes.
A teasing grin lit her face as she said, “I dare you to do it with me.”
“I don’t accept dares,” he said decisively.
“You should,” she went up on her tiptoes and whispered in his ear. “They can be fun.”
Her voice sent shivers of pleasure down his spine and he was instantly, painfully hard. “There are many things I want to do with you. Trying out that slide is not one of them.”
“I suppose that officially makes me more daring than you,” Julia said with a yawn.
He frowned down at her. “Really?”
She studied her nails. “Sure. I flew off to a foreign country with you. That’s brave. You are afraid to look foolish in front of your own family. Not so brave.”
He took her by the arm, half amused, half insulted by her assessment of him. “Well, we can’t have that, can we?”
She hopped with excitement beside him. They’d almost made it to the stairs when his three brothers intercepted them.
Max blocked their way. “Hang on. Are you actually going up there?”
Nick raised a doubtful eyebrow. “Planning to dismantle it?”
Gio stepped around his brothers and continued to guide Julia toward the stairs.
Max asked, “Has he lost his mind?”
“No,” Luke said, “his heart.”
Gio stumbled as his brother’s words slammed into him.
A quick glance down at Julia made Gio groan.
She smiled up at him. A big, happy smile revealed she’d heard Luke.
He should tell her Luke was wrong. He was not falling in love with her.
But he’d never liked to lie.