Chapter Twenty
"Are you sure I look okay?" Olivia asked, running her hands down her crisp linen slacks, trying to smooth the wrinkles from the car ride over. They were standing at the entry of Nico's parents' house waiting for someone to answer the door. If possible, the house was even bigger than Nico's and sat on God knows how many acres. And if that weren't intimidating enough, she had a feeling she was underdressed.
Nico hadn't given her much warning they were coming to his parents' house for dinner. He'd spent most of the day locked in his office and hadn't detonated that bomb until an hour before they needed to leave, explaining he hadn't wanted her worrying all day about something she didn't need to worry over. But she'd done enough stressing in that last hour to make up for all she'd missed.
Of course, she was having a bad hair day. The humidity index must have been high because the more she'd tried to blow her hair straight, the bigger it had grown, frizzing instead of becoming the smooth, sleek style she'd been aiming for. She'd been forced to wear it up, which was a challenge to make look elegant as she didn't have the practice, usually throwing her long locks into a ponytail or messy bun.
Her hair disaster had left her with hardly any time left to finish getting ready. Scrambling through her closet, she'd grabbed what she thought would look classy—summer-weight linen pants and a short sleeved black silk blouse—but now as she stared down at herself, she looked more a rumpled mess. Not the best first impression.
"You look beautiful as always. Now, stop fidgeting." Nico took her hand, entwining their fingers and giving them a light squeeze. "Relax, my parents will love you."
He may think that, but Olivia knew where she came from and was sure Nico's parents knew, as well. She was not who they would choose for their only son.
The door was suddenly thrown open. A woman about Olivia's age stood in the entrance, a big smile beaming. "Nico!" She threw herself at him.
He had to take a step back—taking Olivia's arm with him— and brace to deflect the impact. His free arm came up and wrapped around her back in a hug. "It's good to see you, polpetta."
Stepping back, the other woman scrunched her nose. "I hate when you call me that."
Nico chuckled. "I know." He placed his arm around Olivia's shoulders and pulled her close. "This little meatball is my sister, Gabriella. Gabriella, my wife, Olivia."
With a squeal, Gabriella threw herself at Olivia, and if Nico hadn't been holding her up, they both would have crashed to the ground. Gabriella pulled away, a grin still adorning her face. "I'm so excited to meet you. I've always wanted a sister." She turned, giving Nico a sheepish look. "No offense."
Nico dipped his chin. "None taken."
"It's nice to meet you, too, Gabriella." Olivia smiled at Nico's sister a little flustered by so much attention.
"You must call me Gabby." She hooked her arm with Olivia's and pulled her into the house. "Nico's the only one who calls me Gabriella—when he's not calling me polpetta." She did the little nose crinkle thing again, and Olivia couldn't help but giggle.
"I know the feeling. He refuses to call me Livvy."
"Well don't you worry. I'll call you Livvy, and we can start calling Nico..." she leaned around Olivia to sneer at her brother, "Nicoló," she said, emphasizing each syllable.
Olivia was laughing, not paying attention to her surroundings until she heard a, "What the fuck?" from Nico. She looked up to discover her worst nightmare. A room full of who she presumed were Nico's family as they all shared a resemblance.
"Language, Nico," a petite dark-haired woman said, making her way to them.
He leaned in, kissing her cheek. "Mamma." Then said in a quiet but deadly voice, "What are all these people doing here?"
"Come now, you know how the family is. Once news got out that you'd gotten married, well, obviously, everyone wanted to meet her."
"And what? Did you accidentally spread the word I was bringing Olivia here for dinner tonight?"
Olivia felt herself melt against Nico, glad he hadn't set her up for an ambush. He gave her shoulder another squeeze that she hoped was sign language for, don't worry, baby, we're getting the hell out of here.
Her fantasy was shattered when Nico's mom tutted—yes, tutted—at her son then turned to her and said, "You must be Olivia. I'm Nico's mother, Dona. Come let me introduce you to everyone."
She was never going to remember everyone's name. And after the fifth or sixth introduction, even the faces started blending together. Thankfully, Nico stayed by her side, and she even had Gabby at her back for moral support. And by the time she reached Nico's dad, boy did she need it.
Intimidating was not a strong enough word to express Olivia's first encounter with Vincenzo Conti. An older version of Nico, it was not hard to tell they were father and son from both looks and mannerisms.
"So this is the newest member of the family. Come and let me get a look at you."
"Dad," Nico said in a warning tone.
Trying to defuse the situation, Olivia stepped up, hand extended. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Conti."
Vincenzo took her hand and brought it to his lips for a light kiss against her knuckles. "You did good, Nico. She's quite lovely." And then to Olivia, he said, "I can see why you caught my son's eye, just not sure why he needed to put a ring on your finger to keep it."
"Dad, that's enough. I won't have you disrespecting my wife." Nico's tone was low and held more than a hint of anger. So much for trying to defuse the situation. Olivia internally cringed, hating to be the cause for the two butting heads.
"Don't forget who you're talking to, son." Vincenzo's voice held the same hint of danger. Totally, like father, like son.
"Oh, I haven't forgotten, sir."
They had a thirty-second stare-off, which gained attention from the people nearby. Olivia wasn't sure who the victor would be until she saw a flash of something in Vincenzo's eyes. Pride, maybe? He turned back to Olivia and reclaimed her hand. "My apologies. Please forgive my rude behavior."
Olivia had a feeling something more meaningful had transpired between the two men than she had comprehended. "Of course."
Nico's dad bowed over her hand, raising it once more to his lips.
Dona chose that moment to interrupt. "Come now. Let's all go in and eat before it gets cold."
Nico draped an arm around Olivia's shoulders. "We best do as she says. We all know who the real boss is."
Olivia saw Nico's dad smile for the first time, and some of the tension eased from the room. "Truer words have never been spoken."
With so many people in attendance, Olivia wasn't expecting a sit-down meal. She sat, midway down the table, Nico on her left and his aunt, Teresa—the same Teresa she'd met at the dress shop—on her right. Across from them were Carlo and Claudia, Teresa's children and Nico's cousins. Gabby sat at Nico's left and kept leaning around him to talk to her, which made Nico scowl and Olivia laugh each time she did it.
"You know, if you traded seats with Livvy I wouldn't need to lean around you," Gabby said, taking a sip of her wine.
"And have you monopolize even more of her time? I don't think so."
"So how did you two meet?" Claudia asked from across the table.
Olivia paused with a forkful of pasta halfway to her mouth. She turned wide eyes to Nico then quickly continued with her bite, making it clear she wouldn't be answering the question.
Without missing a beat, Nico set his fork down, looked across the table at Claudia, and said, "We met at one of my clubs." He turned to look at Olivia, giving her a wink. "It was love at first sight."
Olivia swallowed her bite of spaghetti funny and started coughing. She reached for her napkin to cover her mouth while Nico patted her back, handing her a glass of water. She took a long drink before mumbling, "Thank you."
"That's so romantic." Claudia had a dreamy look on her face.
"I think it's rather plebeian." That came from the woman sitting next to Claudia.
Olivia racked her brain, trying to remember her name. She did remember she was the daughter of Vincenzo's best friend, so a longtime friend of the family. Olivia had also noticed her eyes on Nico for most of the evening.
Claudia frowned, turning to the woman beside her. "Why do you say that, Elena?"
Ah, Elena. That was her name. Olivia took another sip of her water before setting the glass down.
Nico leaned into her. "Better?"
She gave him a smile, but Elena drew her attention again when she spoke. "It just seems such an uncultured and vulgar place to meet someone."
Nico turned steely eyes across the table. "It's a club that I own. Are you saying I'm uncouth?"
Elena tried to backtrack. "No, not at all. I was just implying only a certain type of woman would frequent a club like that."
"And, again, I'll remind you, I own the club you keep insulting."
Elena winced when she realized she stuck her foot in her mouth again. Trying to recover she stressed, "I'm insulting the women who frequent those places, not the club itself."
Nico glared across the table then said in a deadly voice that left even Olivia squirming. "You do realize, in your ridiculous rambling, you've just insulted my wife."
Gabby mumbled, "Oh, shit."
Elena opened and closed her mouth a few times. "I... I..."
Nico didn't wait for her stuttering response. "Apologize immediately."
Olivia jumped in her seat. She'd never heard Nico raise his voice so loudly before. He was always so calm and cool, even when his eyes heated with anger.
Swallowing hard and not daring to break eye contact with Nico, Elena sputtered, "I... I apologize. I didn't mean to insult your wife."
"Not to me." He leaned farther across the table, his voice going low. "To Olivia."
Olivia had never been more uncomfortable in her life. Reaching out, she placed a hand on his forearm, whispering, "Please, let it go."
Cold eyes turned her direction, and she shivered suddenly knowing how Elena had felt under such a penetrating gaze. Instantly his look softened, his hand reached out to caress her cheek. "No, tesoro. I can't allow anyone to insult you and get away with it."
"It's okay, Nico. I honestly don't care." That wasn't entirely true, it did sting a little. Though she'd known going in what Nico's family would think of her—heck, even Nico's father had alluded to it—and undoubtedly think that he'd settled, but the deed had been done and there was nothing she could do to change her past.
"But I do." His head turned, locking eyes with Elena. "Don't make me wait much longer." The silence around the table was complete. Not even the clang of a fork broke the quiet. Nico's threat was implied, and Olivia hated to think what his "or else" would consist of.
Elena finally looked her direction. Olivia had heard the phrase "if looks could kill" but had never understood the true meaning until meeting Elena's eyes at that moment.
Elena tipped her head, insincerity coating her words. "Please accept my apologies. I didn't mean to offend."
Nico leaned back, draping a protective arm around the back of Olivia's chair. As petty as it was, she really wanted to tell Elena where she could shove her "fake apology" but graciously inclined her head instead, feeling pride for being the bigger person.
Show over, eating resumed soon followed by a table full of chatter.
After dinner, the ladies sat on one side of the room drinking coffee, while the men stood around on the other, liquor in hand. If everyone were dressed differently, it could be a scene out of a historical romance novel, Olivia thought, inwardly grinning.
Dona made a good effort, trying to include her in the women's conversation, but as they all had history and she didn't, she mostly kept quiet, listening to the many stories and gossip they shared.
Setting her coffee cup down, she excused herself, asking Dona to direct her to the restroom. Fortunately, there was one close, because in a house so large, one could easily get lost.
She finished quickly and was just leaving the bathroom when she ran into Elena, who was waiting for her in the hall. Dark hair, dark eyes, smoothly flawless tanned skin, she was certainly beautiful until she opened her mouth. Then she was very ugly, indeed.
"As much as you think you have your claws in Nico, your marriage won't last. He belongs to me, always has. Since the day I was born, our families planned for us to marry." Elena leaned in closer, her sinister whisper floating across the distance. "I'm Italian. He took my virginity. You do the math. I was willing to wait for Nico to come to his senses, sow his oats as they say, but now with you in the picture, don't think I won't shout loud and proud to our families. They will annul your marriage so fast, your head will spin. Don't get too comfy as Mrs. Conti."
She was gone in a blink, leaving a stunned Olivia alone in the hall.