Meeting someone’s parents shouldn’t have been so nerve-racking, but I couldn’t relax all day. Damon left my apartment midmorning with Benny in tow to handle some sort of incident one of his construction crews ran into. I stayed busy around my apartment as much as I could, but I stopped after I’d cleaned every room twice within an hour because of all of my pent-up nervous energy.

Though I wasn’t sure I could focus, I broke down and took my laptop out of my bag. If Damon had to work most of the day, at least I’d have time to try to sort out the account that was tangled worse than cooked spaghetti noodles. I’d always loved solving puzzles, finding the missing piece that made everything else fall into place. Instead of focusing on my aggravation with the poor management of the fund, I focused on how satisfying it would feel to finish that assignment once and for all.

With every piece of paper from my files strewn across the table, I concentrated on matching all the numbers—deposits, withdrawals, interest accrued—until every cent was ticked and tied. Two names kept reappearing throughout the years of financial records, but I couldn’t find any record of those names anywhere in the union’s employee files. A sickening feeling settled deep in my gut, knowing the discrepancy wasn’t an accidental omission. The transfers were too consistent and intentionally random, while still occurring late in the quarter. Without question, I had discovered a case of embezzlement.

The question was who was behind it, but that wasn’t a question I was prepared to research. I was afraid to pry too much into the discrepancies—that was a job for the FBI, not me. Whoever was behind the elaborate scheme was obviously a professional and not someone I wanted to cross. The longer I stayed off the radar, the safer I was. By the time the bank fraud investigators collected all the evidence and made their move, I’d be long moved on to another assignment.

Hours passed as I tracked every discrepancy I found and reconciled the accounts as best I could, minus the embezzled funds. I listed every transfer date, name, and dollar amount I suspected was stolen in a separate document and saved both documents to my flash drive before putting it away. Since embezzlement was always an inside job, and I had no idea who to trust and who not to, I decided to take the information directly to the FBI. Anyone at Blaine Financial Services could be behind it.

The reminder I’d set on my phone chimed, alerting me it was time to dress for the Marchetti family dinner. And just like that, the dread from discovering the financial inaccuracies didn’t compare to the terror gripping my chest from thinking about meeting Damon’s mother. A hot shower later, I stood naked in my walk-in closet, staring at my clothes with no idea of what would be appropriate to wear.

“If that’s what you’re wearing today, we won’t make it far past your bedroom door.” The smooth, sexy voice startled me, but warmth flooded me the second I saw Damon.

“Help. I have no idea what to expect from your family get-together.”

The corner of his lip lifted slightly in amusement before he moved behind me, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed my neck. “Relax, doll. You’ll look beautiful no matter what you wear.” He selected a navy blue wrap dress with white splotches and held it up in front of us. “I like this one.”

“Decision made. Blue dress and brown summer sandals it is.”

His big hands roamed across my skin, making it difficult to focus on getting dressed. His groan echoed the frustration I felt inside. “If you don’t walk away from me right now, we’ll be late, and I’ll have to tell my mom it was because you distracted me.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“I most certainly would. I’m not taking the rap for being late. She’ll forgive you, but I’d never hear the end of it.” His hand drifted lower, reaching the apex of my mound.

I swatted his hand away and stepped out of his hold, his dark chuckle filling the small space. With my eyes narrowed, I turned toward him and glared. “I can’t believe you’d blame me for it.”

I’d seen his sexy smile, his playful smile, and his mischievous smile. But he unhinged me with his sweet smile. He was no less dominant, no less powerful, but the air around us turned more intimate. That little voice in my head said this was much more than a passing fling, for me, at least.

“I can’t even begin to tell you how refreshing being with you is. You’re unlike anyone else I’ve ever known in my life.”

Then he said that…and I knew I was a goner. I was hooked—without warning, without a second thought, and without a doubt. “Maybe then you won’t forget me when I’m gone.”

His smile faded, but his eyebrow arched slowly. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“This is a temporary assignment. When I’m finished here, my employer will send me to the next place. It could be in our corporate office in New Orleans, or it could be somewhere else onsite like this one is. I won’t know until I get the next assignment. But I’m still here for a while longer yet.”

“I don’t know that I’ll let you leave, Jillian. You’re already ruining me for any other woman. Maybe I’ll just keep you here with me long after your assignment is finished.”

His romantic declaration sounded a lot like a challenge…or maybe even a warning. I wasn’t sure which he meant it as, though it could’ve been both. We didn’t have a normal beginning as a couple—meet, date, increasing intimacy, then meet the parents. We seemed to have begun in the middle of a relationship and hit the ground running without a glance backward. But being with him felt so natural, so right, I couldn’t question my blooming feelings.

“You’d get tired of me. Then what would I do?” I attempted to dismiss the heavy thoughts weighing in my mind with a little levity. “But for now, I have to get ready to meet not only your mother, but your entire extended family. No big deal…no pressure. Right?”

“Exactly.” His demeanor was casual, but I felt his energy flowing out of him in waves. Power, intensity, authority—he possessed it all in spades. “No pressure at all.”

An hour later, we arrived at his parents’ palatial estate on the cliffs in Fort Lee, New Jersey. The enormous two-story European style home was big enough to hold my home in Abita Springs more than three times over. Add the professionally landscaped yard, Olympic-size pool, and tennis courts, and I felt completely out of my element.

Damon carefully watched my reaction when we pulled into the gated drive. One car after another lined the circular driveway in front of the house. His hand covered mine and squeezed, sharing his strength as best he could under the circumstances.

“Breathe, Jillian. You’ll be fine.”

I took his advice and inhaled a deep breath then slowly released it. “You grew up here?”

“Yes, my parents have lived here all my life.”

“It’s so beautiful. I can’t wait to see inside.”

“You’ll get the presidential tour, then.”

Benny pulled into one bay of the three-car garage and opened the back door for us to slide out. Once inside the house, the hand-carved moldings and coffered ceilings mixed with hardwood floors and dark wood accents forced an audible gasp from my mouth. “Oh, Damon, it’s magnificent.”

Loud voices filtered to us from what I assumed was the kitchen. What sounded to me like arguing in Italian didn’t seem to deter Damon. He put his hand on my lower back and guided me through the house, mentioning names of the voices we heard. Cousins, aunts, wives of family members…they all blended together to my ears. Then one stood out above the others—a female voice with ample authority in her short bursts of directives. Language was no barrier when it came to picking up on a mother’s voice doling out orders.

“That is my mother’s voice,” he muttered close to my ear. “Her name is Lina, and she’s going to love you.”

He stepped into the kitchen first, with me close on his heels. “Hi, Mama.”

There was a sliver of silence before the room erupted into a round of “hello” from everyone. I stepped around to his side, a nervous smile plastered to my face, and the woman at the center of the kitchen stopped in her tracks. Her assessing gaze skimmed over me from head to toe then back up again. She held my attention without saying a word.

When her face brightened with a smile, I relaxed a little. She walked to me, held my arms, and kissed me on each cheek. “Bellissima regazza,” she began. “You are the prettiest girl!”

With her arm around me, we walked into the enormous formal dining room together. “Finally! My Damon brings a girl home to meet me. Isn’t she beautiful?”

I glanced over at Damon, hoping he’d come to my rescue as a room packed with strange faces stared at me with smiles of admiration. The experience was more than daunting for me, but Damon’s cool veneer never cracked. He crossed his arms loosely over his chest and smiled along with his family. If I looked too hard, I’d swear that was a look of pride covering his face.

Before she handed me off to the family, she turned to me and said, “You can call me Mama Lina, yes? This is not disrespectful to your mother. It’s a custom in the village where Vincenzo and I grew up.”

Before she rushed back to the kitchen, she stopped to speak to Damon. I strained my ears to accidentally overhear what was said.

“She’s your match, Damon. I see it in her eyes. She loves you, but she also has a strong spirit. Take good care of her.”

Damon didn’t answer her audibly, but from the corner of my eye, I saw him slightly incline his head. Before I could react to her words, Aunt Maria grabbed me into a big hug and escorted me around the massive table. Name after name was thrown at me, along with how he or she was related to Damon. How would I ever remember every name?

Many of the women were still in the kitchen, helping Mama Lina, so I ventured back there to ask if I could help with anything. I knew Damon had said she wouldn’t let me, but I wasn’t raised to sit idly by when there was work to be done. When I stepped into the kitchen, I heard Lina speaking English to another woman slightly older than me.

“Carrie, take this dish to the table for me.”

“Of course, Mama.” Carrie smiled at me as she passed with the dish hot from the oven.

“Can I help with anything?”

Lina shook her head. “No, bella. You’re a guest in my home, so today you relax and enjoy. Can I get you anything?”

“No, ma’am, I’m fine. Thank you, though. My mom always taught me to help when someone cooked for me. It’s considered rude where I’m from not to even offer to help.”

She nodded, giving me an understanding look, and affectionately patted my cheek. “When your mom comes to visit me, I will explain. And I will tell her what a good girl she raised. She should be very proud.”

I fought back tears from her kind words. My mom was all I had left of my family. If we’d had a huge family like the Marchettis, I couldn’t help but think our lives would be much easier. “Thank you, Mama Lina. That’s very sweet of you to say. My mom will be thrilled when I tell her about this.”

She shooed me back to the table to eat appetizers and get to know the family. When I stepped back into the dining room, Vincenzo walked in from the door at the other end of the table. His eyes landed on me first, and a pleased smile covered his face. “Jillian, cara. I’m so glad you could join us today.”

He opened his arms wide as he approached me, so I stood and walked directly into his embrace as if I belonged there. When his arms wrapped around me, I felt the familial bond that held the entire room together. I’d missed my dad so much in the two years he’d been gone, and I felt him in Vincenzo’s hug. The familiar sense of a father who loved his family more than anything in the world surrounded me when I closed my eyes and pictured my dad. The hug was brief, just long enough to evoke enough memories of my father I was sure would revisit my dreams later that night. Vincenzo’s big hands moved to my shoulders when he kissed me on both cheeks.

“Don’t be shy here, cara. There’s plenty of food to go around.” He motioned toward my seat at the table and helped me with the chair. “Watch out for Uncle Leo, though. He tries to hide the garlic bread from everyone.”

“I heard that, Vin. We both know Lina makes it all for me,” Leo grumbled without looking up, then the two men laughed at the same time. They were obviously close and used to ribbing each other.

After several minutes of chatting with what felt like hundreds of Marchetti family members around the table, Damon took his seat beside me and casually put his arm over the back of my chair. He watched as I piled my plate full of food until I met his gaze with a challenging one of my own. “Why are you staring at me?”

“A couple of reasons. You’re so beautiful I can’t stand to look away from you. You’re also unlike any woman I’ve ever met. Fifteen minutes with my family and you’re already one of them. I’ve taken dates to expensive restaurants and they’d barely touch their food, but you’re not shy about eating at all. I love how you enjoy it.”

“Your dates didn’t eat food you bought them?” My drawn brows showed my disapproval. “That was rude of them. It’d also be rude not to eat after your mom spent so much time making all this food. And it’d be a sin to let it go to waste—every morsel on this table is incredible!”

Strong but feminine hands grasped my cheeks from out of nowhere. “I heard what you said, bellissima regazza. Thank you. You just made an old woman’s day!”

Lina scurried away as quickly as she’d appeared, leaving me dumbfounded. “What does bellissima regazza mean?”

“It means beautiful girl,” Damon replied with a smile. “And cara means dear. My parents are quite taken with you.”

“The feeling is mutual.”