Born in Blood Collection Volume 1 - Cora Reilly Page 0,26

my body. The touch was light and not uncomfortable, and yet it terrified me.

Luca’s eyes were intent as they watched my face. His fingers brushed the garter on my right thigh and he pushed my gown up for everyone to see, revealing the entire length of my leg. I gripped the hem and he put his arms behind his back, then he bent over my thigh, his lips brushing the skin under the garter. I sucked in a deep breath but tried to keep my face in happy-bride mode. Luca closed his teeth around the edge of the garter and pulled it down my leg until it landed in a heap at my white high heels. I raised my foot so Luca could pick the piece of lace up. He straightened and presented the garter to the applauding crowd. I forced a smile and clapped as well. The only person who wasn’t smiling was Gianna.

“Bachelors,” Luca called in his deep voice. “Gather around. Maybe you’ll be the lucky one to marry next!”

Even the youngest boys stepped forward, Fabiano among them. He was scowling. Mother had probably forced him to participate. I winked at him and he poked out his tongue. I couldn’t help but laugh, the first genuine gesture I’d managed during the wedding feast.

Luca’s eyes darted toward me, a strange expression on his face. I quickly looked away. Luca raised his arm, the garter in his fist, before he thrust it into the cluster of waiting men.

Matteo snatched it out of the air with an impressive lunge. “Any willing Outfit ladies out there that want to further the bond between our families?” he boomed, wiggling his eyebrows.

Cheering and laughter sounded from many married and unmarried women. Of course, Lily was among them, jumping up and down with a bright smile. Everything was a game for her. I didn’t want Matteo’s eyes on her, I didn’t even want her name in his mind when he thought of marriage. As was tradition, he had to pick an unmarried woman to dance with.

Luca stepped close to me, his arm sneaking around my waist in casual possessiveness. I flinched at the unexpected contact and Luca’s body became rigid.

Matteo extended his hand toward Lily, who looked close to exploding from excitement over being chosen. My chest tightened. I knew it was a joke right now. Nobody took a fourteen-year-old girl seriously.

As Luca and I waltzed over the dance floor, I kept an eye on Lily and Matteo. His hand was high on her back, his expression teasing. He didn’t look like a man who’d set his eyes on his future wife.

“If my brother married your sister, you’d have family in New York,” Luca said.

“I won’t let him have Lily.” The words were fierce. How could I be tough when it came to protecting my sister, but not when it was about me?

“It’s not Lily he wants.”

My eyes flew to Gianna, who stood with her arms wrapped around her chest, eyes like a hawk as they followed us. Father wouldn’t give away another of his daughters to New York. If he wanted to strengthen the position of our family in the Chicago Outfit, he needed to make sure he had enough family around him.

After the waltz was over, a faster beat began and the dance floor was once again flooded with guests. Luca started dancing with my mother, and I used the moment to slip away. I needed a few moments to myself or I’d lose it. I lifted my gown off the ground and hurried to the edge of the garden where the grass met the bay before I walked down the few steps to the dock, where a yacht was lying in wait. To my right a long beach stretched out. The ocean was black under the night sky, and the breeze tugged at my dress and ripped strands from my updo. I stepped out of my high heels and jumped off the dock, my feet landing in the cool sand. Closing my eyes, I listened to the sound of the waves. The wooden boards creaked, and I tensed before glancing over my shoulder and spotting Gianna. She shook off her own shoes and joined me on the beach, wrapping an arm around me.

“Tomorrow you’ll leave for New York and I’ll head back to Chicago,” she whispered.

I swallowed hard. “I’m scared.”

“Of tonight?”

“Yes,” I admitted. “Of tonight and every night that follows. Of being alone with Luca in a city I don’t know, surrounded