Sweet Pain (Amatucci Family #3) - Sadie Jacks Page 0,130
had ever happened to me. If I didn’t hate the bastard with a fiery passion in my soul, I’d probably thank Ethan Errington. But that was beyond my ability.
Escorting the sexiest woman back to the party, we ran into Jessa and Nico and Nik and Turo as they came in. I glanced at my watch. Raised my brows at Nico.
He rolled his eyes. “Women.”
Willow snorted. “Men,” she said it with the exact same inflection.
Jessa and Nik laughed. “You’d think it was our fault, but he had to change his tux twice so it would be the ‘same undertone’ as Jessa’s dress,” Nik said. She made air quotes around the appropriate words.
Turo nodded. “It’s disgusting. He has more clothes than most women.”
Nico stuck his nose in the air. “Can I get a drink now, please?”
I looked over the people I’d claimed as my family. Jessa and Nico were a striking couple. I couldn’t say I understood what the hell it meant about the undertones, but they looked like the complementary sections of a single band of color.
Nik and Turo were just as stunning, but in a different way. I couldn’t even put my finger on the differences, but they were subtle and startling all at the same time. After our shared dinner the other night, I hoped they’d worked some stuff out. By their stiff postures, I was going to assume that was a worthless hope.
Willow’s face bloomed with a smile. “Yes. I could practically see her nonexistent heart shrivel in disgust.” She patted a hand to her chest. “It was beautiful.” She flicked away an invisible tear.
I laughed. “And Cupcake here threatened one of my previous flings.” I patted my chest. “It was beautiful.” I flicked away an invisible tear.
We all laughed as the women high-fived each other.
“Well,” Jessa turned her arm, looked at her diamond encrusted watch. “We’ve got about twenty minutes until the big announcement. I want to go in there and find a good spot.” She smiled at me and Willow, dragged Nico into the ballroom.
Nik looked Willow up and down. “It’s official. I have to buy one of those dresses for me.”
“Hell no, you’re not,” Turo bit out almost before Nik’s sentence was finished.
She turned, looked up at the oldest Amatucci brother. She raised a brow. “And how do you intend to stop me, Mr. Amatucci?” She pushed into his personal space. Tugged on his tie before she spun on her heel and walked into the ballroom.
Turo looked at me. At Willow. “I think she’s trying to kill me.”
Willow laughed. “I have a feeling that if you wanted to get her in bed, she’d be amenable to that.”
Turo glared at his adopted sister. “Not helpful, Will.” He leaned forward, kissed her cheek. “You look distressingly good. Go rip their hearts out, sorella.” With that he walked into the ballroom after his date.
“What’s his deal?” I asked as we watched Turo walk away.
She shook her head. “I have no idea. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him hesitate with a woman. But he’s keeping Nik close. And he’s not touching her. I have no idea what his problem is.” She hooked her hand through my elbow. “Let’s go mingle, fiancé.”
“Lead the way, Future Mrs. Penn.” I gave her a slight bow.
**
The mind numbing chatter of the self-absorbed was exactly why I didn’t go to functions like this. I could only talk about fiscal year end totals so many times before I became murderous. Over and above my design to take most of these dipshits down tonight, I really just wanted to escape the inanity of an entire room of people focused only on money and success. They reminded me too much of my father to ever be comfortable in their midst.
I knew we were close to the countdown when Willow started to practically vibrate beside me. Her answers turned into grunts and ‘mhms’ that made no sense whatsoever. But I was okay that she offended people. Hell, I was a little jealous that she got to offend them.
The band finally stopped playing. Everyone turned to the dais where the MC was stepping up to the microphone. I pulled Willow into my body.
“This is it.” I pressed my lips to her hair.
She nodded. “Let’s head up there.”
I followed her as she threaded through the throngs of monsters. She held her head high. No shame or guilt clung to her under their judging glances. She’d risen far above all