Devoured - Cathryn Fox Page 0,57
is go for a coffee. Hard to believe I agreed to marry Roman, and he agreed to marry me, all before my first cup. I can only hope it’s strong. I catch the way Roman keeps watch over me as his sisters fuss and talk details.
“Yeah, sure,” I say when Emma suggests we exchange nuptials on the beach near the family villa. Questions about flowers, dresses and food get thrown at me, and my gaze seeks out Roman’s. He opens his mouth, no doubt to tell them to back off a bit, but I hold my hand up to stop him. His presence is solid, and I really like having him in my corner, but I’ve got this.
I’ve never had a big family, and I’ve never had sisters. This might not be real, and everyone is going to be devastated when Roman and I end this, but right now—even though my family comes from nothing, and they might disown me when they find out—I just want to bask in the love and warmth and exuberant energy they’re displaying. Can it really hurt for me to enjoy these ladies while I can and pretend that I’m family, too?
Yeah, I’m pretty sure it can, but I’m in too deep to pull the plug now.
“For flowers, I don’t want any of those local purple ones, they make me sneeze.” Roman relaxes and pushes back in his seat.
“No purple flowers,” Emma says, and we all laugh and dig in to our waffles.
“What about your family?” Maria asks. “Will they want to come for the nuptials?”
My heart jumps into my throat. What do I say, I’m a nobody with only one brother? I open my mouth and close it again, not sure what to tell them, when Roman pipes in.
“This one will be for my side of the family,” Roman says, and while I’m glad he jumped in to help, I also can’t resist thinking he might not want them to know who I really am. He’s a great guy, but he had a very different upbringing than me, and there are certain expectations placed on him, certain things he must live up to—marrying beneath his status is probably something that would be discouraged. Then again, I could just be projecting my fears. Maybe the only one worried about it is me. But to answer her question, no, my family won’t be coming. No need for Cason to be made aware of our wedding, when it’s not a real one.
I barely take my last bite when Lucy snatches up my plate. “Okay, let’s go,” she says, her dark eyes brimming with excitement.
I take in her little baby bump and my heart misses a beat. It would be so much fun to be a part of this family, watch that baby grow and be there to spoil it. “Go where?”
“We have one week to pull off a wedding,” she says.
“One week?” I blink numerous times and take in the bobbing heads. “Why one week?”
“We have duties to get back to,” Aurora says.
“Wait, where are your children and husbands?” I was so caught up in the excitement, I never stopped to consider they had lives to return to, children needing their mothers, husbands needing their wives.
“Our babies are with our husbands and nannies,” Maria says. “They’ll come next Saturday for the wedding.”
My gaze moves around the table and I plant one hand on my hip. “Why do I get the feeling this wedding was in progress before any of you arrived?”
Bianca gives me a sheepish look. So far she’s been the quietest in the bunch. “Probably because the second Anna reached out to Lucy, we were packing and making arrangements.”
“I didn’t stand a chance, did I?” I ask, and Roman mumbles something like, I told you so under his breath and all I can do is laugh.
“Okay, let’s go,” Lucy says.
The next thing I know I’m in the shops, and we’re picking out flowers and cake and food. With little time to find the perfect dress, I’ll have to pick one from the rack, but I don’t mind. I don’t want to spend a lot, although so far I haven’t spent anything. These women insist on purchasing everything, but I don’t want them to waste a lot of money on me. They just wave me off every time I try to protest.
They march me into a bridal shop and even without an appointment we’re made a priority. I suppose that’s how it is when you come from