It was her cynicism that set her aside. That, and the way she watched over Alessandra as fiercely as a tigress with its cub.
“She adores you,” she told Tanner one evening when they ended up on the porch alone.
Instinct told him this was not the time for a clever answer.
“She does,” he said quietly. “And I adore her.”
Bianca nodded. “You’d better. Because if you ever do anything to break her heart, you’re a dead man, Akecheta.”
Tanner looked at her. “I’ll cherish her to my last breath,” he said. “And that’s a promise.”
Bianca nodded again. Then she rose on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I believe you,” she said, and he knew he had passed some kind of test.
And, of course, he fell hard for El Sueño. Long talks with Jake revealed some interesting practices his soon-to-be brother in law had put into play. The Flying Eagle Ranch would be a much smaller operation, but Tanner could do in South Dakota a lot of what Jake had done in Texas.
By Friday, the week he’d worried about had become a week he’d never forget.
“So,” Alessandra asked as she lay in his arms late that night, “what do you think about the Wildes?”
Tanner rose up on his elbow and looked down at the sweet face of his lover.
“I think I’m a lucky man,” he said softly, “to have the chance to become part of it all.”
She smiled. “You’re already part of it. They’re all crazy about you.”
He grinned, caught one of her curls and let it wind around his finger.
“Even Bianca?”
“Especially Bianca. We’ve always taken care of each other, you know?”
“Yeah.” Tanner bent his head and brushed his mouth over Alessandra’s. “Kind of like Chay and me.”
“Uh-huh.” Alessandra cupped her hand around the nape of his neck. “He’ll be here early tomorrow, right? I know he’s flying in from overseas.”
“Yes.” Tanner kissed her throat, nuzzled the comforter down to expose her breasts.” But right now, I don’t feel like talking about Chay. Or Bianca.”
Alessandra gave a little gasp as his lips closed around her nipple.
“No?”
“No,” he said, and then he moved above her, kissed her again and a heartbeat later, he was deep inside her and she was whispering his name and coming apart in his arms.
* * *
Their wedding day dawned bright and cloudless. It was the kind of perfect late fall day that only north Texas can produce.
At least, that was what the Texas Wildes all said.
The Sicily Wildes agreed the day was spectacular, but they insisted it was no more spectacular than a fall day in Sicily.
They argued back and forth with laughter and love, and then, all at once, it was time for the ceremony.
Luca, Matteo, Jake, Caleb and Travis gave the bride away. If the judge who performed the ceremony found that unusual, he didn’t say so.
Bianca, Emily, Jaimie and Lissa were the bride’s maids of honor. That was unusual, too, but this, after all, was an unusual family.
Chay was the groom’s best man.