Fragile Longing

When Dad and I stopped in front of Danilo, my heart was pounding. I hoped my nerves didn’t show on my face. Danilo pulled a small parcel from his pocket and met Dad’s gaze. “I’m asking for your daughter’s hand in marriage. Will you entrust her to me?”

It was the official phrasing. Your daughter’s hand. It was probably the same thing he’d said when he got engaged to my sister. He didn’t even have to change any words.

“I do,” Dad said. He and Danilo looked at me, then Dad released me.

Danilo extended his hand, palm upward. I put my hand in his and met his gaze, wishing I could read his mind. Danilo startled me when he lightly stroked his thumb over the back of my hand before he slid the engagement ring on my finger. He didn’t try to kiss me, even though I wished he would. It would have been highly inappropriate. He did, however, tug me to his side and very lightly rested his palm on my back, a sign that I was his and we’d soon belong together. Being so close to him felt good despite how angry I’d been with him. I waited for Danilo to remark on my haircut, but he remained the poised gentleman to keep up appearances.

After we’d accepted the congratulations of the other guests and they swarmed around the buffet, Danilo turned to me. “You kept the blonde.”

“I did,” I said. “I like it, but I decided on a new haircut so I wouldn’t look like a bad replica of anyone.” A hint of cattiness rang in my voice, surprising me and obviously Danilo.

His eyebrows twitched, but he simply nodded. “That’s your decision, of course. I, however, prefer you with long, brown hair.”

How could he keep up this polite act when he was obviously pissed? “You don’t deal well with change, I get that. But don’t worry, I like my brown hair better as well. I’ll change the color when I feel like it.”

His eyes narrowed. “You’re young. I might have frightened you yesterday, which is why I’m going to pretend that you didn’t act like a petulant, rude child just now, but I expect more from you.”

I blinked at him in astonishment. Maybe I had acted a tad childish, but his condescension definitely didn’t make me want to meet his expectations.

As if the matter was settled for him, his gaze moved to Samuel who gave a terse nod. I felt Danilo becoming tenser.

Dad cleared his throat, then tapped his knife against his wine glass. “We have another announcement to make. Danilo, would you?”

Danilo dropped his hand from my back and took a step forward. Confused, I raised my eyebrows at Anna, who just shrugged. Usually she got the hot news first and passed it on to me, but this time even she seemed to be clueless.

“It is with great honor that I’d like to announce that our families, the Miones and the Mancinis will further our bond. Samuel will marry my sister Emma the same summer as my wedding to Sofia takes place.”

Surprise shot through me. Samuel smiled tightly and headed over to Emma. Samuel gave them another one of his tight-lipped smiles before he put a hand on Emma’s shoulder. She was smiling brightly but it wasn’t honest. I knew because I’d learned the art of fake smiling from an early age. I didn’t understand why she wasn’t happy about marrying my brother. Samuel could be a bit of a moron, especially when emotions were concerned, but he was a good guy.

“A clever deal,” a low female voice muttered spitefully, but I couldn’t detect its source. Frowning, I turned to Danilo. He had a murderous glint in his eyes.

Now that I paid closer attention, I noticed that quite a few guests were whispering conspiratorially, thinking nobody would notice because many others were congratulating Emma and Samuel.

“The poor girl is so lucky.”

“What about him? He needs an heir.”

Danilo pressed his hand against my back, firmer than before, his eyes thunderous as he led me toward his sister and Samuel. I understood his anger. From the whispers, everyone considered Emma lucky to have landed a match like Samuel, or any man really. They made it sound as if she were less because she was in a wheelchair.

I gave her a bright smile and leaned down to hug her. “I’m so happy for you two.”

“Thank you,” she said politely then pulled back a few inches to look into my eyes. “I’m sorry our announcement hijacked your special day.”

I laughed. “I didn’t even think about that. Don’t worry. I don’t mind.”

In fact, I was relieved the announcement had cut through the argument between Danilo and me.

I turned to Samuel and wrapped my arms around him.

I grinned. “You’ll finally settle down. Congrats.”

His expression loosened slightly. “I never thought I’d marry the same summer as you, ladybug.”