Vengeful Matrimony | ✔️

Chapter 64

GISELLE

"What are you up to?" Nicholas asked, peeking at my phone over my shoulder. The bags under his eyes were slowly disappearing, and he looked energized after the nap we took on the plane.

We'd gotten off the plane less than thirty minutes ago, and we were on our way to his villa. First, we were going to stop to get some pizza because we were going to be the first to arrive.

Yup. The idiot didn't mention that we weren't just seeing a few family members. We were meeting his entire maternal family, including his grandmother. One I didn't know existed until ten minutes ago.

I shot him a nasty glare. "Learning some basic Italian."

"Why?"

"Because I'm meeting your family!" I released an exasperated sigh. Wasn't it obvious?

"So?"

"So, I need to impress them."

"Why would you need to impress them? You're not married to them, are you?"

"They're your family, idiota."

His eyes twinkled with amusement. "Would you look at that? Suddenly, you're fluent."

God, help me. I was going to kill this man and spend the rest of my life in an Italian prison.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Are you mocking me?"

"I would never," he said with a smirk pulling at his lips. "Don't lose sleep over trivial shit like that. I'm most certain my cousins do not speak fluent Italian. Grandma wouldn't mind. The only reason I even understand and speak the language is because Jacopo hired a tutor for me, remember?"

I sighed, dropping his tablet on my lap; I still didn't have a phone after mine shattered. Nicholas hadn't gotten to replacing it, but then again, we left for the airport in a rush. I didn't even pack a bag because Raquel and Sara had already done that.

"I want them to like me," I admitted. "It's bad enough that your father's side of the family doesn't like me. I extended an olive branch to Maria at the funeral, but she wouldn't even look at me when I tried to talk to her. I don't need a 2.0 of that."

"They're not like that. Do you think I'd cut off work to fly across countries to see them if they were assholes? Rocco and Daniella live less than ninety minutes away from me, but I still turn down dinner invitations."

"It's different. You hate them because they didn't protect your mother while you were gone."

"Aunt Edwina is nothing like them. She's... pure." I noticed the way his tone softened when he mentioned his aunt. That meant he liked them. Good sign.

"Just like my mom was. And while she might have given birth to some assholes with a God complex, they're... nice. Well, as nice as Ambrose could ever be." He mumbled the last part under his breath, a fond smile on his lips. "Grandma doesn't give a fuck if you can't speak Italian or cook. She likes to dote on us, so she'll be glad she can do the same for you. Aunt Edwina also doesn't give a shit. Ambrose, Alessa, and Zephyr are laid back. Zephyr is the only one who can find his way around a kitchen. There's nothing for you to be worried about."

If he was smiling this much when he talked about his maternal family, they couldn't be that bad, right? I released my anxiety with the breath I was holding.

"Okay. We'll see how this goes, even though you could have told me I wasn't just meeting a few family members"

"In my defense, I didn't say if it was everyone or just a few of them. You automatically assumed that. Besides, if they don't like you, I'll kick them all out of the villa, and we can have the space all to ourselves."