Despite what Vivian thought, I'd scheduled my Europe trip before she
moved in. A majority of Russo Group brands were headquartered on the
continent, and I blocked off a month every year to hold in-person meetings
with the heads of our European subsidiaries.
This year's timing just happened to be extremely convenient.
However, I made sure to keep tabs on Luca and Vivian while I was
gone. I'd assigned Luca a sales role at one of our jewelry subsidiaries' retail
stores. He was a people person, and putting him in a back office somewhere
would only spell disaster for him and the store in question. According to the
store manager, he had a rough start-my brother had never been punctual-
but by the time I returned to New York, he seemed to have settled, albeit
begrudgingly, into his new role.
Vivian, on the other hand, had taken to her new surroundings like a
duck to water. Greta and Edward gushed about her in every report, and I
came home to find a new painting in the gallery, towels monogrammed with
D&V in the bathrooms, and fucking flowers everywhere.
"Dante, relax your expression," Winona said. "Give me a smile...that's
it! Perfect."
The camera shutter clicked in rapid succession.
Vivian and I had spent the morning taking engagement photos in
Central Park. It was as excruciating as I'd imagined, filled with fake smiles
and faker embraces as Winona guided us into poses designed to show off
how in "love" we were.
"Vivian, put your arms around his neck and move closer."
I stiffened when Vivian obliged and took a tentative step toward me.
"Closer. I can practically drive a tractor between you right now,"
Winona joked.
"Do as she says so we can get this over with," I ground out. The
sooner I put more distance between us, the better.
"You grow more charming every day." Vivian's voice was so sweet I
could've drizzled it over pancakes. "Europe truly did wonders for your
personality."
"Closer," Winona encouraged. If she picked up on our hostility, she
didn't acknowledge it. "One more step..."
Vivian's breasts grazed my chest when she closed the remaining gap
between us.
My muscles went rigid.
"Dante, put your arms around Vivian."
For fuck's sake.
Since I just wanted to get the torture over with, I set my jaw and
placed my hands on Vivian's hips. Heat seared through the silk of her dress,
and her damned apple scent crawled into my lungs again.
