Page 46 of Lucian

“You do have to get up, sweetheart. I wasn’t lying about that.”

Jordyn frowned. “Why?”

“Because according to my mother, missing three Sundays of Mass is unacceptable and you are not staying in this apartment alone without me until I know you’re safe.”

Great.

Chapter Eleven

“You look lovely, dear,” Cecelia Marcello said, leaning in to kiss Jordyn’s cheek. “Much better than a few days ago.”

Jordyn smiled tentatively. Cecelia was such a sweet woman, and if Jordyn learned anything about her in their few meetings, it was that she didn’t say things she didn’t mean. The woman was blunt to an almost painful point when she wanted to be.

Even so, Jordyn felt out of place standing on the steps of a church she hadn’t thought she would ever come back to. There were people milling around them, but they gave the family a wide berth of space. Evidently, they also couldn’t stop staring, especially at Jordyn and the man touching her. Lucian’s hand was splayed wide to the small of her back, giving her some form of support, but he was turned away, talking to his brother Dante in hushed whispers she couldn’t decipher.

“I try,” Jordyn replied. “Lucian certainly helped.”

Cecelia winked. “I’m pleased the dress fit. I went by the sizes you gave, but I wasn’t sure. It looks fantastic.”

The knee-length, caramel toned dress with sleeves that stopped at her elbows hid the vast majority of her injuries and bruises. With her curls down loose, framing her face and hanging around her shoulders, they hid what marks were on her neck, and the small discoloration and cut on her jaw. A bit of concealer helped, too.

Cecelia fixed one of Jordyn’s stray curls almost instinctually, like a mother would. “You’re coming to dinner at our home tonight with Lucian, right?”

“I don’t know.” Jordyn turned to Lucian, gaining his attention immediately. “Are we going to dinner?”

“Sì,” Lucian said. “I have to show face, as usual.”

“You make it sound like a chore,” his mother muttered.

“With Kate there, it is, Mamma.”

“My sister will be on her best behavior, I promise.”

Knowing Kate was Lucian’s biological father’s wife, Jordyn sympathized with his sudden disgust.

Lucian looked like he’d taken a bite from something rotten. “I’m sure. Where’s Dad?”

For the first time since they’d arrived, Cecelia looked uncomfortable. “He’s inside with Gio, waiting.”

Lucian frowned. “Why?”

Dante cleared his throat and shoved his hands in his pockets. Still, he smiled down at Jordyn when she looked at him.

“Give him time, Lucian. You worry him. He’s dealing with a lot. There are a lot of things he has to consider.”

Lucian stared at his mother with narrowing eyes. “There’s nothing to consider. I’ve already made my choices. He doesn’t get an opinion in this situation.”

“You know that’s not true,” Dante muttered.

“I know it damned well is,” Lucian retorted. “Unlike yours, my romantic life is not under his scrutiny. It doesn’t affect the future of the family.”

“Lucian. Dante. That’s enough,” Cecelia chided. “Stop it.”

Neither brother seemed to hear their mother.

“Doesn’t it?” Dante asked. “I understand where you’re coming from, man, but you have to play by the rules. That means letting Dad work out his kinks about this.”

“Like you do?”