I am. Mostly.
Leo holds Emma like she’s the most sacred thing in the world, one hand on her back, the other resting protectively on her swollen belly where my niece is currently making her presence known with what looks like some impressive kicks.
Emma’s laughing at something Leo just said, her head thrown back, her face glowing with happiness and pure, unfiltered joy.
They look disgustingly in love. And it’s the kind of in love that makes everyone around them either swoon or feel sick with envy.
Leo’s smiling and it’s not the cold smirk he usually wears in public. His eyes are soft as he looks at Emma, tracking every expression that crosses her face like he’s memorizing them.
His thumb strokes across her belly and Emma places her hand over his, both of them sharing this private moment in the middle of the reception.
I toss the rest of my champagne back and put my glass down on a nearby table.
Their love is nauseating.
It’s also beautiful and everything I’ve ever wanted and never thought my brother would have.
Eight months ago, Leo was a cold, ruthless bastard who cared about nothing except revenge and the family business.
Now he’s dancing with the woman he kidnapped, who somehow fell in love with him anyway, who’s carrying his child, who just became hiswife.
Pigs are truly flying.
Emma’s made him human again, something I never thought would happen after Gabriel’s death.
I pegged it themomentI met Emma when I came over uninvited.
He looked at her like she hung the goddamn moon and stars.
And he had the gall to deny how he felt about her too.
A smirk plays at my lips at the memory of his horrified face when I outright told him that he had a thing for Emma.
I love being right.
But Emma is good for him and watching them together—watching Leo be happy and in love and building this perfect little family—makes my own life feel hollow and empty.
It feels like I’m standing on the outside looking in at something I’ll never have.
At twenty-six, I’m still hopelessly single and living in my mother’s house.
I wince and wish I had something stronger.
I’m still under my family’s fucking thumb, playing the role of dutiful Santoro princess, attending functions I hate, and making small talk with men who see me as either a potential alliance or a conquest.
I’m still waiting for something to change, but nothing changes when you’re the second child in the Santoro family.
I pluck another champagne flute from a passing waiter and study the bubbling liquid.
God, I hate getting champagne drunk, but it seems like it’s going to be the only way to get through the rest of this evening.
Mamma will berelentlessin her pursuit for a groom for me.
She’s married off her most prickly child, so now her attentions will now be on me.
Fuck my life.
The song ends and Leo leans down to kiss Emma’s forehead, murmuring something that makes her laugh again.