The Unwanted Wife (Unwanted #1)(70)
“Happy birthday, my love.” A familiar pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist, and she was tugged back against a broad chest. Sandro dropped a kiss on her neck. She turned in his arms and stared up at him in bemusement.
“You did this?” she asked in disbelief. “But I thought you didn’t—”
“Cara,” he interrupted with infinite patience. “I’m not a stupid man, I wasn’t about to repeat my past mistakes. I love you and I wanted to show you how much.”
“How long have you been planning this?” she asked.
“God, since before my father died. The plans were put on hold until after I returned, and then with Lily’s birth they stalled a bit, but I wanted to do something special to make up for all the times your birthday was neglected or forgotten over the years.” She knew he meant by her father as well as himself and was helplessly touched by the gesture.
“Thank you.” She smiled and stood up on her toes to kiss him. He cupped her face and kissed her hungrily.
“You look beautiful,” he told her.
“You don’t look too bad yourself,” she said, stepping back to take in his tailor-made tuxedo.
“Hey, break it up you two.” A brash male voice intruded into their intimate little cocoon, and they both turned to see Gabriel Braddock’s smiling face. “Sandro, it’s like every time I see you with this gorgeous thing, you have your hands all over her. Share the wealth, bro.” He stepped forward to envelope Theresa in a warm hug.
“Happy birthday, gorgeous. We’ve missed you.” Considering how they’d met her only once, months ago, Theresa initially doubted the veracity of that statement, but the sincerity in his face led her to believe that he actually meant his words.
“Thank you.” She smiled. “I’m sorry I never came to any of your other football nights.”
“You had a difficult pregnancy, perfectly understandable,” he dismissed with a careless flick of the hand. “And congratulations on your beautiful daughter, by the way. Sandro’s been flashing pictures of her at us for weeks. It’ll be nice to see her in the flesh. Where is the little darling?”
“My cousin’s husband has her.” She glanced around for Rick and saw him showing Lily off to his business partner, Vuyo, and his brother, Bryce. The little group was soon joined by Bryce’s business partner, Pierre de Coursey, and Pierre’s wife, Alice. They were all fussing over the sleeping baby.
De Coursey and Palmer had recently offered her a year’s internship at their prestigious company DCP Jewellers, after she finished her jewelry design course at college. Sandro had sent a copy of her portfolio to the men and they’d been impressed with her “raw talent.” It was yet another example of Sandro’s commitment to making her as happy as he could. He knew how much her designing meant to her and had believed in her enough to approach the jewelers on her behalf. At first she hadn’t been comfortable with the blatant nepotism, but both Pierre and Bryce had convinced her that they genuinely saw value in her work.
“Looks like she’s not wanting for attention, so I’ll take her beautiful mother out for a spin on the dance floor in the meantime,” Gabriel said, and whisked a laughing Theresa away from Sandro before the other man could protest, twirling her around to some upbeat music.
He’d had her for barely two minutes before someone cut in, and after that she was passed from partner to partner for the next half hour before Sandro finally claimed her.
“Think you can spare some time to flirt with your husband, cara?” he asked grumpily, and she blinked up at him uncertainly until she recognized that he was a little jealous. The fact boosted her confidence and brought a delighted smile to her face.
“I have a few minutes to spare between dances.” She nodded after a considering pause, and he growled before dragging her closer and tucking her head onto his shoulder. They swayed together slowly, and he started nuzzling her neck. She sighed and melted into his hard body, enjoying the warm, spicy scent of him. They were so wrapped up in each other that they didn’t notice anybody standing beside them until a voice penetrated the fog of desire.
“Sandro?” He made a protesting sound before raising his head and blinking at someone standing behind Theresa. She watched his face light up and a smile grace his lips before he launched into rapid Italian. Baffled, she turned in his arms and froze.
“Cara, this is my mother and two of my sisters. They flew over to meet you and the latest edition to our family. Mama, Isabella, Rosalie, this is my wife, Theresa.” The four women eyed one another warily, none of them quite certain what to expect. Finally, the youngest of the trio of gorgeous brunettes stepped forward with a smile. Theresa guessed that she had to be Rosalie.
“I’m very pleased to meet you at last, Theresa,” she said in lightly accented English, and to Theresa’s utter shock gave her a warm hug. “I’m Rosalie.”
“I…nice to meet you,” Theresa muttered helplessly in response, her eyes desperately seeking Sandro’s. He looked anxious but smiled reassuringly when he met her gaze.
“I was expecting them to arrive next week but they flew in late last night, just in time for your birthday.” She could see the apology in his eyes, as if he feared their presence would diminish her pleasure in the birthday party. She shook her head, the gesture so slight that only he caught it, and smiled at him.