The Unwanted Wife (Unwanted #1)(71)
“Well, what a doubly wonderful surprise then.” She shook off her shock and bestowed a genuinely warm smile on the small group of Italian beauties. Sandro’s sisters were receiving a lot of speculative male looks already.
“My daughter Gabriella couldn’t make it. She’s having some trouble with her oldest child,” Sandro’s mother said. “And of course, my mother-in-law is too old to travel. But they both send their best.” Theresa very much doubted that, remembering how particularly hostile those two women had been to her during the video conference.
“Mrs. De Lucci.” Theresa reached out to grip the other woman’s hands in both of hers. “I’m so sorry for your loss, and I’m sorry that I was unable to attend the funeral.”
“Don’t be silly, Theresa,” the older woman scoffed, doggedly blinking away her sudden tears. “You were heavily pregnant. Traveling in that condition would have been foolish. You did the right thing. Now, where is this granddaughter of mine? I’ve seen photographs of course but I’m ready to meet her.” The imperiousness in her tone brooked no disobedience, and Theresa grinned when Sandro practically saluted before abandoning them in search of his daughter.
She tensed when she realized that he’d left her alone with his intimidating family and braced herself for whatever would come next. She was under no illusions that they liked her or accepted her, knowing that they would all pretend to get along just fine for Sandro’s sake but that what went on behind his back would be another story entirely.
“I owe you an apology,” Sandro’s mother shocked her by saying, and Theresa dared a glance into the elegant older woman’s face. The woman no longer looked intimidating. In fact, her face had softened completely, and Theresa blinked up at her in surprise. “I was less than… gracious, when you called to speak with my husband. After the funeral, Sandro told us the truth about your marriage, about the way both he and your father had treated you, so I now know that you would have been completely justified in not wanting to speak with my husband. But you showed a greater depth of character than the rest of us combined when you agreed to meet him. You made a dying man very happy in his last few hours. He was so worried about Sandro and what he’d sacrificed for our family, but talking to you eased his mind considerably, and he was at peace when he passed away that night. I have you to thank for that.”
“I was happy to meet him,” Theresa responded, a little blown away by this turn of events.
“Well, this is nearly two years too late, but I am very happy to meet you too, Theresa.” Her mother-in-law engulfed her in a totally unexpected and very awkward hug. Theresa returned it in bemusement before both women stepped back a few seconds later, looking equally flustered. Rosalie and Isabella were both grinning. Rosalie introduced Theresa to Isabella, explaining that the other woman spoke little English
“But she wanted to meet you,” Rosalie confided cheerfully. Theresa could see that she and Rosalie were going to get along just fine. The other woman was an irreverent bundle of laughs, and they were both giggling conspiratorially over the way Sandro had practically jumped earlier to do his mother’s bidding, when he finally returned carrying Lily. The baby was awake and wailing, not happy with the crowd of unfamiliar people surrounding her. Her little face was wet and scrunched up, but her aunties and grandmother immediately started fussing all over her.
Sandro handed Lily over to his mother for a moment before turning to Theresa.
“You okay?” he asked in a low voice that only she could hear. She nodded, smiling reassuringly up at him.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect them to show up so soon. I hope they haven’t spoiled the party for you. I wanted this night to be perfect.”
“And it has been pretty near perfect so far,” she assured him. “They’ve been lovely, Sandro. All of them.”
“Good, because I would have bounced them the hell back to Italy if they’d said anything at all to upset you,” he told her.
“Don’t be silly. They’re your family.”
“Wife trumps all,” he retorted, and she rolled her eyes.
“I’m going to rescue Lily from the Kissing Brigade over there. She’s probably hungry.” She went over to do just that, practically floating on air as she felt Sandro’s eyes still on her. Wife trumps all? She very definitely liked the sound of that.
In the end, Theresa got her dream birthday party, complete with singing, a huge cake, and dozens of floating balloons. The evening couldn’t have been more perfect. After making sure his family was loaded into a taxi that would take them to their hotel, he called their driver to come and pick them up. Lily had been put to bed in a quiet room equipped with a professional nanny the staff had provided for her and Rhys. She stirred restlessly when her parents collected her, and they both tensed, knowing that it was close to her regular feeding time.
“I’m knackered.” Theresa yawned once they were all snugly ensconced in the backseat of the car. He had his arm draped around her shoulders, and she had her head tucked against his chest. Lily was contentedly suckling at her breast, and both of them were in danger of falling asleep on Sandro.
“I had a wonderful evening, Sandro,” she muttered sleepily.
“I’m happy to hear it, cara,” he whispered into her hair.