The jury was still out on how I felt about the extended family, but we would see soon enough. Despite a killer case of jet lag, the day after we got home, Nico and I had a multi-family Fourth of July barbecue to attend. It wasn’t just a gathering of distant branches of the family tree—my father explained that this was the first Five Families joint party since before my brother was killed and a war had broken out among the families.

“Are you ready?” I called from the front door. “We’re going to be late!”

Nico came around the corner, an eyebrow raised at me in challenge. “In a hurry, are we?” He was so damn edible, I could have drooled. His snug T-shirt and khaki shorts with flip-flops gave him an almost preppy look, but his partial sleeve tattoo peeking from beneath his shirt said there was more to the man.

“You know I’m excited. Now, quit making me wait.”

“But I have a surprise for you. It came while we were away.”

I hadn’t noticed he carried something curled in his large fist. Opening his hand, a pool of silver chain lay on his palm, the Eiffel Tower charm in the middle.

“You had it fixed?” I had no idea he’d taken it to a jeweler. I’d been too busy with the trip to mess with it myself.

He lifted the chain and worked the clasp. “I told you I’d give you both—Paris and your necklace. I’m a man of my word.”

Once he put the necklace on me, I turned around and threw my arms around his neck. “Thank you, baby. I love you so much.”

“Love you, Ladybug.”

I lifted my legs around his waist and pressed my core against him.

“I thought you said we were in a hurry,” he murmured against my lips.

I nipped at his bottom lip and smiled. “Five minutes won’t kill anybody.”

An hour later, I texted Alessia to let her know we’d finally arrived—better late than never. We weaved our way through the enormous crowd as I steered us over to where Alessia and Luca were seated by a gorgeous pool.

“Sofia!” she squealed as soon as she spotted us. “How was the trip? It’s so good to see you.” She engulfed me in a warm hug.

“It was absolutely amazing, and … well … this happened.” I lifted my left hand to show her the stunning engagement ring Nico had given me at the Eiffel Tower. It was somewhat cliché, but for us, the monument had so much meaning that it was perfect.

“Oh my God! Luca, look! Sof got engaged! Oh, Sofia, it’s gorgeous.” My big sister was appropriately mushy, oohing and aahing over my ring and our engagement story. Luca gave Nico a bro handshake-hug combination as they talked among themselves.

“We haven’t heard much since we were out of the country. Any news on Sal?” I asked Alessia, keeping my voice down.

“Not that I’ve heard. We figure he found a way out of the country, but they’re still looking.”