“You must not have been listening. I told you that you were the one who had to decide if you could forgive me. I want nothing more than to get you alone and slip those delicate straps from your shoulders until you’re bare before me.” His hand came up and traced a feather-light touch down the length of my arm.

Even if I had been able to wear a bra with my dress, it would have been no match for how painfully hard my nipples became at his words. I had to fight from arching my chest forward, begging for his touch. Wrestling for control, I took a shuddering breath and peered up at him. “And what if I can’t forgive you? What if every time I look at you, I remember all the heartbreak?”

“Then maybe I’ll need to give you new memories—much more fulfilling, pleasurable memories—to replace the old ones.” His voice was laden with sensual promise, conjuring all sorts of delicious images in my head.

“And what happens when you decide it’s more important to keep me safe than to keep me in your bed? Then what?” The question was barely audible in the chorus of voices filling the room, but Nico was so intently focused on me that we might as well have been alone.

He leaned in, lowering his lips to my ear, making my heart skip and dance in my chest. “I learn from my mistakes, and letting you go was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. Let me back in, and I’ll die before I leave your side.” When he pulled back, his electric blue eyes sparked with intensity.

Emotion seized me, tightening my throat so that all I could do was nod in understanding.

“Sofia! I’ve hardly seen you all evening. Where have you been hiding?” My cousin Giada threw her arms around me, releasing me from Nico’s thrall.

“Hey, G! I’ve been at the front welcoming people. How have you been?”

“I’m good, but it seems like you’re even better. Care to introduce me?” She glanced meaningfully at Nico.

I tried to give her a gracious smile, but the attempt fell short. “Yeah, this is my old friend, Nico Conti.”

Her mouth dropped open in exaggerated shock. “The boy you were friends with all those years ago?”

“The one and only,” Nico said with a raised brow directed at me and a hand held out to Giada. He seemed to be implying something, but his meaning was lost on me.

“Well, Nico, you certainly are all grown up.” Giada was by far the most forward and vivacious of us girls—me and my sisters and Giada’s two sisters, Camilla and Valentina. Our two families were close enough growing up that the six of us girls were practically siblings. Camilla and I were the same age but never grew as close as Alessia and Giada. The two of them had been best friends since the day they were born. I had made it my mission to give Giada and her big mouth a wide berth. Valentina was a surprise baby, so she was the youngest of the group and was still finishing up high school. I liked my cousins well enough, but hearing Giada openly flirt with Nico made me want to dropkick her back to Manhattan.