CHAPTER 174: DARE TO LOVE ME The Engagement Part 2
Ashley
He came closer to me. “They’re my mother and my sister,” he whispered in my ear conspiratorially. “We have to look very much in love.”
“I’m not going to kiss you. There’s a man who’s important to me,” I whispered back, and he nodded with a smile, letting me know he understood. Just then, the clicking of heels sounded
nearby.
“Lyon, darling,” the older woman spoke first.
“Mom!” he feigned surprise. “You’ve ruined the surprise! I was going to introduce my fiancée at dinner tonight.”
She looked at me. “Ashley Russell, I’m glad you’ve reconsidered. Who in their right mind would refuse to marry a Rossi?” she said haughtily. I wanted to give her a piece of my mind for being so classist, but I held my tongue.
“While I was in Los Angeles, I had a relationship with Leoncito.” I patted Lyon’s chest and
looked up at him. He frowned, then smiled. “And I fell in love with him–we fell in love. Right,
honey?”
“That’s right, Mom. We’re in love, and we’re going to make it official.”
“Wonderful! We can finally put this matter to rest,” the sister clapped.
“Budget, little sister,” Lyon smiled and put his arm lightly around my waist.
I introduced Alaia and Tino to the women, and they seemed delighted with them.
“We expect to see you all tonight. It would be lovely to have the bride’s family there as well,”
Mrs. Rossi said. “I’ll see to it that everything is in order. I expect you to be on time, Lyon.” She
pointed at him, and they smiled at us before leaving.
“I’m going to training,” my fake fiancé said, and one of the hotel workers handed him a key. “It’s a room for you to get ready in. I hope it’s comfortable enough.” He handed me the card. “I’ll pick you up from the room before nine.”
“Thank you,” I exhaled, thinking about the mess I’d gotten myself into. Well, I had also deceived several people to avoid this wedding, so who better than me to understand?
“This is crazy! But it’s done, so let’s do it right. Let’s find something to make us look even more
beautiful than we already are and go home with those papers,” Tino encouraged me. I looked
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CHAPTER 174: DARE TO LOVE M…
at Alaia, and she took my hands, telling me she was with me in this new madness.
We arrived at the first store and marveled at the clothes. The fashion here was slightly more extravagant than in other countries. I was sure we’d find something to suit our style.
I picked up my phone, knowing I couldn’t talk to Will while he was on the flight, but I decided to
leave him a message to call me as soon as he could. I hoped to tell him what was going on.
He’d always been interested in this whole thing, but I’d kept him out of it and told him I’d
handle it, and that’s what I was going to do. I pressed send, and we went to what we came for.
We arrived at the hotel room, which turned out to be an amazing penthouse. The kids ran
around with Loli; the view was beautiful.
“Go finish getting ready. You have just enough time to go down,” Tino pushed me into the
bathroom.
“But honey, I was just taking a break and enjoying the view!”
“We’ll be back when we’re not hours away from presenting the collection and having our line
named after us! Oh my God, oh my God, this is starting to get to me.”
“Everything will be fine. Enough tension–it will be fine,” I said. We didn’t need this now; we had
to try to stay calm.
We listened to her, and half an hour later, we were ready. The kids would stay with Loli; they
wouldn’t go with us. We wanted them to be ready for the trip back in a couple of hours.
We kissed the children goodbye, and they waved their little hands just as there was a knock
on the door.
I opened it and found Lyon dressed in a dark suit, white shirt, and no tie, his blond hair in a messy hairstyle. He must have been the headache and reason for a few broken hearts among the girls.
“Good evening,” he said, nodding and kissing my hand.
“Good evening,” I replied, and he greeted Tino and Alaia.
“I can say with certainty that I will be the envy of everyone tonight,” he said, looking at us.
“How gallant!” Tino put his hand to his chest, and Lyon smiled at him. I was sure my friend was going to faint right then; he never changed.
“Shall we go?” Lyon invited us out, and we walked to the elevator. I felt slightly nervous.
The elevator reached one of the floors, and Lyon offered me his arm.
“Anything else I should know about your family?” I asked quietly.
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“My father will be watching what we do, but the most complex one is my grandfather. He must believe in us tonight; then I’ll take care of the rest,” he whispered in my ear, and I nodded. The metal doors were already open.
We were led to the table where several people were already seated. I saw Enrico, who looked
haughty, and Lyon’s sister, who had come with her husband, a young man who must have
been the same age as her. They greeted me kindly, as did Mrs. Rossi, who smiled, though her
smile was cold. They showed us to our respective seats, and I noticed Alaia and Tino talking
to Lyon’s mother, who had found a place next to them.
I talked with Lyon, and he told me that he was a professional motorcycle racer and that a lot
depended on tonight for him too.
“My grandparents,” he spoke, and I looked toward the entrance of the restaurant, where two
men and a woman were coming. I guessed they were his grandparents and his father.
“Lyon,” the latter greeted.
“Grandpa, Grandma, Dad,” Lyon said as they hugged, and they looked at me. “Ashley Russell,”
he introduced me.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I thought we’d never get to, but I’m glad you’ve come to
your senses,” the father said.
“Yes, a lot has happened in these last few months. We’ve talked, and we’ve finally decided to
go ahead with the wedding,” I explained, and the man nodded.
“You’re very beautiful. I hope you know how to control this young man,” the woman with white hair and a glamorous hairstyle said as she hugged me. Well, I thought no man should be controlled; they should know their limits.
“Thank you.”
“Welcome to the family,” said the grandfather, looking between us, and damn this little lie–l
wasn’t liking it anymore.
He touched our shoulders, smiled, and walked away.
We went back to the table and started talking about our families; they owned many
companies in Europe.
“Did he say the grandfather is a Duke?” Tino whispered in my ear, and I nodded; I had forgotten. “Mother of God! Damn, you could have belonged to European royalty. If I had known
they were going to pair you up with such a hottie and that you would be royalty, I would have offered myself as a tribute.”
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I shook my head. “Come on, you know I’m not interested in any of that, or in marrying a kid,” I said, thinking of the man of my life.
“Family.” Lyon stood up, and everyone looked at him. “We’ve invited you all here tonight to
make our future wedding official.” He looked at me. “And I want to take this opportunity, while we’re all gathered here, to do so.”
“Darling.” He held out his hand, and I stood up.
“Ashley Russell, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” I watched as he knelt and took a small box from the table, revealing a stunning blue teardrop diamond ring.
I looked at my supposed fiancé and his family. Some were smiling, the grandfather looked excited, the father was looking at us seriously, and Alaia and Tino were smiling discreetly.
“I do,” I nodded and had him put the ring on the wrong finger; I was saving the other one for the love of my life.
There were cheers at the table, and they stood up to congratulate us.
“We need the kiss,” Lyon’s father spoke up, and I looked at my fake fiancé.
“Of course, Dad.” Lyon took my face, and I opened my eyes to him.
“Trust me,” he whispered and tilted me back, placing a kiss on my cheek that felt like something else entirely when we parted.
I could see that we had managed to fool them by the smiles on their faces. I imitated them until my eyes went further down the table, where I saw a figure I knew from head to toe, with clothes and without clothes. I blinked, thinking I was hallucinating and my lack of him had made me see him, but no, he was still there. My blood ran cold when I saw that it was real, that Will was here in Monaco, and his expression told me he was furious.
Oh my God, my heart!
