‘And,’ added Cesar dryly, ‘because Maria is as thick as thieves with you and Sid and Sam.’
Lexie smiled, but couldn’t stem a niggle of anxiety for Cesar. This was their biggest family get-together yet. And it would getting bigger all the time—especially as Sam’s new baby would be born soon and added to the mix. And then Sid’s.
It had been easier for Lexie, knowing what it was to come from a sizeable family, in spite of their estrangement. And also because she and Sam and Sidonie had formed a solid and genuine friendship almost within the first ten minutes of meeting each other.
She knew that even though Cesar’s relationship with his half-brothers had taken a quantum leap ever since that first meeting in Rome, when she’d gone with him to meet them properly for the first time, it was still a novel experience for him to play at happy families having come from the exact opposite experience.
But then, it had been healing for Cesar to hear how Rafaele and Alexio had suffered at the hands of their unhappy mother in their own lives. Happy families didn’t come naturally to them either. Once he’d seen they could empathise with him he hadn’t felt so alone in his experiences.
Lexie saw the glint of determination in Cesar’s eyes and castigated herself for underestimating how he might deal with this. He pressed another lingering kiss to her mouth and then pulled back, saying with a grin that transformed him into someone infinitely younger and even more gorgeous, ‘Am I ready? As long as you’re with me I’m ready for anything.’
Lexie answered huskily, with her heart in her voice, ‘Well, that’s easy—because I’m not going anywhere.’
* * * * *