Chapter 17: Chapter 17

Chapter 17-Epilogue to Intrigued

Grace

Thursday morning, I welcomed my parents at the airport, extremely glad that I didn’t see a third figure with them.

My mom had medium length blonde hair and eyes a darker shade of blue with a slender built. My father was the one with the brunette hair and green eyes that Tory and I had inherited. He stood over 6feet 4 and was almost as tall as Daniel.

I felt myself shiver as I thought about what I was about to do. For now, I had my left hand tucked away safely so that neither of my parents gets to see the huge diamond on my ring finger.

“Grace!” My father smiled as he pulled me into a bear hug. “I knew you’d be busy this year so we came over instead. I hope we didn’t trouble you too much.”

“Absolutely not dad, you’re always welcome here.” I told him as I went over to hug mom. “Come on then, let’s head home.”

“Honey, home is back in Clovefield, not Los Angeles.” My mother reminded me, but I stayed silent as we exited the Airport terminus and headed into the parking area.

Zach was already standing outside Daniel’s Sedan, so I led my parents to Zach and he took the bags from them and placed it right at the back. I got into the passenger’s seat so my parents had to take the back seats. And then we were off to my home.

****

“Honey, did you shift apartments?” My mom asked as soon as we came to a stop in front of Casa Dolce Casa. The building was not painted in a beautiful sunny gold color with the gargoyles on top and next to the entrance painted grey.

Zach raised an eyebrow at me but I shook my head, telling him to stay quite. They were in for a big surprise anyway, so it’d be better if Daniel was next to me when I broke the big news to them.

We got off the car and I escorted my parents to the elevators that led directly to the penthouse, while Zach went to fetch their bags. Both their eyes had bugged out by the time we arrived at the top floor.

“How can you afford the rent in here?” My dad asked as he placed his arm on the small of mum’s back.

“Fortunately, she doesn’t have to. This place belongs to us.”

We all turned in unison towards Daniel who had just come out of the front door. Dressed in black dress pants and jacket paired with a teal colored shirt, he looked like a model who’s just come out of a fashion magazine cover. His hair was wet from the shower he’d taken while I was on my way, so it spilled onto his forehead, partially covering one of his brows and making his blue eyes pop.

I saw both my mom and dad inspect him like a bug, trailing their eyes from the tip of his hair to the heels of his leather shoes. I took the opportunity to stand beside Daniel and he instantly put his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to his body. The motion didn’t go unnoticed by anyone.

“Mom, Dad,” I said before they had a chance to ask anything. “This is Daniel Romano…my fiancé.”

As expected, both their gazes shot to my left hand and I heard my mother gasp when she finally noticed the diamond ring. “Goodness, you really are engaged!” She said, covering her mouth with her hands.

“How long have you two known each other?” My dad asked, his voice rough.

“About four months.” Daniel answered for me, his hands giving my waist a light squeeze to let me know that he could handle them. “It was love at first sight I guess, at least for me it was. Grace eventually warmed up to me.” Daniel gave me an assuring smile.

“And when do you plan to marry her?” My mother asked sternly.

“The sooner the better.” Daniel replied.

That apparently pleased my mother, my father giving a nod of approval from beside her and I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my chest. I was suddenly so light headed that I would’ve collapsed in relief if Daniel hadn’t been holding on to me.

“So we’re good right?” I asked, just to be sure I wasn’t dreaming. “You guys aren’t mad at me?”

“Of course we are! You’re living together with a man before your wedding!” Dad exclaimed, his glare directed at Daniel, who only grinned in response.

“But we’re also happy for you,” Mom said and came forward to pull me into a hug. “You’re finally settling down. I wouldn’t have to worry about your safety anymore.”

At that moment everything seemed perfect. I didn’t care if mom forced me to marry Daniel the very next day, because I couldn’t wait to be his bride. But more than that, I saw that my strict, conservative parents had accepted Daniel in their own way, otherwise they wouldn’t have let him off so easily.

I led them inside my new home and showed them around the house while the other guests arrived. Tory was the first to show up and then came Tatiana. Ken said she was stuck in traffic so it’ll take her a while to arrive. Meanwhile, we decided to have some drinks and snacks while my Dad had a ‘chat’ with Daniel. My mother in the interim, decided to bombard me with questions about Daniel, half of which I had to lie to since I couldn’t just tell him that our relationship had started with a one-night stand.

Daniel and my father joined us twenty minutes later and they both seemed to be doing fine. My dad even seemed to be intrigued by Daniel and no doubt, so was my mom.

And then Ken arrived, just in time for lunch and we all sat down to feast on the delicious dished that Daniel had helped me prepare. In fact, he was the one who had done most of the work while I’d set up the table and decorated the entire house.

It was still hard to believe that this gorgeous, intriguing man sitting next to me was mine; that soon enough, he’d be wearing my ring, just like I was wearing his now. Everything felt so perfect that I was afraid I’d wake up soon and find out it was all a dream. As if hearing my thoughts, Daniel turned to look into my eyes, his blue orbs holding a stream of wickedness and then I felt his hand on my upper thigh, making slow circles with his fingers which went dangerously close to the lining of my panties.

And that was when I knew, this was most definitely not a dream.