XXIX

There were just three days before the d-day - the wedding day and Emerald had to admit this month had been the busiest month of her life. It seemed as though it had turned her life totally upside down.

Her usual commute from home to work and from work back home again had been completely ruptured and the unbelievable thought that had been consistent in her mind had been 'Why didn't I purchase a vehicle of my own?'

Her brain kept reminding her of Oriana's annoying words that had always prodded her into getting her own car but she had found no reasonable use for it since the only places she ever had to drive to were her workplace and her home.

But since the past weeks had been very busy and hectic for her, since she had been making several stops at different stores and shops and had been having to travel to and from Boston every weekend to get things done over there as well, she couldn't help but regret not listening to her friend for once. Her words had begun to make sense to Emerald now.

"Sis? Are you sure you're ok?" Armani asked as the walkman signal turned green and they began to cross the road amongst other people. "You look thin and pale."

Emerald could hear the concern in her voice but she didn't want to give her sister a cause for worry. For the past month, she had barely had full five hours of sleep, having to leave the house really early to make pre-orders on the way, so she could arrive at work early.

And then, she had to spend extra hours sorting things out after closing from work. Not wanting to stress her mother, who was pregnant and her sister, who was busy with college duties, she and Luca had decided to take care of things, although, she had taken it upon herself to cover more grounds than him, so he could have enough time to look after his fiancee.

They could've just hired a professional wedding planner but the couple wanted a small and cozy wedding where only a few people, probably a maximum of one hundred, would attend. And they wanted things done quickly so as to not stress out the pregnant bride. Now, you could imagine how stressful the whole thing was.

Therefore, Emerald had assumed the role of the wedding planner of the family. "I'm ok, Armi. Just been really stressed out with all the work I've had to do," she tried to balance the shopping bags properly on her arm.

Armani noticed and quickly but softly pried the bags off her arm before adding it to the number already hanging off her arms as well. Emerald complied, feeling as though her shoulders would come unhinged any second.

They had gone shopping for the major and minor wedding materials like the table tops decorations, coloured ribbons and other ornaments. The petty objects had been purchased immediately while the much heavier ones had been ordered to be delivered on the morrow.

"I'm so sorry I've not been able to help you, Mera," Armani apologised, her expression utterly solemn. "It's just these stupid school projects and the likes of it. I'm even lucky I got a few days off to help in preparations for the wedding."

"How so?"

"We have this field work project to do. The teacher had allocated the entire class into groups of four students each. According to how professor Ham had explained it-"

"Ham?" Emerald interrupted, confused.

"Short for Hamilton," Armani explained.

"Ah, perfectly understandable," the two beautiful sisters laughed together, attracting the attentions of the male passersby who couldn't help but gape at the goddesses walking underneath the gentle sun of the late afternoon in Back Bay, their loose hairs swaying proudly in the air.

Emerald had let her hair down today to relieve her tensed scalp of the month's endless stress. "He's a new one, I'm guessing?" she asked. She couldn't remember there being any Professor Hamilton during her time.

"Yep,' Armani nodded, popping the 'p'. "Our class would be the first set he would teach, which explains the uniqueness of this project. Since he's new, he decided he didn't want to go by the same old project system the last lecturer had used, so he brought in some contemporary ideas," she groaned.

"There, there," Emerald gave her a comforting side hug. "I may have zilch idea of these architectural stuff, but I am of the contemporary world. That counts, right?" she joked, earning a laughter from Armani.

"If the idea was to measure how many acres of abundant skin your beautiful, curvaceous body houses, then I suppose I would ace this project in a breeze," she smiled.

"But unfortunately, it's not. You are of the contemporary world but do you happen to have a wide expanse of land for maybe the construction of an industry, company or any building whatsoever?" Emerald shook her head in negation.

"Exactly. The whole idea of the field project is to find a business man or woman who has the intention of constructing a new company or building, maybe even a restaurant. Then, we'll have to know the exact measurements of the land expanse and together, come up with a building plan for the construction site."

"Oh, I see now," Emerald's face fell when she heard her sister's explanations.

"I have no one to meet for that, unless mom and dad plan to maybe build another restaurant branch within the span of three weeks. The case is the same with my teammates and it worries me because the other teams have started on something while we have nothing.

And this project gets to determine if I pass this course and get to move on to the next class or not."

Truthfully, Emerald could hear the worry in her sister's voice and it crushed her to know that there was nothing she could do to help her. Even if she had the money to get some acres of land, what would she construct on the site.

She was a therapist with her own building and her own house. She didn't need another house or office branch, yet she knew how important this course was to Armani. What could she do to help her?

"Sis?" Armani called, snapping her out of her thoughts. "You have that dazed look in your eyes and those beautiful yet unwanted frown lines etched on your forehead," she tried to lighten the mood but Emerald's face still remained serious.

"Hey big sis, you don't have to worry about me. I'll figure things out. I always do," Emerald couldn't argue because it was a hundred percent true, her sister was a fighter and a conquerer, unlike her. "If I had known this would add to your worries, I wouldn't have said anything," Armani pouted apologetically.

"No, Armi. You're not adding to anything and I'm glad you told me. I'll do every thing I can to help you, ok?"

Armani nodded enthusiastically. "Now gimme that infamous killer smile of yours, big sis," she grinned, watching as Emerald rolled her eyes before her lips spread into the aforementioned killer smile.

"Now, let's not keep mom waiting."

They held each other's hands - as best they could - as they made their way into the boutique where their mother was busy trying on different wedding dresses.

▬▬▬▬▬

"Dinner's ready, girls! Get down here!" Emerald heard her mother shout from the ground floor, squarely from the bottom of the stairs.

Running her hand through her hair, she got up from the queen sized bed placed in her designated room and made her way out of the bedroom when she heard Luca speaking to her mother rather loudly.

"Honey, don't shout. You're going to disturb our little Junior's peace. Let me do all the shouting, ok?

Girls! Come down, it's dinner time!" He yelled again after correcting Maggie.

"We heard Mom the first time, Dad." Armani quipped, rolling her eyes as she also came out of her room and joined Emerald who chuckled at their endless drama; together they made their way downstairs and into the kitchen.

"I'll get the plates." Armani said.

"I'll help Mom with the food." Emerald replied and they both dispersed and got to work.

Maggie welcomed her daughter's presence with a small smile but Emerald could tell that it wasn't her mother's usual genuine smile, there was a storm behind that smile.

"Hey, Mom," she greeted as she placed a kiss on Maggie's cheeks.

"Hi, baby." Maggie responded, holding her daughter gently in her arms.

"I hope baby Luggie isn't disturbing you," she smiled as her mother laughed at the nickname Emerald and Armani had given their unborn sibling. They had combined Luca with Maggie to form Luggie.

"Baby Luggie is being an angel just like you were," Maggie gave her daughter an affectionate smile but it didn't last for long as slowly, tears welled up in her eyes at the sight of her daughter's emaciated look.

She wasn't looking like her usual self. Her usually slightly dim emerald eyes were now dimmer than before, her exposed collarbones were slightly protruding through her skin, not to mention the thick layers of eye bags latching onto the skin beneath her eyes.

Even her smile was clearly forced, Maggie noticed. Yet, she knew. She knew very well what her daughter was going through. She knew very well the demons her daughter was constantly up against, yet it shattered her to see her daughter trying to keep it all bottled in, trying to fake her happiness when clearly, everything was wrong.

On seeing a tear drop slide down her mother's face, Emerald immediately panicked as she hurriedly wrapped her arms around her mother's small frame as best she could with her now protruding baby bump in the way.

"Mom, stop it," she softly chastised her, "I'm perfectly fine, Mom. There's nothing to worry about," she tried to comfort her but Maggie was having none of it as she pushed away from Emerald.

"No! Stop saying that when you clearly aren't!" Tears were now streaming hurriedly down her face, as though they were in a race against each other.

Emerald stared at her mother stoically, doing her very best to not reveal any emotion. "Stop pretending like everything is alright with you when they clearly aren't, Maree. Stop it. We're here for you as a family - I'm here for you," she grabbed a hold of her daughter's hands before squeezing it tenderly.

"Stop trying to handle it all on your own, sweetie. You don't have to be strong all the time. Please," Maggie pleaded as she sobbed silently, still watching her daughter's indifferent expression.

Silence spread its depressing cloak over the both of them as for a few minutes, they remained quiet, just staring at each other. Emerald could feel her chest constricting with every glistening tear drop that fell from her mother's eyes. Knowing that she was the cause of her mother's sorrow felt like a repetitive stab to her heart.

Before either of them could open their mouths to speak, the chime of the doorbell reverberated round the entire house, breaking through the quietude.

Both women immediately broke out of their trances as they looked to the kitchen entrance to see Luca standing in the doorway, watching both of them. From his melancholic expression, Emerald could tell that he had overheard their conversation.

He took few steps towards them before placing a gentle kiss on Emerald's forehead. Drawing back, he muttered, "You can get the door, piccolo. I'll take care of your mother." Emerald nodded in reply before hugging her mother once again.

"I'm sorry for making you cry, Mom," her voice wavered as she whispered before pulling away and walking out of the kitchen to the front door, where voices were now coming from.

Taking deep breaths to get her scattered emotions in check, she rounded the corner and came face to face with her two best friends. A small smile made its way onto her face when they squealed and pulled her into a bear hug while maundering how they had missed her and all sorts.

"We've got a surprise for you, Meme." Logan enthused after pulling away. Oriana let out a rather loud squeal at his words, clearly excited for her to see the surprise.

"What's the surprise?" Emerald asked and she could also see the brewing curiosity on Armani's face as she too stood beside her.

"Don't you mean 'who'?" Logan smirked before taking a step to the side and away from the entrance.

With wide eyes, Emerald took in the figure of the familiar man standing at the threshold. His customary magnificent physique adorned a fitted navy blue short sleeved shirt with black ripped jeans and a pair of black vans. His outfit was everything casual and comfort giving, yet he managed to pull off that sexy look.

Emerald didn't know she had been staring until he took a step closer to her. "Hey," he greeted meekly, unable to peel his leeching eyes off her exposed skin, which seemed to glimmer.

The Prussian blue bandeau tube crop top she wore, coupled with a pair of matching shorts, gave a perfect view of her toned neck, stomach, arms and seemingly endless legs. They couldn't stop staring at each other.

"Whipped," Logan said, snapping the pair out of their own little bubble as he tried to cover up his words with a fake cough.

Looking around, Emerald found her sister and friends giving her and Jordan a teasing look. She gave them a glare before turning to Jordan with a smile, realising that she hadn't requited his pleasantry. "Hi," she greeted and then, she noticed he held a duffel bag.

'Was he staying for the wedding?' she couldn't help but muse hopefully.

"Come on in, please," she directed Jordan into the house, leaving her friends to shut the door since they were family, not strangers. "We were just about to have dinner," she led him into the dining room where her mother and father were making their way out of the kitchen.

Emerald noticed that her mother was looking way better than earlier. Other than the slightly conspicuous red hue in her eyes, she looked like her usual self and in appreciation, Emerald passed Luca a slight smile to which he responded with a small nod.

"Oh! My babies are here," Maggie grinned as she pulled Logan and Oriana into a bear hug, leaving a little space between them due to her baby bump. Both of them chuckled and greeted her as they placed simultaneous kisses on her cheeks.

With a wide grin, Maggie's eyes shifted towards the new face in the room and almost instantaneously, her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the beautiful man standing before her with a mysterious yet parlous aura.

Unexpectedly, Jordan's heart seemed to thump louder and faster as he gauged her reaction. 'Did she recognise that he was the J.K?' He stymied his unsettling thoughts. The last thing he wanted was to scare them away.

Trying to ease the uncomfortable silence that had sprung up in the atmosphere, Emerald stepped forward and took the liberty of introducing Jordan to her parents.

"Mom, Dad, meet my. . .uh. . .my friend, Jordan," she gestured. "Jordan, here are my parents - the bride and groom," she teased, earning a blush from her mother and amused chuckles from the others.

She had called him her friend and not just a patient. A smile threatened to break out on his face at the immense joy he felt. At least they were getting somewhere.

Maintaining his polite attitude, Jordan wore a small, almost non-existent smile on his face as he moved closer to Maggie and took her hand to his lips, placing a chaste kiss on her knuckles, much to Luca's dismay.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am." Jordan greeted simply, not knowing whether to call her Mrs. Pearce or her soon-to-be new last name, so he settled for a much comfortable title.

Maggie giggled charmingly - seemingly the pregnancy hormones were to blame - much and much more to Luca's dismay, whose face was hardening by the second.

"Oh, nonsense. No need to be so formal, son. You can just call me Maggie or Aunt or even Mom," she pulled him into a hug, surprising Jordan before passing Emerald a suggestive wink.

Emerald's eyes widened at her mother's expression, wondering where the woman that had been crying earlier, had evaporated to.

Sensing the direction to which this discussion was headed - awkwardness - Luca immediately stepped in between Jordan and his fiancee, creating quite the distance between them as he placed a lingering kiss on Maggie's lips before narrowing his eyes at Jordan, clearly showing his dislike for him.

They stood eye to eye at the same height of some inches past six feet with Jordan staring squarely at him, apparently unfazed by his glare. After some moments of awkward silence with the tensed atmosphere that was thick enough to be sliced through with a knife, the spectators had finally had enough of the drama, so Armani stepped forward and nudged her father.

"Dad, stop it. He's our guest, remember?" she mumbled before passing Jordan a welcoming smile.

Realising that she hadn't introduced her sister to him, Emerald pulled Armani into a side hug before speaking, "Jordan, meet my lovely lil' sister, Armani. Armi, my friend, Jordan." She passed him a fleeting look to see his eyes glued to her frame.

"It's really nice to meet you, sir." Armani stretched out her hand for a shake, only to be surprised when Jordan placed a peck on her knuckles as well.

"The pleasure is all mine," he gave another gentle smile, surprising Logan and Oriana, who only ever saw him smile on rare occasions.

"I'm glad I made lots of food," Maggie grinned. "So who's ready for dinner?"

▬▬▬▬▬

Walking out of the bathroom in the guest room that had been allocated to him for the duration of his stay, Jordan stood in the silence of the bright room, drying his wet hair in nothing but his black drawstring joggers.

With his head downturned as he ran the terry cloth through his wet black locks, he suddenly heard a knock on the door of the room. Still drying his hair, he blinked, wondering who it could be before he opened his mouth to respond.

"Coming," his deep voice echoed round the room but it appeared as if the person on the other side was either in a hurry or they hadn't heard him correctly because immediately, the door swung open and from his peripheral vision, he saw the person walk in gently before stopping abruptly.

He raised his head to meet the familiar gaze of piercing smaragd eyes. Emerald stood frozen before him with clean bed sheets and comforters piled up in her arms. They remained still, staring at each other with steady gazes until Emerald blinked and cleared her throat.

"H-hey, I'm so sorry. I thought I heard 'come in'," she bit her lip in embarrassment, trying to cover up her stutter and to stymie the heat that crawled up her neck and cheeks like ants up a tree stalk.

"It's fine," Jordan's voice came out softly in the quietude as he continued to stare at her in amusement. Under the bright lights of the room, he could see the pink hue dotting her cheeks as she let her eyes sweep past everywhere, but him.

He was happy he had an effect on her and he almost chuckled at her reaction but instead, he took a large step closer to her and watched her eyes widen as she looked up at him.

Jordan didn't know what had taken over him as he raised his hand from his side and brought it up her cheek slowly and tentatively, seemingly giving her the chance to step away if she wanted to.

But she didn't. Emerald didn't move an inch as she stood still, staring deeply into his captivating dark chocolate orbs. She was sure she was blushing because her cheeks felt hot but that was what surprised her the most - Emerald never blushes.

It surprised her because she had seen him half naked twice before but yet, right now, he still managed to have an effect on her. An effect even stronger than the first two times.

She kept her gaze on him, patiently waiting for the feel of his hand on her face. She was curious. She wanted to see how much more her body could react to him because presently, her body didn't appear to be hers anymore.

As the warmth of his palm caressed her cheek, her eyes instantly slammed shut at the intense feeling it brought. She had never felt anything like it before and the heat radiating from his hand seemed to spread across her face and towards the tip of her toes like wildfire.

Unconsciously, she leaned more into his touch as she let out a little contented sigh. For some reason, his mere touch appeared to have eased off her stress. Her aching body, her almost unhinged shoulders, not to mention all the mental stress she had been going through because of her recent nightmares.

Everything seemed to have evanesced at his single touch. It surprised, comforted and scared her all at once. Her outrageous reaction to him scared her. The way her body was beginning to depend on him, terrified her.

She didn't want to be dependent on anyone, it only brought trouble, betrayal and pain. She had been independent for most part of her life and it had paid her well. But she couldn't deny that she was tempted to let go sometimes and have someone there to catch you. She wanted something like that, but it was all just wishful thinking. Mayhap, that was her punishment for all the pain she had caused her mother.

Jordan watched his gem lean more into his touch, apparently enjoying it. He felt a strange feeling surge up and fill his chest as he watched her lips open slightly, giving way to a sigh of contentment. He was happy, genuinely happy.

Having forgotten what happiness and joy truly felt like, feeling it now was strange and unusual but he couldn't deny that he liked that. As Jordan continued to stare at her, he couldn't help but notice how she didn't look like her usual self.

He had noticed it while they were having dinner. He had seen how little she ate and how her mother and stepfather kept throwing her worried glances.

While training to be a Mafia Don, one thing had proven to be really essential and that was being observant. Being able to read the tiniest and slightest body language your opponent or captive makes, goes a really long way in helping one uncover their secrets or hidden plans.

It had become a part of him and the skill had come in handy at dinner and even now. When he saw her eyebrows slightly come together as she appeared to be deep in thought, Jordan raised his other hand and smoothed the crease on her forehead.

He knew he was going to regret ruining their moment because only God knew when such would happen again but her well-being came first before his own comfort, so he asked, "Are you okay?"

Hearing his worry laced tone, Emerald's eyes snapped open to see that he had stepped impossibly closer to her, enough that they were almost breathing the same air. "Ah," she blinked and stepped away, much to Jordan's disappointment.

"N-nothing's wrong. I just brought you some clean sheets," she walked over to the bed and laid them gently on the mattress before turning back to face his intense gaze.

"And I also wanted to thank you," she spoke.

"What? Why?" Jordan asked confusedly.

"For volunteering to help Armani with her university project."

During dinner when Maggie had asked about the recent news in everyone's lives, Armani had narrated her project issue to everyone and thankfully, Jordan, who had just purchased an expanse of land for the construction of another one of his clubhouses, had been more than willing to let her use the land for her project.

He was also interested in seeing what true potential she had in architecture. Who knew, maybe he could make out a job opportunity for her in his company after college. Armani and everyone else - including jealous Luca - had been really happy and grateful to him.

"Oh, there's no need to thank me."

'I did it for you,' he wanted to say but refrained from doing so. Emerald passed him a mild smile.

For what felt like hours but were only mere minutes, they stared at each other before Emerald looked away, shutting down her longing to depend on someone - most especially, him.

"Well, goodnight," she headed for the door but as she placed her hand on the knob, she stopped and turned back to face him.

"Thank you for making it. I'm really glad you're here," she grinned and walked out, meaning her every word as she left behind a smiling Jordan.