Loving Gigi Read online

  Gigi smiled and nodded. She vaguely remembered being introduced to the woman before. Her head still spun with the names of all the people she’d met over the last few months. “It’s nice to see you again, Abby.”

  Rena glanced at the door. “Is Alethea coming?”

  “Alethea?” Gigi asked.

  Julia leaned toward Gigi and explained, “She’s a good friend, also. You’d know if you’d met her. She’s a tall redhead. Beautiful, but a little intense. She works for Abby and her husband.”

  Abby picked a carrot stick off the plate in front of her. “Yes, she’s part of our security team. She and Marc are actually out with Judy today. There’s nothing my daughter likes better than pretending to be a spy.”

  A memory came flooding back to Gigi. “I think I met her once at the weddings on Slater Island. A woman came up to me and gave me her card. She told me she knew who I was, wouldn’t out me, but was there if I needed her.”

  Rena chuckled. “That sounds like Alethea.”

  Maddy clapped again. “Okay, so, do we at least have one person from every team represented?”

  Gigi searched the faces of the women at the table. “You have teams? For what?”

  Her cousin Nicole laid her hand on Gigi’s and gave it a sympathetic squeeze. “Oh, sweetie, welcome to the really crazy side of your family.”

  Tara sat back in her chair and rolled her eyes. “You say that as if your team isn’t totally into this. Didn’t you send Greg Banner over to Scotland about a hundred times? Not very subtle.”

  Julia folded her hands on the table and grinned. “That’s probably why we won.”

  Gigi cocked her head to one side in confusion. “Greg Banner? The man who kept bringing us items to sell off one at a time? You sent him? Why?”

  “We hoped you’d fall for him,” Maddy said as if it were a perfectly normal thing to do.

  Abby turned to Julia. “What do you mean you won?”

  Julia wiggled her eyebrows up and down. “I sent Kane to get Gigi. If I hadn’t, they wouldn’t be together. Which means Nicole, Maddy, and I get the point. Ergo, we are officially the best family matchmakers.”

  Gigi raised both hands in the air. She didn’t like the sound of that. “Wait. You sent Kane to get me as part of some game?”

  Julia laid her hand on her rounded stomach. “No, Gigi. All I was thinking about was how to get you to come back to meet us.” Then she looked around and declared, “But that doesn’t mean we didn’t win.”

  “What do you win?” Gigi asked, shaking her head.

  Maddy shrugged. “Just the title as best matchmaker.”

  Gigi rubbed her temples with both hands. “I don’t really understand.”

  Nicole suggested, “Should we start at the beginning?”

  Abby turned to Nicole. “If we do, you should tell the story. After all, it all started with you, didn’t it?”

  “Me?” Nicole asked with a shy smile.

  “Sure,” Abby said. “Loving you brought Stephan back to his family.”

  Nicole blushed happily. “I’d like to believe that.”

  Maddy hugged Nicole. “And now you’re a master matchmaker, just like me.”

  Rena groaned with amusement. “Gigi, this family is absolutely nuts, but they mean well.”

  Gigi didn’t disagree. She was beginning to see how much control she had over her own happiness. Interpretation was eighty percent of reality. She could look for a hidden agenda with these women. She could worry about all the things she didn’t know about them, or she could choose to believe they loved her and filter their actions through that certainty.

  One path led to the anxiety she’d known most of her life.

  The other brought her to the place she’d always yearned to be.

  Like Kane’s proposal, Gigi knew her answer immediately.

  I’m not going back. From now on, at every crossroads, I’ll choose love.

  Gigi smacked her hand down on the table. “I want to hear about these teams, but the most important question is—which one will I be on?”

  Abby leaned in with a smile and joked, “I claim Gigi, but don’t we have a clear winner? And more importantly, is there anyone left to marry off?”

  Maddy rubbed her chin thoughtfully as if the questions had been serious. “Are you kidding? I just won the title as the family’s best matchmaker. We can’t stop now. How about the Barringtons?”

  Tara asked, “Who are they?”

  Rena waved a finger in the air. “You’re not talking about Patrice’s sister’s children, are you?”

  Maddy nodded eagerly. “That’s exactly who I’m referring to. Technically they’re not related to me, but they’re cousins of my cousins so to an Andrade that’s family.” Maddy turned to Gigi. “The Barringtons live in New England. They don’t come around much, although I think Luke has kept in touch with a couple of them. The youngest one, Kyle, was at your welcome home party, Gigi. Oh my God, the more I think about this, the more it feels right.”

  Nicole walked over and hugged Maddy. “I want to say no, but your track record cannot be denied. I’m in.”

  “Me, too,” each of the other women said one by one.

  Me, too, Gigi thought, and happy tears filled her eyes.

  I’m not on the outside anymore.

  I’m in.

  I am family.

  THE END

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  Other Books by Ruth Cardello

  The Legacy Collection:

  *Also available in audiobook format

  Book 1: Maid for the Billionaire (available at all major eBook stores for FREE!)

  Book 2: For Love or Legacy

  Book 3: Bedding the Billionaire

  Book 4: Saving the Sheikh

  Book 5: Rise of the Billionaire

  Book 6: Breaching the Billionaire: Alethea’s Redemption

  Recipe For Love, An Andrade Christmas Novella

  Lone Star Burn Series:

  Book 1: Taken, Not Spurred

  Book 2: Tycoon Takedown

  The Andrades:

  *Also available in audiobook format

  Book 1: Come Away With Me (available at all major eBook stores for FREE!)

  Book 2: Home to Me

  Book 3: Maximum Risk

  Book 4: Somewhere Along the Way

  Book 5: Loving Gigi

  The Temptations:

  Book 1: Twelve Days of Temptation

  Book 2: Be My Temptation

  Other Books:

  Taken By a Trillionaire

  Books by Ruth’s Family Members

  Did you know that my sister, Jeannette Winters, and my niece, Danielle Stewart, also write romances? Each have series that start with a FREE book. Check out them out today while waiting for my next release.

  Acknowledgements

  I am so grateful to everyone who was part of the process of creating Loving Gigi.

  Thank you to:

  Nicole Sanders at Trevino Creative Graphic Design for my cover. You are amazing!

  My very patient beta readers. You know who you are. Thank you for kicking my butt when I need it.

  My editors: Karen Lawson, Janet Hitchcock, and Marion Archer.

  My Roadies for both their friendship and their feedback.

  Kathleen Dubois being a promotion wonder!

  My husband, Tony. Couldn’t do this without you.

  My children for laughing with me instead of getting upset when I burn dinner while answering emails.

  My niece, Danielle Stewart, and my sister, Jeannette Winters, for joining me in self-publishing and brainstorming with me along the way. Always better together.

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