42. Alexander

"Hey," I looked up when there was a knock on my office door and saw David poking his head in. He raised a brow and asked, "Are you almost done?"

"Almost. Why?" I asked. He rolled his eyes, walking in and closing the door behind him. That's when I noticed he was dressed differently from a few hours ago when we visited the construction site to see how it was going. Instead of wearing his gray two-piece tuxedo with a white button-down shirt and black dress shoes, he was wearing a three-piece navy blue tuxedo with black dress shoes.

"Please tell me you didn't forget that today was your rehearsal dinner," he said, crossing his arms. I blinked, confused, before widening my eyes and looking at the calendar on my desk. Sure enough, April 27th was circled with the words "rehearsal dinner" written in red ink.

"Shit," I cursed, packing away the files I was looking over into the briefcase under my desk. I pushed away and walked to my office room. "Give me five minutes, and I'll be out." I didn't wait for his reply before quickly walking to my closet and grabbing my rehearsal dinner tuxedo, stripping out of the one I was currently wearing. Once I was fully dressed in my black three-piece tuxedo, white button-down shirt, and black shoes, I grabbed my office suit and walked over to my desk to grab my briefcase before meeting David at the door.

"I can't believe you almost forgot about the dinner," David chuckled as we walked out of the office.

"Don't remind me. I'm such an idiot," I said, running my fingers through my hair before stopping in front of Elle's desk. "Elle, if I get any phone calls, take their message, and I'll get back to them tomorrow morning when I get in. If someone comes looking for me, tell them that I'll be in tomorrow and to come back."

"Of course, Mr. De Luca," she replied with a smile. "Have a great rest of your night and see you in the morning."

"You as well. And don't stay in too long. It's almost time for you to head home as well," I stated. She nodded again, giving me a warm smile before David and I made our way down the hall toward the elevator.

"I'll follow you," David said once we reached the private parking lot, and I nodded since I could see his car parked on the other side of where my car was parked.

Just as I unlocked the door, my phone began ringing. I took it out of my pocket and smiled at seeing Kat's name on the screen. I quickly answered as I climbed in. "Hi, are you on your way?"

"Hi, and yes, I should be arriving in about 20 minutes, give or take," I replied, connecting the phone to Bluetooth as I pulled out of the parking lot and made my way toward the main road. "I almost forgot about the rehearsal if it wasn't for David, who came in to remind me."

"Of course you did," she chuckled, making me smile. "You've been extremely busy these past couple of weeks, so it doesn't surprise me. I almost forgot about it as well if Hayden hadn't reminded me about it this morning."

"We sure are airheads, huh?" I asked, stopping at a red light. Her giggle made me grin. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw David smiling. I could see his lips moving, which meant he was also speaking on the phone. "Are you home, or are you at the restaurant already?"

"At the restaurant. Mom and Dad arrived a couple of minutes ago, and we're waiting for Valentina and Alessandro to arrive, which won't be long since they texted saying that they were a few minutes away," she replied. "Marcus said they'll be here as soon as he's done with his current clients."

"Sounds good. What about John, Ella, Vanessa, and Tyler?" I asked, pressing on the gas once the light turned green and making sure there were no cars coming in my direction.

"They arrived a moment after my parents did," she replied, making me hum. "Would you be able to stop by the house and grab Savannah's stuffed wolf? She's getting fussy, and I know it's because of you not being here."

"Of course. I was going to stop by the house to leave my things before making my way over to the restaurant. Where did you leave the stuffed wolf?" I was glad that our house was only a few minutes away from the restaurant, so it gave me time to leave my briefcase and tux at the house before driving to the restaurant.

"It should be in the living room, if not in her crib," Katerina replied.

"Okay. Tell everyone that I'll be there in about 15 minutes," I replied, pulling into my driveway with David in tow.

"Okay, see you in a bit. Love you."

"Love you too," I replied before ending the call. I turned the engine off and took the keys out before getting out of the car, with David raising a brow. "I won't be long. Why don't you leave your car here, and we can both head over in mine?"

"Okay," he replied. "How long are you going to take?"

"Not long. Just going to leave these inside and grab Savannah her toy," I replied, holding my briefcase and tux. He nodded. "You can come inside if you want, or you can wait in the car. Either way, I won't be long."

"I'll wait out here," he said. With that, I walked inside and ran up the stairs to mine and Kat's room. I tossed my things on the nearby loveseat before crossing the hall to Savannah's nursery. I checked the crib for the stuffed wolf but didn't find it, so I looked around the room. Still, the toy was nowhere in sight, which meant it must be downstairs.

I walked downstairs to the living room, where, sure enough, the black and white wolf sat on the couch. I quickly grabbed it before exiting the house and locking the door behind me.

"Alright, let's get going," I stated as I climbed into the car and turned the engine on. I reversed out of the driveway, pressing the button on the roof to close the gates before driving down the road toward the restaurant.