Truly A Match (Rocky Mountain Matchmaker Book 4)

by Tamra Baumann

  Marcello turned and faced her. The slow smile that lit up his whole face and made the crinkles around his eyes deepen with pure joy made her start blubbering like a baby.

  Who was she kidding? She was beyond tired, yes, but she was just plain happy to see Marcello, dammit. As hard as she had tried to stop worrying about their relationship, focus only on his release, she hadn’t been able to do it.

  Once she’d learned from his phone call that he hadn’t left her and that he was a man she could trust, her fears about him dissipated. Call her a fool, but during the fight to free him, when it looked as though she might lose him for years, she’d realized she couldn’t imagine her life without him. And that she’d wait for him if she lost. No matter how long it took. Her love for him was what had given her the strength to keep going back to fight each and every day.

  It was probably the same reason her mother had taken her father back. He’d been her one true love, even though he’d made a mistake. A much bigger one than Marcello had made. She hadn’t seen her mother so happy in many years. And in the end, that was what mattered most. Being happy.

  Rachel wiped her tears away as she got closer. She wasn’t going to let him off the hook easily, though. She was going to make him work to win her back. He’d better kick up that famous charm of his to nuclear level.

  When she joined them, Marcello was hugging Gina and telling her he’d send his plane for her whenever she and his cousin would like to come to LA.

  “We’d love to come visit very soon, Marcello. Thank you.” Gina wiped away tears, and it made Rachel want to cry all over again.

  Gina wrapped her up in a bear hug too. “You are the perfect match for my new cousin. I’m honored to have met you, Rachel.”

  “Thank you for being so brave with all you did for Marcello. I don’t think we could have done this without you.”

  Gina stepped back and shook her head. “I’m just glad to see his father finally getting what he’s due. I’ll track down the employees who lied for him, so Lorenzo stays behind bars the rest of his life.”

  Rachel whispered, “Grazie. Ciao, bella.”

  Gina waved and walked toward the terminal.

  When she turned and faced Marcello, he said, “I hate that I hurt you, Rachel. I thought it was the only way to keep you all safe. Any other woman would have let me rot in jail. Can I give you a hug to show you how grateful I am?” He held his arms out. “Please, amore.”

  The genuine remorse and uncertainty in his expression made it even harder to be angry with him.

  “Let the record show that I’m furious with you for your dumb plan to make me hate you, Marcello Romano. But after these last two weeks, I could really use a hug.” She stepped into his embrace and let him wrap her up and hold her close. She gave up fighting back her tears and let them fall. She could barely speak for the huge lump in her throat. “I’m too tired to fight with you right now. So, we’ll do it later, okay?” She gave him a quick squeeze before she stepped away.

  “Yes. I deserve a good tongue slashing.”

  She smiled as he led her to the stairs. “Lashing, not slashing. And I’ll be sure to give you that.” She wiped away her tears. “But first, there’s something inside I think you’re going to want to see.”

  He waited for her to climb the stairs first and then followed behind. Once they were inside, she threw her backpack into the first empty seat and waited to watch Marcello’s reaction.

  His eyes grew wide, and he lifted his hands in the air. “Mama? And Zia Carlota?” He crossed to the rear of the plane, knelt, and laid his head in his mother’s lap. His shoulders shook while he sobbed. It made her cry all over again to see how much Marcello loved his mother.

  His aunt was tall and thin, with gray hair and kind eyes. His mother was small and frail looking, but bits of her former beauty still shone through. She’d bet Marcello must’ve taken after her before his plastic surgery.

  Marcello’s mother had a sweetly bland expression as she stroked his hair and whispered, “Mimmo. Mimmo.”

  Marcello’s aunt rubbed his back and in Italian said, “Your sweet Ally finally convinced us to come live with you. She says she will help me learn English. We’re very glad you’re safe now.”

  Marcello lifted his head and then hugged his aunt. “Thank you for finally coming home with me, where I promise you’ll always be safe. But you have to meet Rachel!”

  He stood, wiped away his tears, and grabbed her hand, tugging her along with him. “Rachel, this is my Aunt Carlota, and my sweet mama.”

  Rachel shook hands with Carlota and, speaking Italian, said, “I’m glad to finally meet the hero who saved Marcello so many years ago.”

  His aunt’s eyes lit up. “You all speak Italian?”

  She nodded. “You’re going to be fine in the US. I’m so glad you’re coming home with us.” Then she turned to Marcello’s mother. “I’m happy to meet you.”

  His mom blinked at her, and at first, Rachel wasn’t sure she understood, until her hand reached out and touched the locket Marcello had given her. She whispered, “Bambino?”

  Rachel smiled and opened the locket. “Yes. This is Hannah and Ian.”

  Marcello whispered, “She always kept my baby pictures in there. She doesn’t really understand that they’re our babies.”

  She started to take the necklace off to give it back, but Marcello laid his hand over hers. “No. Her former self would want you to have it.”

  His aunt whispered, “If Marcello gave you that, then you are a very special person, Rachel.”

  He said, “She is, Auntie. She’s my special person.” Then he switched back to English. “Thank you so much for finding my family. Although, I don’t know how you did. I arranged for them to be hidden myself. No one but me knew what to say to the guards I’d hired to let anyone near them.”

  Ally snorted. “Yeah, and then you wrote the secret message,” Ally made air quotes with her fingers, “in your password file. Are you forgetting who set that secure file up for you?”

  Marcello shrugged. “Well, no matter. I’m grateful to you both.” He leaned in to kiss her, but she stuck her hand against his chest to stop him. She wasn’t ready to kiss him yet. Her emotions were all over the board. She needed to get her head straight before she dealt with him.

  “I’m going to take a long nap. Wake me when it’s time to eat.” She made her way to the front of the plane again, flopped on a couch, and fell into a deep sleep.

  When she blinked her eyes open next, her head was on Marcello’s shoulder and she’d wrapped her arm around his waist. She should move but didn’t want to. She’d just let him think she was still asleep for a few minutes and enjoy the cuddle, happy to have him back, safe and sound.

  He whispered, “Want to fight with me now? I’ve had a lot of time to consider, and I think I’ve finally found just the right words to make you forgive me.” He lifted the locket from her chest. “But maybe we don’t have to fight. I think you still love me because you’re wearing this.”

  She tamped back her smile as she sat up. “What if I was wearing it so I could return it to you when I broke up with you this time?”

  He lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. It was so corny, like out of a movie set in Regency times, but her heart always turned to mush every time he did it anyway.

  “Is that what your heart wants, amore? To break up with me?” He stared so deeply into her eyes, she had to look away before she threw her arms around him and begged him to kiss her.

  “Before I answer that, I still don’t understand something, Marcello. I know you wanted to keep me and the kids away from your father, but once I became your lawyer, why didn’t you let me help you? You could have told me everything, and we could have gone to the police. By keeping me out of the loop, you made everything worse.”

  He closed his eyes and whispered, “So, you didn’t read my police file?”

  “I read it. Gina snuck me a copy. Why?”

  He moaned as he leaned forwar
d and laid his head in his hands. “Then you know I didn’t stand up to my father. Help my mother when she needed it most. I let her down. And let my father get away with hurting her one more time when I’d vowed that the next time, I’d put an end to it all.”

  She rubbed a hand up and down his back. “You were sixteen. Your job was to be a kid. It was your father who was wrong for hurting people just because he was bigger and he could.”

  He shook his head. “You don’t understand. There was a gun upstairs. I’d promised myself that the next time he hurt my mother, I would kill him. I could have shot my father like he deserved, and made certain my mother would never be hurt by him again, but I just couldn’t do it. So now my mother and aunt pay for my cowardice every single day. I didn’t want to ask for your help and risk you seeing my true nature. I was afraid you wouldn’t love me anymore if you did.” His voice was filled with utter defeat, and he still wouldn’t look at her.

  Trent’s warning about abused children and their unique fears suddenly came back to her. Marcello had said something in his backyard about feeling unworthy of love until she’d come along. Now those words made sense, but they were the furthest thing from the truth.

  Ironic that both of their biggest fears were that the person they loved would leave them.

  She leaned down to his level and whispered, “When I read that police report, I didn’t see any cowardice. I saw the beaten boy in your booking pictures. You risked your life by making that phone call to the police. Shooting your father would have been the easy thing to do. You were brave to do the right thing rather than take the law into your own hands. That report proved to me what I already knew. You’re the kind of man our children and I can look up to.”

  He lifted his head and blinked at her. “So, the reason you wouldn’t let me kiss you earlier wasn’t because you were going to dump me like I deserve?”

  “No. It was because I was still upset with you but too tired to argue. Now that you’ve explained yourself, I understand better. Except now that you’ve mentioned it, I’m very curious about these magic words you’ve been practicing to win me over while you were in jail.”

  “I wasn’t sure earlier that I was ever going to get the chance to tell you.” He smiled and took her hand. “But first I wanted to tell you that I watched the speech you gave in Italian. I saw the tears you cried for me. At first it embarrassed me, but then I realized I was seeing the true compassion in your heart. It reminded me of all the reasons I fell in love with you, bella.” He laid a kiss on her palm.

  It sent a shiver up her spine. It’d been over a month since they’d been together, so it wouldn’t take much, and he knew it. He was so sneaky sometimes with his irresistible charm. The bad part was, she fell for it every time. “Wilma told me how bad it had been for you.”

  “Ah, Wilma.” He laid her hand over his heart. “I love her like my own mother. But my love for you is like no other.”

  “A cheesy rhyme? Those were the words that were supposed to make me forgive you?” She shook her head. “And you said I was bad at coming up with nice words.”

  “You are. Very bad.” He grinned but kept her hand under his, over his chest. “Those weren’t the words I’d decided on, but they’re true.”

  She liked feeling his heart pound under her palm. As cool as he appeared on the outside, he was nervous. “Okay, then lay them on me.”

  He cleared his throat. “To quote another person who at the time was completely racked with as much guilt as I am, ‘Can you just punch me in the arm or something to pay me back for hurting you? Please?’”

  Recognizing her own words after she’d pepper-sprayed him, she laughed. “Okay, I guess I am bad at words.” She loved him even more for remembering exactly what she’d said, though.

  He leaned closer like he was going to kiss her but stopped. “I’ll always love you anyway. Even when you can’t find the pretty words to tell me back.”

  “See? There you go again. Saying things that just melt my stone-cold heart.” She shook her head. “But they still aren’t the words I want to hear from you. Because I’m not messing around anymore. I’m all in or all out.”

  “You’ve just melted my heart, bella.” He knelt before her, took her hands in his, and looked into her eyes. “But before I ask you this important question, do you have any dark secrets, Rachel? Because I can’t be in a committed relationship with you unless you come clean.”

  “Nope.” She shook her head, impatient for him to get on with things. “Not a one.”

  He tilted his head. “Are you sure? Think hard.”

  She couldn’t imagine what he was talking about. “I really don’t, Marcello.”

  He whipped out the romance novel she’d brought along. “Then can you please explain this?”

  “Hey.” She reached out for it, but he held it above his head. “How’d you get that?” She was mortified that he’d found it.

  “It fell out of the side pocket when I moved your pack. It intrigued me that a woman who claimed to not need romance spends her time reading about other people having it. Seems you’re a closet romance reader, Rachel. Do we need to have an intervention?” He opened the book and flipped through the pages.

  “Nope.” She took the opportunity to swipe the book back. “I’m good.”

  Still kneeling before her, he pointed to the book. “That hero is pretty amazing. Makes me wonder if I could ever possibly measure up.”

  Embarrassed to the core, she said, “You read it?”

  “Enough to know I have my work cut out for me.”

  “No, you don’t.” She tossed the book aside. “I never thought I’d ever find a man as great as any of the heroes I’d read about for all these years, but always knew I deserved one. Every woman does. Imagine my surprise when I met you.” She leaned forward and kissed him. “You’re better than any of my book boyfriends, Marcello. Because you’re real. And all mine.”

  “I am. So now I better make sure you stay mine.” He gazed into her eyes with that deep stare that always made her insides go gooey. “I love you, Rachel. You filled what was missing in my heart and my life and made me whole again. I want to spend every day with you for the rest of it trying to be the best husband and father I can be. Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  “How do you do that?” Tears in her eyes made him all blurry. “Your words always speak straight to my heart and remind me how much I love you. So yes, I’d very much like to become your wife.”

  A loud whoot from Ally came from the back of the plane.

  Marcello climbed back into the seat next to Rachel. He whispered, “Those were very nice words. I think I’m rubbing off on you.”

  “What if I told you I read those fancy words in my book?”

  He laid his lips on hers, gently at first and then added more pressure, more intensity, more lust until she wanted to drag him back to the bedroom in the rear and show him just how much she’d meant those words.

  He slowly leaned away. “That kiss just called you a liar.”

  She snuggled next to his side and gave him a hug. “If I said I saw them on the internet, what would that get me?”

  He stood, grabbed her hand, and tugged her past his sleeping mother, aunt, and Ally, who pretended to be asleep all of a sudden, and kicked the bedroom door closed behind him. “I think you’re right. Words are overrated.”

  “See? Now who’s rubbing off on whom?”

  “Don’t care.” He gently pressed her onto the bed and then climbed on top of her. “Ever done it with an ex-con before?” His scratchy American thug accent was amazing.

  She smiled as she ran her hands through his thick hair. “Not on a plane.”

  His brow furrowed for a second before he figured out she was teasing. “Get ready for the thrill of your life, smart mouth.”

  She closed her eyes and got lost in his kiss. Being with Marcello already gave her the thrill of her life. She looked forward to spending the rest of it with him.

  A few
months later . . .

  Rachel, filled with excitement and anticipation, nervously twirled her wedding ring as she stood on the balcony, checking out the party setup going on below. Everything was almost in place, and the Denver guests would be arriving any minute. Only her twin knew what was really going to happen today.

  She’d missed her family since moving to California, but it’d been easier to be with Marcello more often living on the West Coast. For now, anyway. Maybe when the kids started school, they’d consider moving back to Denver so they could live a more normal life. Well, as normal as the children of a movie star could live. Marcello’s viral hashtag and his backstory coming to light had kept the press happy for months. Even Lance had apologized to her, because being married had only helped Marcello’s career so far.

  Their backyard overlooking the ocean, with the salty sea breeze mixed with flowery perfumed air and the sun just starting to set, made for the perfect venue. So why did she want to be sick?

  Ally strolled up beside her and handed her a glass of her mother’s peach iced tea that Rachel had practically become addicted to. “Why are they putting up that thing with all the flowers? Shouldn’t they be putting up a bouncy house instead?”

  “That’s an arbor. To take pictures of the kids for Stella.” Ally, along with the rest, thought they were coming to attend the kids’ first birthday party. Which was going to happen too. “Maybe we’ll do a bouncy house next year. I think cake and wrapping paper are what they’ll be most interested in for now.”

  “True.” Ally crossed her arms. “You’ve been acting weird all week. Are you really this nervous about a party?”

  She turned and studied the waves crashing against the shore, because she wasn’t good at lying. “Why would I be nervous about a kids’ birthday party?”

  “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

  It was tough to get anything past Ally. But it looked like she might just pull her surprise off yet. “Are we finally going to meet your mysterious boyfriend this evening?”

  “Smooth way to change the subject.” Ally smirked. “But no. Too many people for his first time. Marcello scowling at him all through dinner will be tough enough. I’ll bring him by next week.”