I groan again and bury my face in the sheets.
“Christmas is the time for forgiveness,” he says and lets the tips of his fingers trace the hairline on my nape. “If you could forgive me, then anything is possible.” I inhale deeply and let the air out on a shudder. He pulls me to him harder. “I’ll take care of you, Kerry. Now and always.”
There’s no getting away from meeting his family. Not today, not in the future. I’ve chosen this man and with him comes his baggage, a mob family, ice cold, dangerous men and women. I’ve stood up for myself before. I can do it again.
I kiss him on the earlobe, then graze it with my teeth. “I trust you. I’m with you, I’ll stay with you. I’ve chosen you, and it means I’ve chosen the rest too.”
He lifts his chin in silent acknowledgement. “Do you love me?” he asks, echoing what I asked him last night when everything changed, when our worlds finally melted together.
“Christian,” I catch his hand, twining my fingers with his. “I have loved you for a long time. Thank you. Thank you for her, for tonight. Thank you for being you.”
The look he gives me shatters my heart. I have never seen someone so naked, so happy, and so afraid.
“It’ll be all right, you know,” I say with a profound feeling I’m holding his heart in my hand. I could crush him with a flick of my wrist, but he is my whole world too.
“Marry me,” he says.
My heart leaps, but I tsk and he widens his eyes.
“I want you on your knees, with a ring.”
A sly smile spreads on his face, his gaze devouring me. “Yes, ma’am. Your word is my law, will always be.”
“Always?”
“Except in bed.”
I laugh. “I can live with that.”
Till death do us part.
Epilogue
Kerry
“You look absolutely stunning, honey!”
Mom flutters around me, correcting invisible wrinkles. I haven’t had any of the champagne I was offered, I just brought the glass to my mouth and pretended. The new life I carry inside doesn’t yet show, and it will be my and Christian’s secret for a little while longer.
Staring at my image in the mirror, I’m amazed at how this all came to be.
“Isn’t she pretty?” Mom turns to Bianca Russo who, with her perfect hairdo, and extravagant makeup, I’ve come to realize, is way too similar to my mom. They’re both women who fight for what they want, carry themselves with pride and plow through life, determined to bend everyone to their will. They’re also both deeply involved in making me the prettiest bride in history.
Bianca fiddles with bobby pins, even though my hair already looks fantastic, red with newly added highlights, most of it high up on the back of my head, but letting little curly tresses fall along my nape. There are simple diamonds in my ears, and a thin platinum chain around my wrist. I have Christian’s necklace around my neck, and I chose the simple, creme-colored, bare-shouldered dress to go with the beautiful jewelry, rather than choose jewelry after my dress.
My whole soul reaches for him. I haven’t seen him since yesterday.
On a couch in the far end of the room sits Chloe, feeding little pieces of bread to Cecilia. Our gazes meet and Chloe smiles shyly. We still haven’t talked. I know she was away. I know things happened to her that changed my happy-go-lucky friend and hardened her, but we’re slowly finding our way back to each other, and the rest will come. I hope.
The door slams open. Gayle and Rebecca storm in, their cheeks a little rosy. Just like Chloe and Cecilia, they have pale pink dresses, all in different styles. I made no one maid of honor. How could I choose? They’re all equally important to me, all in their own right. Rebecca stands for light-hearted fun. Gayle has known me the longest and centers me. She knew my father. She can hold her own against my mother. Chloe knows all my darkest, dirtiest secrets. I don’t have to pretend anything with her.
“Girl! It’s time,” says Rebecca.
“The fricking church is full, Kerry, you wouldn’t believe it. Who are all these people?!” Gayle spreads her arms wide.
My gaze flickers to Mom and Bianca. “I think they’re relatives to Christian.”
“The Italian side of the family decided to join,” says Bianca, and that’s clearly all the information we get.
“Kerry, you’re so beautiful,” says Gayle. “Cecilia, doesn’t Mom look like a princess?”
“No. She should have worn pink,” says my soon-to-be three-year-old, “and the skirt isn’t fluffy.”
Chloe laughs and puts the sandwich back in the box. “You look like a real princess, hon.”
“America doesn’t have princesses.”
Bianca spins around and crouches before Cecilia. “They do now.”
Cecilia squirms, a shy smile on her face, then she throws her arms around Bianca, who stiffens visibly.
“You’re the best gramma ever!”
My mom looks from me to Bianca and Cecilia, then back to me. “I can’t win, can I?”
“Mom,” I whisper, “it’s not a contest.”
Her eyes narrow as she glances at Bianca again and I sigh. The contest is clearly on.
“Wanna see Mommy marry Daddy, then?” Chloe puts a stray lock of hair back behind Cecilia’s ear.
Bianca pulls it right back out, letting it fall in a corkscrew curl along her temple and Chloe throws out her hands, looking at me, rolling her eyes.
We all straighten when the bells start ringing and my pulse skyrockets. St. Patrick’s Church is gigantic, and it’s filled with people I don’t know, and a few that I do know. There’ll be a choir, a boy soprano singing solo, the ceremony will be part in English and part in Latin. Suddenly I want to escape out the window, jump from the second floor and just run. Chloe must sense my panic because she comes right up to me and grabs my arm.
“It’ll be all right, hon. Christian loves you, you love him. That, and your baby, it’s all that matters. The rest… you’ll get the hang of it. Just, you know—” she bumps her hip to mine, nudging me, “grab’em by the balls. They like you more than you think.”
Bianca claps her hands and opens the door. The bells are still chiming, the sound louder now, echoing in the stone corridor. We move as one unit. Rebecca holds up the back of my dress. Chloe clutches my clammy hand. We all seem to hold our breath, standing outside the giant double doors that lead into the chapel, and when the organist starts playing Mendelssohn, I choke up. The custodian swings open the doors and I take in the massive chapel, the people, the flowers, my knees going weak. Chloe squeezes my hand reassuringly, then she starts walking down the aisle with Rebecca and Gayle. The moms go next, together, no partners by their sides. Two proud women who I think will find each other eventually. My eyes fall on Salvatore. He’s standing to the right, impeccably suited up, calmly waiting for me and Cecilia.
I swallow and give him a nod. He winks and I step up to his side. He’s giving me away. He didn’t ask.
I give him my arm and whisper to Cecilia, “It’s time, baby.”
A female custodian gives her a little basket with flower petals. Everyone turns to look at us as we make our way down the aisle. In front of the altar stands my man, my soon-to-be husband, my tall, intoxicatingly beautiful partner, and right then and there, calm washes over me and everything in the world is all right again.
He’s mine.
I’m his.
It was always us. It just took us a little while to understand it.
* * *
The End
Nicolina Martin
Nicolina Martin is a Swedish born author who escapes the long, dark winter nights by writing hot contemporary romance/suspense. She’s a mother of three teenage girls, a medical doctor, a quirky loner, and a social human being. She has traveled the globe, has loved and hated, succeeded and failed, has gone through marriage and divorce. She has seen darkness and despair, as well as light and happiness. All these experiences, she pours into her stories, taking her readers
for a wild ride, while twisting their minds. She loves showing that stories can be different even if the trope is the same.
Nicolina believes that life is too short for regrets and in looking forward, no matter what. She wants to enjoy every moment, and cherish life.
To find out more about her, visit her official website at: https://www.nicolinamartin.com/ or follow her on social media:
Twitter: www.twitter.com/nicolinamartin
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* * *
Don’t miss these exciting titles by Nicolina Martin and Blushing Books!
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Individual Titles:
Break My Chains
* * *
The Russo Saga:
Heat - Book One
Ruin - Book Two
Shame - Book Three
The Savage Duet:
Redemption - Book One
Absolution - Book Two
Absolution Savage Duet Part Two: Russo Saga Part Five Page 27
