Page 72 of Forbidden Pregnancy
We grin at each other and Michael takes the bejeweled engagement ring out of the box to eagerly slip it onto my finger.
“I love you,” he whispers, kissing the top of my hand.
This man, thismafiaman loves me and I know that even if he might not be perfect, he will burn the whole world to protect me. Of course I love him and of course I said yes. I love Michael as much as he loves me – and I know we’re going to share this love forever.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Michael
Our baby arrives just on time, although she’s late according to the date provided by our doctor. I barely survive the agonizing uncertainty of child birth, although I’m careful not to emphasize my difficulties when talking to Myra. She did all of the work, after all. Her natural birth recovery will be about six weeks. I use every last minute of that time gathering up my resources to plan Myra’s dream wedding…
Once our wedding is over, we will finally be together – the three of us, a family.
Istand in the dressing room alone, fitting a tie around my neck as I prepare to see my wife for the first time in twenty-four hours. Wedding traditions will be the death of me and I miss Myra. The next time I see her and hold her close will be after the wedding. I miss her already. Upon consideration, mylooks aren’t horrible, although I’m certain that I’m not enough for Myra. She probably looks ethereal today and I’m just… better than normal.
“We’re coming in,” Luigi announces alongside his knock on my dressing room door. We? I turn around to see my best man and his surprise guest, Delphine.
“Wow!” Delphine exclaims. “Michael, I didn’t know you cleaned up so well.”
Her dress coordinates with Luigi’s powder blue best man suit, so they look like the perfect couple. Luigi’s arm snakes comfortably over Delphine’s shoulder as he pulls her in close to him.
“Myra won’t recognize you,” Luigi reassures me.
Delphine looks up at her husband with an expression of such deep love that I feel moved in a way that normally wouldn’t affect me in the slightest. Romance was never my thing. Well, it was. Twelve years ago, I met a woman… a beautiful, untouched woman with skin the color of warm, roasted almonds and a smile that made me want her in my life.
Nobody in my house smiled like Myra, my mother certainly never did.
“I’m not a suit guy,” I grumble as I fuss with my beard. I had it trimmed and shaped up last night, but now that I have to show Myra the results of my grooming, I don’t know how I feel about it all.
“Myra wants to marry the person, not the suit,” Delphine says. “There’s nothing to be nervous about.”
“Trust me, Delphine. I am not nervous.”
I turn to both of them with a smile that finally feels triumphant and genuine. Delphine’s concerns couldn’t be further from my own. Nervous? No. But I am eager. I waited over a decade to get Myra back into my life and after today, she will be a Corsini forever. There’s nobody left to hurt her ordestroy the aspects of her personality that I am deeply in love with.
After this, it’s official. I get to be with her and my daughter for the rest of my living days.
“I’m happy.”
Delphine and Luigi squeeze each other. The way they hold each other for comfort reminds me of the relationship I have with Myra. Close. Connected. They’re a proper family and time together has only strengthened Delphine’s position. She even won over Leandro.
“I’d like a moment with Michael, darling,” Luigi says to Delphine, planting a kiss on her lips while his hand rests gently on the small of her lower back. Delphine moves her body closer to her husbands and my craving for Myra intensifies.
“I’ll check on Myra and the bridesmaids,” Delphine says. “Flora got a little too big for her dress since the last measurements and when I left them, there was a bit of a meltdown going on.”
Delphine disappears to hopefully address the meltdown without much drama, leaving me and Luigi alone in the dressing room. With Delphine out of the room, Luigi’s expression hardens. My instincts are right – he’s here to talk business. He puts a hand on my shoulder and tries to soften the blow.
“Ready for it?”
“As ready as any man can be for lifelong commitment.”
Luigi laughs. “We’re well bred for it.”
“Yes. We are.”
“Dad wants to talk to you today.”
The mob boss, Leandro Taviani, wants to have a conversation with me. I can count on one hand the individual conversations I’ve had with Luigi’s father. We’re family, but that sometimes means you get the pleasure of going years without speaking to each other, suffering no love lost.
