Page 24 of Stealing Her Heart
Gianna has been lit up like Las Vegas ever since. They have talked multiple times a day, always texting or calling each other. If I didn’t know better, I would be jealous. But I am pleased they were able to reunite. Anto thought it was a stroke of fate that I fell for his sister, considering how we were the best of friends for much of our life.
“How about we take a walk, princess?”
Turning to me, she cocks her head. I hope she cannot read that I am up to something. I want to surprise her. For the first time in my life, I am nervous. I want this to be perfect. I have been planning it for weeks now. It is part of the reason Dario, my sisters, and the others are still here. They’re our family, so they should be here for this kind of moment.
“Yeah. We can take a walk,” she agrees slowly, climbing to her feet.
Holding her hands out, she wiggles her fingers playfully until I take them, hauling myself up. It burns up my side as I stand tall, and I am sure I will bleed through my bandages, but I do not care. Hooking my arm over her neck in the guise that I want to lean on her, I let her lead me outside.
It is a cool day out with puffs of clouds in an otherwise clear sky. There is a warm breeze fluttering the leaves on the trees and it smells of salty sea air. Once we step off the porch of the small cabin, my surprise is there waiting.
“Oh. My. Gosh. Gabriel!”
Laughing as she gives up the guise of being my crutch to run towards her surprise, my chest heats with love. Lighting up the space is a giant green hot air balloon with a golden basket. It took me an exorbitant amount of money and a few threats to get it as close to her music box as possible.
They did a good job. I might throw in a fat tip as a thanks. Smiling as I watch her circle the basket, I nod to the guy working it. Pulling a lever, he gets it good to go before he unties all but one tie down. Catching my excited princess as she rushes past me, I am overwhelmed by her joy.
“Told you I would give you all your dreams. Thought this was a nice place to start,” I explain, as I help her up the steps leading to the basket.
“This is... this is amazing. This is everything! Gabriel, I am so...I cannot wait to get up there. This is so exciting!”
Stepping in after her, I nod at the guy to pull up the last tie down. The basket jostles a little before it slowly starts to lift off the ground. I might be a mafia hard ass, but it rips my breath from my lungs as we rise higher and higher. Gianna on the other hand is at the edge of the basket, peering down at Silver Shores as we sail over the sprawling port town.
For a while we just glide over town in a comfortable quiet. Gianna comes to cuddle against my chest as we near the pier, her favorite place. It is a beautiful town, and it holds important ties for both of us. I would still give it up, give the life up, move to a mountain or an island if she wanted.
“I love it here,” she breathes, as if she can read my mind. Sometimes I think we’re so connected we can read each other.
“I do too. Even more since I found you. I hate how everything has gone down, Gianna. How so much was taken from you. I want to give you everything, not be a reason you lose it all. If I could go back...take it all back,” Gianna turns, frowning up at me before I go on. “I would not take it back. We will hurt, will we lose things we love, we will get pissed off, we might even disagree on something. But it will be worth it. All of it will be worth it,” I whisper, feeling the connection between us humming.
“You, my little princess, everything about you is worth it. I want you to dream up anything you could ever want. Any life you could ever have. That is what I want to give to you. Because you have given me a dream. I thought I would be alone for the rest of my life. I accepted it. Until I met you.”
“Neither of us ever have to be alone,” she whispers, staring up at me with eyes shimmering with trust. Devotion. Love.
“If I were a better man, I would set you free. I am not a good man. I would not make it without you. I love you. I can’t set you free, but I can love you better than anyone else ever could. Gianna....be my wife. Make my dreams come true and say you will marry me, be my bride, give me babies, and dream with me for the rest of our lives.”
Gianna’s light eyes stare at me for a moment. I hold up the ring I picked out for her the day after we met. I recall hating the ugly thing they had put on her finger against her wishes. This one, I think, suits her. It is platinum with a woven band of diamonds on the sides, a square three-carat diamond nested atop them. It sparkles as it catches the light, throwing a prism over us.
“Yes. Wait...yes, you mean it? You want to get married?”
Chuckling, I nod. “Yes, I do. To you, princess. I mean every promise I make you, including being your husband for the rest of my life.”
Giggling her cute, light, adorable fucking giggle, she wiggles her hand at me, letting me slide the ring on her finger. It fits as if it was made for her. I think it was. It caught my eye the moment I saw it at the upscale shop, shimmering up at me the same way her bright smile shimmered.
“Yes! Yes, I am going to get married!”
Laughing as she throws herself at me, I catch her, grunting as my wounds scream in pain. I don’t care. Her excitement, her joy, is worth it. I would let her dig the stitches out and bleed me dry if she laughed and smiled at me the way she is right now.
“Yes, we are,” I murmur, kissing her gently as she wiggles the finger with her ring on it.
What she doesn’t know is we’re not waiting to plan a big wedding in a year or until after all these troubles settle down. I am getting her tied to me as soon as I fucking can. Once we come down from our hot air ride, we’re getting hitched. I won’t risk something happening to me without knowing she will get everything that is mine.
Once I bought a ring, put cameras on her, and stalked her like a lion stalking its prey, I began planning. For this war I was going to start. For a life with her. For the best way to protect her being who I am. That included changing my will to include her. I was so certain she would be in my life, it was not even a question of making the changes that would benefit her.
After everything we’ve been through, I am glad I did. If I had not made it, she would have had nothing. Her father was gone, Santino was gone. If her true father, Anto’s father, decides to claim her, then she would have been protected. I believe Anto would have taken care of her. Still, there is no way I would have taken that risk with the woman I love.
“Will it be just us? Will it be...I mean will all the five families be there?”
We’re just climbing from the balloon basket when she starts talking about the wedding. Usually, yes, most of the families would be there. Maybe we will have a big wedding another time. Now, all I care about is getting it down on paper, making it legal, and ensuring she will be taken care of.
