Page 26 of Stealing Her Heart
“The most beautiful bride in the world,” he swears, bringing my hands to his lips.
We turn towards the priest as he gets started, our hands still woven tightly together. I am shaking but I am not afraid. I am excited. To say the words that will tie us together. To slide on the ring his mother gave me from his father. It will make this all perfect. My brother being here to give me away, his father being here in the one way he can be.
“Do you have your own vows?”
I shake my head even as Gabriel nods. “Yes, I do. I was a different man the night we met. I was thinking about this life. About whom I am, what I do. How there is no time to laugh, to be light, to let myself feel good. And I did not want to be at that engagement party. If I had not gone...my entire life would be different. I told you that we would have met somehow. It was fate. We were always going to meet because I am always going to love you.”
Taking a step closer, he brushes his thumb across my cheek, and I realize at tear had escaped. “You smiled at me the way you smile at everyone. With big, bright eyes full of wonder, full of hope, of dreams. The minute you smiled at me, I knew I would do anything, be anything, give anything, to have you. Sacrifices had to be made, but we’re here right where we belong. I love you, Gianna, and I always will. I am a better man because of you. I thought I was king of my borough. I was wrong. You made me a king.”
Staring up at him, the shattered parts of my heart fuse themselves back together. Parts that my mother and father tore down one piece at a time. They took my freedom, they took my brother, they took my real father, all for their own greed. Their own selfishness. From the moment we met, Gabriel has slowly given me everything they took back. Piece by piece.
“I love you too. I thought I knew what that was before. I thought I had a little love from my mother, from my father. Since I met you, I know how wrong I was. That was not love. This is,” turning, I look at the people gathered here for us. The people we love and who love us. “This is what love is. What it looks like, how it should feel. Before you I had no idea what love truly was. But now I know. And now I never want to be without it. I love you and I am so lucky you found me.”
The priest has us repeat some words and we exchange rings. When he announces us as husband and wife, the small cabin erupts. Dario pops the cork on a bottle of champagne as my new husband scoops me up and kisses me stupid. When he puts me back down, I am dizzy with love, with lust, with joy, but I take the champagne flute that is shoved at me and empty it fast.
Anto leads everyone out to the back where strings of lights crisscross the back yard. It sets the whole space aglow beneath the dark skies. Two or three tables create some seating for everyone. I laugh when I see several pots of pasta, meatballs, and plenty of wine. There is even a small millefoglie that we cut with a blade he pulls out of a sheath.
Could our wedding be any more mafia toned?
“To the rest of our lives,” Gabriel husks as he feeds me a piece of creamy pastry.
“To chasing lots of dreams together,” I whisper back.
With the people who matter most, we celebrate for hours. Not just our wedding. We celebrate the triumph that Anto and my husband managed by banding together against my father and the Marconi’s. They will never recover from this war. Two other families are poised to take their place among the five families. The Marconi’s and the Bianchi’s will be forgotten before Gabriel and Anto are done.
It will take some time for the danger to calm down. We will all be on high alert until the families consider the war settled. Others will be hurt. Some might be killed if they go against the status quo. Gabriel and Anto created the status quo—go against them and seal your fate.
“Where has my little princess snuck off to?”
Blinking up at my husband—I am a wife—I shake my head as if clearing my thoughts. “War. Fate. Kingdoms and their kings.”
Grinning, he shakes his head, spinning me as we dance across the earthen dance floor. “Just why you will make the perfect queen. I found you at the precise moment I was meant to. When you needed saved, and I needed something worth saving. Worth fighting for. I love you, princess.”
“I love you, capo,” I whisper back, grinning as his eyes darken.
His grin turns dark as he lifts his head. I frown before he speaks, shouting above the low din of music and chatter. “Party is over. You ain’t gotta go home, but you can’t stay here. I am taking my wife inside. Don’t come looking for us for at least a week.” Scooping me up bridal style, he sails past the others to head inside.
Time for this king and queen to get started on some little princes and princesses.
Epilogue
Gabriel
Two Years Later...
Nothing stains the same as blood.
Wiping the blood from my hands, I watch the crimson circle down the drain. Letting the water run, I try to get every drop of it. The towel is soaked with it, and I imagine my favorite shirt is ruined. Good thing I can afford another one.
My wife will be pissed. I was told not to wear my good suit to the meeting. I wanted to make an impression. When I am with the heads of the five families, I need to make sure they never forget me. That they always remember it was my move that set us on the path we’re on.
Our syndicate has become so powerful, we’re expanding outside of Silver Shores. We’ve got our hands in everything along the eastern seaboard. We’re in True Ridge, Driftwood, hell we even have some bars and clubs down in Sunset Springs. All because we trimmed the fat and made our focus lea
“Gabriel,” that sweet voice I love so much calls, sharper than usual.
Turning, I grin at her because she can never resist my smile. Proving me right, her eyes soften as she runs a hand over her round belly. Seeing her pregnant makes me happier than anything else in the world. Besides being there at her side when she had our daughter
“Yes, princess. And my prince,” I hum, going to press my hands to her belly. They’re clean of blood and she never liked that guy anyway.
