Page 99 of Possessive Mafia Bodyguard

“Finn, what are you doing?”

“Hear me out, sweetheart. Please?”

I hear the plea in his voice, and I glance at Ivana and Connor, who both nod encouragingly, and Katya who is watching this unfold with wide eyes. Ivana and I have been teaching her some English words. She’s a fast learner, bright and curious, but she won’t be able to follow everything that is being said.

I smile at her and turn back to face Finn, quelling the irrational urge to flee.

“Okay, I’m listening.”

Finn takes my hand again, and I don’t pull away.

“I love you, Tamara,” he begins. “You already know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you and our child, but sometimes, when I say the words out loud, they sound just like that, words, and I don’t want them to lose their meaning.”

“They won’t,” I interject. “I know how you feel.”

He smiles wistfully. “I don’t think you do. I would climb to the top of the tallest tower and tell the entire city about my love for you, but I know that isn’t what you want. I would stand in front of everyone we know and vow to love you until death do us part but…”

“I don’t want that,” I whisper.

“So, I found a compromise. I asked the people we care about the most to witness my vow to you.”

A door opens, and a woman I’ve never seen before joins us underneath the arch.

“Finn, I don’t—” My heart is racing. I never expected him to ask me to marry him, I’m not prepared for this, and I don’t want to say no in front of my sister and his brother.

“This isn’t a proposal,” he says. “This is me standing here and telling you that I love you.”

My eyes fill with tears. Now is my opportunity to tell him that I love him too. What am I so scared of? Would Ivana be scared to tell Connor that she loves him? After what she has been through, I don’t think she would.

But Finn is still talking. “Without you, I am nothing. Without you, I have no reason to go on living, and I will make the same promise to our child when he or she is born. You make me whole, Tamara. I will do whatever it takes to make you and our child happy.”

The celebrant watches us without speaking.

On our other side, Ivana and Connor appear to have moved closer together, Ivana’s arm around Katya’s shoulders.

I know that I’m expected to say something, but I can’t find the words.

“A ring would be conventional,” Finn says, “but when have we ever followed the rules?”

I peer up at him, and I can’t contain my smile. “Never.”

“So, I got you this instead.” He offers me a key ring with a silver key attached.

“What’s this?” I take it, feeling the weight of it in my hand.

“It’s your new home. If you want it.”

I blink, waiting for the statement to land. Which it does with a jolt.

“I can’t… I don’t know if I can…”

“This key is for the property next door to Leonid and Gianna. It’s registered in your name. I meant what I said, mo féileacán. I want you to be happy, and if that means you live with Ivana and Katya, then I’ll respect your wishes.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Where will you live?” My heart is racing.