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My jaw dropped. “What?”
Alessio nodded smugly. “So the judge had no choice but to declare a mistrial.” He raised his eyebrow. “I’m free.”
I swooned against Alessio, my heart thudding with excitement and relief in my chest.
“I can’t believe it,” I murmured. “I can’t believe that you’re free, finally.”
Alessio grinned. “You’d better believe it,” he growled in my ear. The hair on the back of my neck stood up.
“I love you,” I said softly.
Alessio kissed me passionately. He nibbled on my lower lip and I swooned in his arms.
“I love you, too, Beth,” Alessio said. “And I always will.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Beth – One Year Later
“Beth, are you ready?” Heather leaned close to my face and dabbed at my cheek with a napkin. “You look beautiful.”
I grinned. I was standing in the foyer of the magnificent Ashford Estate – one of the biggest historic homes in New Jersey.
“I feel beautiful,” I said honestly, glancing down at my dress. “I can’t believe I’m finally doing this.”
Heather nodded. She pulled me into a long hug. “I’m going to miss you as a roomie,” she said. “But I couldn’t be happier for you.” She handed me a small envelope, which I had no choice but to tuck inside my bra.
“What is this?”
Heather smiled knowingly. “You’ll like it,” she said. “Trust me. Just open it later, after the ceremony.”
I blushed. “It doesn’t feel real,” I admitted.
“It’s real, girl,” Heather said. “And you’re finally getting married.”
I glanced into the next room. Alessio, clad in an Armani tuxedo, was standing at an altar covered with flowers. The pews were packed – mostly friends and family of the Amorusos – but I had a few guests of my own, including Heather and some of my other friends I’d made over the past year.
Alessio had asked me to marry him as soon as he’d been declared free. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I’d said yes immediately, then we’d made love in his limo and gone to every jewelry store in a thirty-mile radius to look for rings. Alessio had made me choose a two-karat stone. It was beautiful, if a bit ostentatious. I liked that because it reminded me of my husband-to-be. He was still the kindest and most generous man that I’d ever known….even if that had taken a little while to be revealed.
The organ began playing the familiar Mendelsohn Wedding March, and I gasped.
“It’s time,” Heather said. She gave me a little pat on the butt. “Go ahead, Beth. I know you’ll be great.”
I grinned. I glanced down, admiring my dress one final time before walking into the grand mansion. My ivory gown was fitted to my body, and showed off every curve…especially the small bump that I’d begun to grow in my lower belly.
I’d found out that I was pregnant three months before the wedding. Not many people knew, but I had a feeling everyone was going to find out at the reception, when the bride would toast with apple cider instead of champagne. I’d never really thought much about being a mother before, not even when I’d still been with Michael. But having Alessio’s baby was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.
It was so crazy to think that I was finally settling down to have a family with the only man I’d ever loved.
The organ grew louder and I took a deep breath, slowly walking down the aisle and holding my bouquet of peonies in front of me. Alessio kept his eyes on me the whole time, beaming with pride and managing to look only slightly smugger than usual. I couldn’t keep my sweet smile in place for too long. My emotions were all over the place, and soon I was tearing up and grinning broadly.
The priest took my hand and brought it together with Alessio’s. Alessio gripped my fingers tightly as the priest wrapped a sacred cloth, binding us together.
“This is forever,” I whispered softly to Alessio.
Alessio nodded. His eyes flashed with dark intensity. “Forever,” he repeated. “I love you, Beth.”
I didn’t have time to reply as the priest took his place before us and blessed our hands, then began the long process of our vows. We’d written our own, and while I knew I would cry while reading mine, I couldn’t wait for the chance to tell Alessio how I really felt about him.
