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“I was going mad when your father was holding you at his mansion and we had no way to rescue you. I don’t know what I would have done if he’d harmed you.” I pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. “I love you, Juliana. And I want to marry you.”
She frowned. “Um…we’re already married, in case you’ve forgotten?”
“Yes, but I never asked you. I just told you that you would marry me. Now I’m asking you.”
“And if I say no?”
“Do you want to say no?”
“I want to say yes,” she whispered.
“Because you love me?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Say it,” I demanded.
“Because I love you, Marco Marchiano.”
“And I love you too.”
I did love her. Perhaps I had loved her from the first moment I had seen her. Knowing that I could love this woman was an amazing feeling, although confusing at the same time.
But it was definitely a feeling I could get used to. And I wanted to get used to it—with Juliana at my side.
"Despite everything that's happened and the darkness inside me that I've forced you to witness, you still want me, and you want to love me. I don’t understand it."
"Maybe that's what love is about—going along with the universe’s plan for you."
"I'm a bad man, and my ways may at times seem harsh, and I won't ever change. But all logic flies out of the window for me where you're concerned—you've captured my heart, captured my soul, and captured my love."
She smiled at me.
And I grinned back at her. “Everything’s settled then. Now let’s get you up to bed so that I can make love to my pretty little fiancée.”
EPILOGUE
JULIANA
I didn’t think Marco was serious about having another wedding. But it turned out that he was completely serious, and he arranged for us to have a blessing in the church a few weeks later.
I was glad about it being in a church. The ceremony at the hotel had been quick and efficient, and it hadn’t felt real. No matter how much money had been spent that day on the hotel, dress, and reception, that wedding had been devoid of love and true feeling. I wasn’t a religious person, but when I had thought about getting married, I had always imagined that I would get married in a church in front of a priest.
I think Debi was even more excited than me about the church blessing and she was enjoying helping with all the preparations. I had never imagined that I would be thinking about wedding dresses and bouquets again.
Doing these things together with Debi made us grow closer. I was glad for that, both for me but also for her. It couldn’t have been easy for her growing up without a mother in a house full of boys. They loved her more than life itself, but I couldn’t imagine not having a sister to confide in and share things with.
And that’s what we were now—sisters. No one would ever take the place of Jess, but Debi was special in her own way. She was gentle and sweet and easy to love. I could see why her brothers adored her.
Sometimes I worried about what the Mafia world would throw her way. Being in our world wasn’t easy, but she had always had the protection of her brothers. What would happen when she married and left home?
Being concerned for her in this way made me realize how much I truly cared for her. I was determined that when the day came, Marco and her brothers would only marry her to someone who truly deserved her, irrespective of the needs of the Fratellanza.
Since Marco had proposed to me in the orchard, he had been treating me differently. He was softer with me in some ways, as if he was now willing to show his feelings to me. I knew that couldn’t be easy for him after having been told growing up that he needed to be emotionless and ruthless.
He was, little by little, letting me into his heart. He knew now that I didn’t want to deceive him or hurt him, and I knew he felt the same way toward me.
One of the biggest practical changes for me was that he had given me a cell phone and I was able to call my siblings. I hoped that in time that Jess and I would be able to get back to where we had been, where we’d been able to tell each other everything. I knew that I was a Marchiano now and our families were enemies, but that didn’t mean that Jess and I couldn’t be close.
