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“Looking up wedding stuff,” I answered, and that woke him right up.
He pushed the pillow behind his back and sat up straight. “Tell me what I need to do.”
Dominic and I stood in a room with a judge, my dad, Michael, and Kristina. I had an ivory dress I’d fallen in love with hanging in my closet for years, so I wore that now. It was form-fitting, flattering, and way too short. I wasn’t sure I could even bend over in it without showing everyone my ass, so I stood tall.
I’d gone to the jewelry store with Kristina and bought a ring for Dominic and a small band for myself. There was no way I was letting him walk around town without a ring on his wedding finger after today. I wanted everyone to know that he was finally legally mine.
We exchanged vows and wedding bands, and then it was over as quickly as it had begun. No one objected when they were asked. And everyone cried. Even my dad. It was perfect—intimate, private, and romantic. I’d realized that I didn’t need any of the usual fanfare to celebrate our union. I only needed my husband.
And now, I had him. For better or worse. In sickness and in health. Till death did us part. And then we promised to find each other in the next life.
JUSTICE
DOMINIC
TWO MONTHS LATER
When all was said and done, the Firenzis takedown had been a success. It was far more convoluted than anyone could have known, but the right people were now behind bars, awaiting a trial that would take years to come to fruition. None of us were certain that they’d stay alive for that long. Crazy shit happened to criminals once they were inside a prison cell. Your past tended to catch up with you in there, and vendettas no longer went unanswered.
My father had actually agreed to testify, which surprised and impressed me, but when it came down to it, Bob didn’t need him after all. He’d taken his statement, which included coercion and threats to life, but in the end, two of the Firenzi family members spoke up and were willing to do the takedown themselves. They said it was their “duty” to put a stop to the vicious cycle that had gone on for too long, and they didn’t want anyone else getting wrapped up in their dirty laundry.
Apparently, they had been wanting out of the business for as long as they’d been in it, but they had no idea how to leave. They felt trapped with no way out. It was a feeling I understood and could relate to intimately, only I’d been able to tell my old man no and walk away. It wasn’t the same in their family. There was no choice. There would be no walking away.
It was a shocking turn of events, and the entire town was rattled when the news slowly started coming out. The Firenzi family had been shunned by the community for so long that welcoming them back into the fold felt incredibly uncomfortable for most, if not impossible.
Dove and I tried to help in our own way. She took the two of them on as clients, sold their family home, and helped them buy new ones within the town limits, proving that they could be trusted and not feared. It also showed the townspeople that the two remaining Firenzis wanted to be part of our community and not ostracized anymore.
I gave them both jobs working at my company. I actually became close with the youngest Firenzi son, Jacobi, who was only five years older than I was. And even though I liked him a lot, giving him a job had been my way of keeping an eye on his family at first.
Initially, we had all feared some sort of backlash, actually waited for a slew of Firenzis from all over the country to fly in and get their revenge on everyone in town, but it never came. That didn’t mean that it never would, but Jacobi made it sound like the most vicious of the Firenzis were dying out. It seemed like the older generations would soon be extinct, and the younger ones were ready to usher in a new way of life. One that didn’t involve putting their family in harm’s way at every turn.
Jacobi had actually been grateful for the arrests, although he’d deny it vehemently if ever asked.
As for Trevor, well, he’d tried to become a ghost of sorts. Disappeared soon after the failed wedding, too humiliated to continue living in town after so many had spoken up against him. His ego couldn’t handle facing anyone after that. I knew where he was at all times—I had a private investigator keeping tabs on him. When I was ready to make him pay for what he’d done to the people I loved, I’d know exactly where to find him.
I pulled into the driveway of our house, cut off the engine, and grinned at the sight of my wife’s Range Rover. I’d never get tired of seeing it there. If I ever started taking her or her presence for granted, I’d just remember what it’d felt like to lose her, and that feeling would disappear instantly.
When I walked through the front door, the smell of sugar and chocolate hit my senses. “Wife!” I shouted.
Dove appeared out of nowhere, wearing nothing but a see-through black bra and panty set.
“I baked,” she said with a half-grin.
I started salivating at the sight of her, my eyes locked on her full tits, my dick waking up to greet her.
“Uh-huh.” I always turned stupid whenever I saw her naked. The woman was a dream.
She laughed. “I said, I baked.” She pointed at the tray of cookies on the counter, clearly hinting at something that I wasn’t quite getting.
“You think I care about cookies when you look like that?”
“Go look at what else I made for you.” She pointed at the counter.
Even though I had no idea what she was up to, I did as she’d asked. Because I always would. Because that woman owned me and I didn’t care who knew.
Stepping toward the kitchen island, I saw what looked like a rectangular watch box sitting next to the tray of chocolate cookies. “What’s this?” I asked before looking over my shoulder, wondering if she’d bought me a gift and why. As long as she was mine, I didn’t need anything else.
“Open it.”
