Chapter 28
Anastasia
I stirred from my sleep. I could feel the morning rays from the sunlight that streamed in from the balcony door we had left open last night. My body was spent and sore. I could still feel the beating of my core. The man had worked my body in ways that I had never experienced in my life.
I reached my hand, expecting to find him beside me, but all I felt was the smooth cotton sheets under my palm. I fluttered my eyes open to find an empty space beside me.
That was odd.
I rubbed my eyes, trying to rid my vision of the sleep that lay laden in my pupils. I sat up and pressed the sheets to my chest. The breeze blew in from the window, cooling the hot air I had been sleeping in. It cooled my heated face and awakened more of my body to the new day.
I could not believe this man had left me in bed alone. I wanted cuddles, and I felt a little cranky without them, as corny as that sounded. Sleeping in his arms gave me a peace I could not quite put into words.
The scent of flapjacks and freshly brewed coffee wafted into my nose from under the bedroom door. My stomach rumbled from hunger instantly.
I had worked up quite the appetite after round five of sex. Oh yes, we had made love in every inch of the room, closet, and bathroom.
I guessed he had a good reason for leaving me alone in bed. He was preparing sustenance for me so that I didn't faint.
I looked around the room for something to throw over my body and noticed his large button-down. I grabbed it and threw it over my small frame, already feeling comforted by the scent of his cologne on the fabric. The thing reached me mid-thigh and showed off my legs perfectly. I wasn’t ashamed to grab the fabric and breathe it in deeply through my nose.
Fresh pine and musk.
I would never grow tired of his scent. It sent my hormones into overdrive every time I got a whiff of it.
I left the room with bare feet and an empty stomach in search of the food he was preparing for me. This was a life that I could get used to. After a night of mind-blowing sex, I would wake up to breakfast being made for me without even having to ask.
I guess that was what happened when a man loved you. He was not afraid to go out of his way to offer you a little extra comfort.
My bare feet padded against the old hardwood floors as I followed the scent that led me to the kitchen. I stopped when I found him moving around the small space like he belonged there.
I leaned against the wooden archway and watched him move through the kitchen. For a man who said he didn’t have a domesticated bone in his body, he sure looked at ease doing domesticated things. He flipped the flapjacks and then he reached for the coffee pot in the center of the large island. And that’s when he felt my eyes on him. He lifted his gaze and smiled, not the little smirk that he usually did, but a full-blown cheek-to-cheek smile that had my center waking up and wanting more from the man who had taken me to heaven and back. His eyes moved up and down my body appreciatively, taking in my frame that drowned in his shirt.
“I like your shirt.” His eyes darkened, the hunger that had resided in them last night flashing across his pupils again. “Slept well, cielo ?”
Now that I knew why he called me that, the word meant even more to me than it had before. I smiled internally, feeling giddy like a little child. My mother always said a woman was only truly in love when she was in touch with the little girl inside of her.
“I slept wonderfully, and you?” I pushed off the archway and stepped into the kitchen. I got myself comfortable on the highchair and stared at his face. “I am a little sore though. This guy that I know fucked me into oblivion last night. You think that I would have had enough, but it seems I’m craving a little more this morning.”
His eyes danced with mischief. “A little more?”
I nodded and leaned my elbows on the other side of the counter to him. I was planning on sprawling myself over the counter and giving him a little show, but my eyes stilled when I caught something sparkly reflecting off the counter.
My entire body went rigid as I stared at what it was. Was that…? Surely it wasn’t what I thought it was.
Valerio sighed dramatically, but my eyes were trained on the massive diamond that rested on my left finger. “I got that ring two months ago knowing that one day we would get to this point. You weren't supposed to be up yet. I was going to bring breakfast to you and then I was going to give you this—never mind.”
I stared at the ring on my finger in pure and utter shock. How had I not noticed it the moment I had woken up? The thing was huge, but more importantly it had been placed on my finger, which meant that he wanted to…
My eyes moved from the sparkling diamond to Valerio who was looking at me with the same tenderness that he had last night. It was the look he had given me before he had told me he loved me. It was the same look he had on the plane when we were making our escape.
“Valerio…” I didn't know what else to say. I was at a loss for words.
“ Cielo .” He stepped around the counter, the coffee he had been pouring long forgotten. “I am not very good with my words, so bear with me.”
I could hear the blood gushing past my ears. The ring felt like it weighed a thousand tons. My heart was light, and for the first time in years, this man had managed to unburden my soul.
He walked up to me and took my hands into his. His thumb rubbed the diamond on my ring and then he locked his gaze with mine. I could see the determination roaring in his pupils. He was a man on a mission, and he wanted to complete it.
“When you walked into my life, I was knocking at death's door. Our chance encounter that day was fated by the heavens. Lord knows that I have done many things to get me blacklisted from that place, and yet he sent me you.” He wetted his lips as he took in a long breath. “You not only saved me from death physically, but you resurrected me internally. You ignited my dead soul and gave me a purpose to live, to breathe, and to look toward the light.
“I am a far cry from a good man. I have done many things I'm not proud of, and I have tainted the world in ways that I am ashamed of today. You are all things good, cielo . You are light personified—my heaven on earth. I don’t deserve you, and I don’t think I will ever deserve you, but I will work my ass off to prove myself worthy of you.”
He breathed in deeply, his chest filled with air before he released it all with a shaky breath. His thumb rubbed the diamond again as if to grant him courage. His eyes stared at it tentatively before he tore his gaze away from the rock and locked eyes with me again. His eyes sparkled with a light that radiated throughout his body.
“You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I don’t know what storms will lie ahead for us, but I know that I will face whatever it is with you. You are my sunlight, Anastasia. You had my heart from the moment I laid eyes on you the first time, and now I want to give you my last name if you will have it…”
He dropped down to his knee, never once breaking eye contact with me. It was only when I felt the saltiness of the tear on my lip that I realized that my eyes were watering. A small little whimper of excitement escaped my lips, waiting for him to ask me the question that we both knew the answer to.
“I want to share all your bad days and good days with you. I want to be the first face you wake up to in the morning, and the last you see at night. I want to watch you achieve all your hopes and dreams. I want to be your pillar of strength when you feel the weight of the world drawing down, and I want to experience every new and old thing together. Ty vyydesh’za menya? ”
Will you marry me?
I didn’t even need to think about it. The answer was instantaneous. I launched myself at him, taking us both to the floor.
“For a man who sucks with words, you sure know how to string them together beautifully.” I pressed my lips to his with a searing kiss, sealing our fate. When I pulled away, my smile was as bright as the Vegas strip, and his mirrored mine.
Valerio’s strong hands latched onto my small waist tightly. He pecked my lips before pulling away again with a rumble in his chest. His eyes danced with a joy that I had rarely seen but prayed would remain in his eyes for the rest of our days.
“So, is that a yes?” He laughed lowly. He tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear and cupped the side of my face gently.
He always handled me with such care. His hand had done many vicious things, but when it came to me, he always held me like I was the most delicate of flowers.
His flower .
I turned my head and kissed the inside of his palm. I leaned into his touch, feeling the warmth radiate from my skin to his.
I stared into the eyes of the man who had somehow become the love of my life. On paper, we didn’t make sense. He was calloused and hard, I was soft and gentle. And yet we fit together like two perfect puzzle pieces. There was nothing in this world that I would not do for this man. He was my everything and more.
“It’s a yes.” The tears flowed freely from my eyes, but not an ounce of sadness could be found within me. These were tears of joy and peace. “ Te amo eternamente, en esta vida y en la proxima .”
His eyes sparkled when I spoke in Spanish.
“Estas aprendiendo espanol? ”
Have you been learning Spanish?
“I’ve always known Spanish. You just never bothered to ask me.”
He pressed his lips to mine and then pulled away. “My wife-to-be, always surprising me at every corner.”
I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him in even closer. “Life would be boring if I didn’t. Are you sure you want to marry me, Valdez? I’m a little bit of a mess.”
He drew his face in even closer, our lips only mere centimeters apart. “What a coincidence. I happen to be a mess too. A perfect match, it seems.”
“So it seems.” My laugh was immediately swallowed by his lips before I could get my full sentence out.
We lay on that kitchen floor as we christened yet another area of this villa we were staying in. It would soon become our mission to christen every room we found ourselves in, and this home had so many.
In the life of the Mafia, peace was a foreign concept. It didn’t exist in our line of work, and I knew that it would be no different for us. It was in our blood, embedded deep in our DNA.
For years, I had sought to run from this place and make a home for myself in the real world. What I didn’t realize was that home was already etched for me in the very fire that had scorched me. Home was him; home was us. I didn’t know what the future held for us, but I knew that whatever came next, I would ride it out with him by my side.
Forever.