Chapter 39
Matteo
“You nervous?”
I glance at my brother. “Not in the slightest,” I tell him truthfully. “Marrying Dani will be the easiest thing I’ve ever done.”
Dominick smirks. “Who would’ve thought when you were talking all that shit about me having to marry her back in the day that you’d end up being the cradle-robber?”
“You’re a dick for that one.” I shove him to the side so I can make sure my tux is in place, and he laughs. “Dani might be twelve years younger than me, but she’s more mature than both of us combined.” I side-eye him. “Well, she’s maturer than me. You’re like an old fucking man.”
“Oh, Uncle Matty said a lot of bad words,” Damien says, reminding me that he’s in the room with us. Dominick gave him his phone to watch some videos until it’s time for the service.
“He did,” Dominick deadpans. “And he should probably start watching his mouth so his own child doesn’t pick up his bad habits.”
“If the worst thing my kid does is say a few bad words, I’ll consider it a win.” I shrug.
“Yeah, I’m sure Dani is going to feel the same way,” Dominick says dryly.
“Unlike you, she doesn’t have a stick shoved up her A-S-S.”
“That spells ass!” Damien announces proudly.
Dominick glares, and I laugh.
“Damn, kid, you’re smart! Already spelling at four years old.”
“That’s only three letters.” Damien scoffs, sounding like a mini version of his dad. “That’s easy.”
“All right, what about this word? F—”
“Matteo,” Dominick growls.
“Chill out, bro. I’m not spelling that word.” I definitely fucking was. “F-I-R-E.”
“Fire!”
“Good job.” I high-five him.
“Is everyone decent?” Bri asks, opening the door and walking in without waiting for anyone to answer.
“Auntie Bri!” Damien shouts. “I’m in a suit, like Daddy!”
“Yes, you are,” she says, kneeling in front of Damien and fixing his bow tie.
We didn’t plan to have anyone in the wedding besides my brother standing beside me and Lorenzo walking Dani down the aisle and standing beside her, but then Damien asked if he could walk down the aisle, too, and Dani deemed him the ring bearer.
“Everyone ready?” she asks, standing back up.
“Yep,” I tell her. “How’s Dani doing? She run away yet?” I joke.
“No.” Bri grins. “She’s ready to marry you. And she asked me to give you this.”
She hands me a small box, and I glance at it in confusion.
“What is this for?”
“It’s a wedding gift.”
“What do you mean, a wedding gift?” I look from her to Dominick. “Why didn’t anyone fucking tell me that we were supposed to buy each other wedding gifts?”
Dominick raises his hands. “I just assumed you knew.”
“I don’t know anything!” I bark. “How the hell would I know that? When was the last time I got married? Never. Did you give Peyton a gift?”
“She’ll understand,” Bri says at the same time Dominick says, “Of course I did.”
“Great. She got me a fucking gift, and I didn’t get her shit.”
“Here, give her this,” Lorenzo says, grabbing a gift-wrapped box from the table.
“What is that?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” he says. “But it’s wrapped like a gift, and since you don’t have one …”
I snatch it from him and tear it open, and inside is a bottle of thirty-year-old Macallan Double Cask scotch.
“Did you buy this?” I ask Dominick since he’s the only person I know pretentious enough to buy me a five-thousand-dollar bottle of scotch.
“No,” he says, bending down. “There’s a card.”
He hands it to me, and I open it, hoping like hell it’s not another gift from Dani. It’s bad enough she already got me one when I didn’t get her shit.
I stare at the note for several seconds, but the words are too jumbled, and without the color reader, I can’t be sure what I’m reading.
“Here,” I say to Dominick. “Read it.”
“Matteo,” he begins, “I hear congratulations are in order. Becoming a father and a husband on the same day. Hopefully, you live to see both through. XX.”
He hasn’t even finished before I’m running from the room to get to Dani. Anyone with a brain will take that as a threat, and if whoever left it was able to get it in here, who knows where else they’re able to get to?
“Matteo, stop!” Bri yells just before I open the door that I know Dani is behind. “You can’t see her before the wedding.”
“I don’t give a fuck,” I say, turning the knob.
“Stop.” Lorenzo steps in front of me. “Don’t let whoever that is ruin this for Dani. I’ll check on her. Give me a minute.”
He slides inside, and I wait with bated breath, praying that Dani is okay.
A moment later, he opens the door. “She’s good. She’s dressed and ready to walk down the aisle.”
“Don’t let her eat or drink anything,” I tell him, suddenly paranoid. “Ian, George,” I say to the guards standing outside her door, “I want you to search the room without alerting her and have the guys search the perimeter. Someone left a note with a threat in my dressing room.”
The guys nod and go in.
“C’mon,” Bri says, dragging me back to my waiting room. “You still have to open your gift.”
When we get back in the room, it’s empty, and Bri says that Dominick went to check on our mom, Peyton, and the babies since they’re seated and waiting for the ceremony to begin.
I open the box and inside is a kick-ass all-black watch. Not a pretentious one, like Dominick would wear, but one that I would wear. I lift it out of the box and notice that it’s engraved on the inside. It’s not long, so it only takes a few seconds for me to read it.
I’m yours, until the end of time.
Since I’m not wearing a watch, I clasp it around my wrist and eye it for a moment, not for the first time wondering how I got lucky enough to have the privilege of spending my life with Dani.
“I like to see you like this,” Bri notes.
“Like what?”
“Happy. First Dominick, then Mom … now you.”
“You’ll get there one day.”
I wasn’t Theodore’s biggest fan—mostly because I’m protective of my sister and no guy will ever be good enough for her—but I was glad to see my sister putting herself out there.
I don’t know what happened between them because she won’t talk about it, but whatever it was has her back to being single again.
“Maybe.” She shrugs. “Maybe not.”
“I never thought it would happen for me, and now, look where I am. About to marry the woman I love with a baby on the way.”
We had dinner last night as a family, and Dani and I told everyone that she was pregnant. Mom burst out crying, which led to Dani crying. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that I don’t like to see her cry, regardless if it’s because she’s happy.
“The hotel is secure,” Dominick says, walking back in with Damien in tow. “Security checked the cameras, and a delivery service dropped off the gift with the instructions to have it brought to you.
I sigh in relief that whoever sent it isn’t on the property—that we know of.
“Maybe we shouldn’t leave …”
“You only get married and have a honeymoon once,” Dominick points out. “But we need to stay vigilant. You’re bringing guys with you?”
We’re going to an all-inclusive beach resort in Mexico. Our room will have a private pool and beach, but I’m not naive enough to think that we’re untouchable.
“Yeah, Ian and George are going with us.”
“Good.” Dominick squeezes my shoulder. “You ready to do this?”
“More than ready.”