57. A Vow
CHAPTER 57
A VOW
R affaele
The early light of dawn seeps through the window in Isabella’s bedroom, illuminating the space in a warm glow. The brilliant rays wash over her tranquil face, bathing her in an otherworldly radiance. Dio , I love her. And to think I’d come so close to losing her only a week ago.
A flicker of movement sends my head spinning toward the door. A shadow creeps across the crack beneath, and I draw in a steadying breath, reminding myself it’s supposed to be there.
Isabella’s new bodyguard arrived nearly a week ago now, fresh from Manhattan. After the disastrous turn of events with my family, we’d told Luca everything. It was probably the second most frightened I’d ever been in my life. To tell the man who trusted you with his only daughter that you’d fucked up and it had nearly cost her life? And more than that, that you were in love with her?
It was not a pretty conversation.
But as Isabella loves to remind me, she always gets what she wants. I’m so damned lucky that right now, I’m what she wants.
After a very moving speech about how much she loves me, and what an invaluable bodyguard I’ve been, she somehow convinced her father not to kill me. The fact that an ocean still lies between us is a little bit of a comfort, and I’m dreading the day we return stateside in just a few short weeks.
Isabella shifts beside me, her arm tightening around my waist. “ Buongiorno ,” she whispers.
“Every morning is a good one when I wake up with you in my arms.” A smile slides across my lips, unbidden.
“I bet that’s what you say to all the mafia princesses you sleep with.”
I roll her on top of me and tug up the hem of my t-shirt she’s sleeping in so I can squeeze her ass. She’s bare beneath, and her wearing my tee with nothing underneath is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. If I wasn’t hard already when I woke up, I would be now.
She brushes her lips against mine, and the faint touch has blood racing to my cock.
I capture her lips before she can get away. “ Cazzo , Isabella, you taste so good in the morning. I can’t wait to sink my cock inside you.”
“Shh!” she hisses. “He’s going to hear you.”
“So let him. We don’t have to hide anymore, remember?” I trail my fingers up her spine, reveling in her soft skin. “And, though I’ll always protect you, now I don’t have to split my focus anymore. We’ll have Harper outside to watch the perimeter.”
“Finally.” She laughs, the sound rich and bubbly, warming my insides. I spent the first four days with Andrew Harper twenty-four-seven, teaching him everything I know. I still spend an inordinate amount of time with the guy according to Isabella, but how can I not? He’s responsible for keeping the woman I love alive, and I plan on spending the rest of my life with her.
She doesn’t know that yet, but she will soon.
She’s young, and I’m not. I’m ready for it all. I promised Luca to wait a little while before I officially make her mine, but I’m not sure how long I can stick to my promise.
Isabella’s mouth claims mine, and I momentarily lose all focus as she wriggles on top of me. She’s straddling me now, her pussy rubbing against my shaft. She’s already drenched, and I’m aching to be inside her.
Before we start our life together, I need to confess the one part of my tragic story with Laura that I’d omitted. I’ve been meaning to tell her since we left the fiery hellhole of my father’s compound. Somehow, I can’t ever seem to find the words.
But I have to stop being such a coward.
Despite my cock screaming at me, I grip Isabella’s hips and stop their tantalizing roll. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
Her eyes widen as she regards me. “That sounds ominous.”
“It’s not… It just is…”
She sits back and attempts to roll onto the bed, but I dig my fingers into her hips and hold her still. “It’ll be easier for me if you stay like this. Just the feel of you on top of me makes everything better.”
“Okay…”
“When I told you about Laura and what my father did—” I pause, swallowing hard. “There was one important detail I failed to mention. Because it was just too horrible, too painful to speak… But I don’t want any secrets between us because I plan on us lasting forever.”
A smile parts her lips, and Dio , she looks radiant. “I love you, Raf, and if you’re not ready to tell me?—”
“No. I’m ready.” I draw in a breath and will the words from my mind to my tongue, but it’s frozen, paralyzed in the horror of re-living that moment.
“I already know,” she whispers, her bottom lip quivering. “About the baby…” Her words trail off and I’m left gaping, unable to form a single cohesive sentence. “Giuseppe told me by accident that day in the wine cellar. He thought I knew.”
My thoughts flash to my brother, to the one person in my family who tried in the end to make up for the past. He’d given his life to save us, and I’d never forget that. Emotion constricts my throat as memories of his bullet-ridden body coalesce at the forefront of my mind. If it hadn’t been for him, Isabella and I would be dead.
“I didn’t tell you because?—”
She presses her finger to my lips then replaces it with her mouth. The kiss is gentle, comforting. “I understand why you didn’t tell me. What happened to you, to Laura, it is just unspeakable. I’m so sorry, Raffaele. I’m so sorry you had such a shitty father, and such a terrible past ten years, but I’m going to do everything in my power to make the next ten so much better.”
“Only ten?” I arch a teasing brow.
“I’m not sure I can put up with you for much longer than that.”
I dig my finger into her sides, and she wiggles on top of me, rubbing up against my cock. “Well, you better get used to it because I’m not going anywhere.”
She stills, a slow smile spreading her lips.
“I never thought I could love after Laura, Isa. I never wanted to open myself up to that sort of loss again. It’s literally fucking terrifying. But with you… it’s a risk I can’t not take. You know how hard I tried to fight this, and now you know why. Still the idea of losing you—” My throat swells, the ache from only a week ago still too raw.
“You’re not going to lose me, Raf.” She frames my face with her warm hands, drawing me so close our noses nearly touch. “I’m not sure if you noticed, but I can hold my own. I love that you want to protect me, but I’m kind of a badass myself.”
A wicked grin splashes across her face, only bringing out my own.
“Yes, you are, principessa .” I press a gentle kiss to her lips before I dig my fingers into her sides once again. “Except against me of course. You’re powerless to stop me from getting what I want. And what I want right now, is you.”
She starts to laugh as I tickle, but the smothered fire from earlier starts to build again. I lift her hips and drop her down on my erection. She’s so wet I slide right in, and we groan in unison as I fill her up.
“Oh, Raf,” she moans, her hips starting to grind against me.
“I want you to have my baby,” I murmur as I thrust.
Her eyes grow wide, but she doesn’t stop the tempting roll of her hips.
“I want you to be my wife, Isabella Valentino, I want you by my side forever. It took ten impossibly long years for my heart to start beating again, and I never want it to stop again.”
“Are you proposing to me, Signor Ferrara? Because I don’t see a ring.”
A deep chuckle vibrates my chest. “No, not yet, but it’s a promise, a vow I intend to keep for as long as it takes for you to say yes. Anyway, I figure your father would cut off my cock if I didn’t get his approval first.”
“You’re not wrong there.” She smirks.
I sit up, wrapping my arms around her back and bringing her body flush against mine. “So we better enjoy this moment then, just in case.”
“I’ve been enjoying every minute with you, Raf.” Her lips claim mine, softly at first, but in a second the blazing fire between us ignites. With one hand on her hip, I reach for the open jar of Nutella on the nightstand and stick my finger inside. It’s become my new favorite morning treat when paired with my favorite, Isabella. I fist her hair, tugging her head back to expose that neck and run my chocolate-dipped finger down the length of her body. I lick my way down to her collarbone then toward the full swell of her breasts. She moans as I thrust deeper, her head falling back in pleasure.
“You’re mine, Isabella Valentino.”
“I’m yours, Raf.”