Chapter 22
Tommaso
I may be destined for hell, but I’ll go with a smile on my face.
Fuck. Me. She’s absolutely stunning.
Her dark, wavy hair loose, and her luminous, dark brown eyes locked on me. Her pouty, full lips pulled into a soft smile. Her hourglass figure in that white silk strapless dress. It’s simple elegance. Just like her.
My wife.
She may not truly be my wife at this moment, and this isn’t a ceremony for us to renew our vows so she can remember them.
I lied to her; I’ve been lying to her for six weeks since she woke up with no memory.
And I’ll keep lying to her for as long as I have to.
Because she is, in fact, mine, and no one will take her from me.
Not even Vincenzo fucking Pisani.
Emanuele had died from complications from his heart, and Vincenzo is now Don, heading up the ‘Ndrangheta. When he called me, asking to put feelers out for where Gina had disappeared to, I had somehow forced every emotion down, keeping my unreadable, stoic mask in place to inquire why. He wouldn’t say, only that he needed to find her.
When I said no one had seen any of the Caruso family—keeping it to myself that I knew Guila was dead, most likely by her husband’s hand—he played innocent and dumb.
I wasn’t sure if he was working with Caruso, or why exactly he wanted to find Gina.
In the end, it didn’t matter because neither him or Caruso would ever lay a finger on her.
If I had my way, they would never lay eyes on her again.
To say that things in my life are risky as hell and tumultuous lately is putting it mildly.
It isn’t just everything with Gina and all the concerns about keeping her safe while helping her heal and recover.
It’s holding my territory and dealing with the escalating tension among the city’s five strongest factions, which is a challenge when I’m trying to do as much as possible from home.
This isn’t a sustainable long-term option, especially not since word has gotten back to my father about my change in work habits, and he’s starting to ask questions—along with pressuring me to accelerate the timeline to marry Rosa Altera.
Sorry, Papà, in less than an hour, I’ll be a married man, and if the powers that be are on my side, my wife will be pregnant and carrying my heir very soon.
In the ways of the ‘Ndrangheta, that will force them to protect her. Even if the Altera family wants to retaliate, they can’t—not overtly, anyway. But I’ll be prepared for whatever Arturo tries to do on the sly. I may not act like him, but that doesn’t mean my mind doesn’t work like his.
Gina walks toward me, her arm looped through Adolfo’s as he brings her to me.
He may be my majordomo, but he’s a close part of my family and traveled here with me when I left Italy.
Gina has grown close to the fatherly figure as well, especially as he and Etta have reintroduced her to baking—something she has discovered she loves.
Along with Jerome, who loves it when she cooks our meals with him, the four of them are thick as thieves in the kitchen and in general.
There’s so much I don’t know about my wife. Not only because of the whirlwind romance, but because a couple would normally continue learning about each other, but her memory loss has halted that. And we can’t fill in any of those blanks through her family or friends.
And as much as I don’t want Gina to be isolated and lonely, I can’t risk bringing her two school friends, Alessia or Mia, here right now.
Questions would be asked, and I can’t guarantee they wouldn’t talk and let it slip that Gina is here.
Until Gina is carrying my child, no one other than the few people who are helping me can know.
Step one of implementing my plan to protect and keep Gina starts today, and step two begins tonight.
If she discovers what I’ve done to keep her—my sun, my light, my queen—she could hate me. But she’ll never leave me.
As Adolfo and Gina reach me, he stops and dips his chin.
We’re in the large, open family room in the house—our favorite room, where Gina and I have sat in front of the fire, her curled into me like a cat, and talked and planned our future.
The children we both want, the places she wants to travel to, and the ways to spend our wealth to help others.
Gina has no idea how I make that wealth, not fully.
I talk freely to her about the legal parts of my empire, but I haven’t revealed the mafia-related ones.
Yes, she grew up knowing and being connected to that world, but with her amnesia, I’m not sure it’s the right time to reveal that yet.
I didn’t want to take any chances of doing something that could make her pull away from me and prevent me from implementing my plan and the ultimate protection to keep her safe.
If it had come to it, this would’ve been a forced marriage because I’m that obsessed with her and her safety. She truly is il mio sole, and I don’t know how I lived so long without her light in my dark world and heart. However, I’m happy I didn’t need to force this marriage on her.
She kisses Adolfo on the cheek, then turns to me, and her beaming smile makes my heart swells in my chest.
Light radiates from her deep brown eyes, and her cheeks are rosy. She looks otherworldly, like she truly is a celestial being walking here on Earth. And she’s mine.
Adolfo transfers her hand to mine; it’s small and delicate within my large one, laced with scars. I pull her toward me, and because I can’t resist, I wrap my hands around her waist, pulling her closer and leaning down to kiss her deeply. I kiss her until the priest clears his throat with a chuckle.
Father McDowal knows this isn’t just a renewal of our vows, but he will keep his mouth shut.
He may be a man of the cloth, but since coming to San Francisco, he and I have worked closely. He and his church are a safe haven for children fleeing dangerous situations, and we work together to help them, whether that means a safe place to land for a short time or long-term housing and support.
“Are we good to proceed, you two?” he asks with a cocked brow when I finally break the kiss.
Gina’s rosy hue turns to a full blush as she remembers the audience we have with how lost we both had been in that kiss.
Etta takes Gina’s bouquet with a smile. She and Marco will be our official witnesses on the legal documents. Marco steps up to my side, my ever-faithful brother and advisor. Silvio is here as well, standing beside Jerome.
Cupping Gina’s chin, I tilt her face up to mine. “I’m sorry it’s not a beautiful cathedral filled with people.”
“I don’t need a big, over-the-top affair, Tommaso.” She looks around at the small group of people standing with us, then her eyes sweep around the room we’re in. “And what better place to do it than our home, in the room that we’ll fill with family, love, and laughter for years to come.”
“I love you so much,” I rasp. “So fucking much.”
“Tommaso,” she admonishes, and her eyes dart to Father McDowal.
He simply chuckles.
She looks back up at me. “It’s perfect.” She reaches up to thread her fingers through my hair, mussing it up slightly before she smooths it back down.
I know she loves doing that, and if we were alone, she’d tousle it more and leave it that way.
But my wife loves to have that version of me all to herself.
“Now, marry me, husband, so I can remember it this time.”
It’s a struggle to keep the lie off my face, but I do. I hate lying to her—either outright or by omission—but this is a necessary evil right now.
Or at least, I tell myself it is.
Father McDowal smiles, and I take Gina’s hands in mine as he starts.
“We are gathered here before God. Normally, this sacred sacrament is done in the house of God”—he flips me a look, knowing this is very much not the house of God, before he smiles at Gina—“however, the bishop has given his blessing for it to happen here in your home under the circumstances.”
Gina thinks this is just a vow renewal and hasn’t questioned it much.
I needed the ceremony to take place here for obvious reasons.
While our marriage will be legally binding under civil law, I also need it to be recognized under church law to appease the opponents in the ‘Ndrangheta, including my father.
We may be criminals, but to the leaders, especially the older generation, this matters, even if they pick and choose which holy laws they honor and uphold.
“May your vows be spoken with truth and your love and bond sealed in faith,” he continues.
I don’t focus on his words as I drown in the depths of Gina’s beautiful eyes. They’re glistening wells of emotion.
I want to give this woman the world, everything that I am, and everything that I’m not. “I love you.”
A shocked laugh slips from her because I just interrupted the priest.
The room fills with laughter, and Silvio chimes in, “Rushing to get to the good stuff, are you, T?”
He has no idea. Well, he actually does, and he gives me a smirk when I glance his way.
Father McDowal hikes his brows at me, suppressing a smile. “May I continue?”
“By all means.”
He leads us through the required, standard parts of the service, and my eyes don’t leave Gina’s as I state my vows.
“Gina, you are indeed my sun, il mio sole. The light and warmth I was missing, and the light and warmth that I can’t live without. You’re my world, my everything, and you complete me in ways that I can’t even begin to understand.
“With you, I’m the man I dreamed I could be.
This family ring”—I release her hand to run the knuckles of my hand that wears my Don ring along her cheek—“is symbolic, each quadrant of my family’s crest meaning something.
The tree with deep roots represents legacy and loyalty.
The interlocking rings mean unity, alliance, and oaths.
The rose entwined with olive branches is a symbol of sacrifice and mercy, and the lion’s head is all about power, pride, and protection. ”
I cup her cheek, tilting her head back as I step closer.
“Before you, I believed the lion ruled his kingdom, and that the kingdom came before any one’s desire.
But I was wrong. You, my queen, will always come first. And calling what I rule over a mere kingdom does not do it the justice of what I will build with you by my side.
“An empire is what we will build together. One that uses its power to bring some goodness and light to this dark world. One that I will make hard, ruthless decisions while still being fair. One that will create a legacy for our children to be proud of and who will lead after I’m no longer here on this Earth.
” Her eyes shimmer with tears as she stares up at me.
“Because I don’t just love you, Gina; I’m obsessed with you, and I need you more than the world needs the sun to survive. ”
“Tommaso,” she chokes as a tear slips free to run down her cheek.
I hadn’t told her that I wouldn’t be reciting the standard vows. But there was no way I couldn’t speak my heart. Every word was a simple truth.
“Tommaso…” She pauses, then takes a shaky breath. “Since the moment I woke up and stared into your eyes—your soul—even without knowing who you were, I knew I trusted you. That I loved you. I can’t remember the moment I realized I loved you—” Her voice breaks, and she closes her eyes.
When she opens them again, it’s the window to her soul. “But I know that I love you, that I feel like I fell for you the moment I looked at you. And I want nothing more than to be your sun, your light, and your queen. Your wife.”
I swear my heart flips in my chest, with her declaration of love and hearing her calling herself my wife.
This exquisite creature is about to become my wife.
“I want our children. I want to experience this world and everything it has to offer with you. I will always be by your side as you rule.”
Tension rises within me, likely within everyone in the room, as we all know what she’s vowing to.
Everyone but Gina. However, I don’t interrupt her to explain what she’s committing to, because I’m not the hero here; I may not be entirely the villain, but when it comes to her, I will be anything and do everything to keep her by my side.
“I love you, Tommaso. Forever and always. In this life and in the next.”
“The rings,” Father McDowal says softly, and I can hear the emotion that’s heavy in his voice.
Marco steps forth to hand me Gina’s rings, and Etta hands Gina mine.
When Father McDowal instructs us and recites the words we’re to say, she slips my ring back on my finger, and nothing has ever felt so right. Her delicate hand trembles in mine as I slip her wedding band and engagement ring back on.
My heart hummed in approval the first time I saw her wear my ring, but seeing it now, knowing she’s officially my wife, it roars in approval.
Mine. She’s all fucking mine.
And I growl those words as soon as the priest pronounces us husband and wife, and I haul her into my arms, crushing my mouth to hers.