Chapter 36
Matt
The pieces that made my life worth living were finally falling into their due place. I’m one lucky son of a bitch. Francesca was much better, completely recovered, in fact, and just in time for this hugely important day.
I remember saying a year ago that once upon a fucking time, I got married. I can’t believe how utterly mistaken I was about it all. About my motives, about my feelings, about how entrapped and entangled by love and happiness I would become. I was lost in her spell, in her magical trance that had me floating on clouds. Today and every day since I met her, I just didn’t allow myself to feel it at first.
Today, as I stood in that same church, seeing Francesca’s beautiful face as she walked down the aisle, there was no way in hell I would change even an ounce of what life had thrown at me. Everything, from the good to the worst nightmares, brought me to this moment of undeniable joy. I never thought that I would be this person. The person who could finally love and feel loved.
She was it.
The love of my life. My everlasting weakness. My own personal devil who has shown me the path to Heaven. She was mine, and I would forever be hers.
I was brought into this life as a half. Alessandro was my counter. The better one, I had thought. After he died, I felt incomplete.
Alone.
Abandoned, even in a crowd full of people.
Even in my own family, who I loved dearly.
Until her. Francesca was my missing piece. My new better half, who had without a doubt been created for me. She was intrinsically a part of me. The part that brought light and joy into my dim and sinful life. She brought her own brand of darkness, too. Sass and a sexy ass that had me on my knees since day one.
I couldn’t help but smile with pride as I saw the still small but steadily growing bump she also so proudly strutted, hugged in a devilishly tight dress. She even held her flowers higher so that every person seated in these pews saw our magnificent gift. Our two gifts. What have I ever done in life to deserve the three of them?
Just like me, my babies would be born with a half. Someone to understand them, to live every high and low with them. A real partner in crime. Two peas in a pod that completed each other, until their destined halves came along.
Their soulmates.
Yes, now I believe in that. How could I not? When mine was walking towards me with the brightest and warmest smile, capable of melting a fucking glacier?
Once upon a time, I got married.
The best day of my, until then, meaningless life, even though I had no idea at the time.
And I was to get married again.
Once upon the best of times.
But that day wasn’t today. Today belonged to my baby brother and his beautiful bride. If it weren’t for their love, I would have never found mine.
Because Liam had the guts to go after his happiness, tear the ties that bound him to a life that wasn’t his, I had a shot at my own happiness. I can’t deny it was a shitty start. But that was because I was a shitty man before I met her.
So full of myself, with my head so far up my own ass and my own greatness that I thought the world could be mine if I just took it. No questions asked. I learned that lesson the hard way.
Francesca changed me. She truly upgraded me to a much better version of myself.
I tapped Liam on the back as Jamie started to walk into the church, slowly making her way to him with her arm tangled around her father’s. Don Amato was all pride. His newly found daughter would be marrying a good man.
“Nervous, Brother?” I whispered from behind him as he rubbed his hands in one another. He’d thrown those words at me a year ago.
“No. Anxious to start forever with her!” He convincingly replied.
“It’s meant to be.”
“And now I get to tell the world she’s my wife. How lucky can a man be?” He beamed, his eyes filled with pride and deep honor to have been chosen by her. I recognized it because mine mirrored the same feeling.
How lucky can a man be, indeed!
I smiled over to Francesca as I heard his words, feeling undoubtedly blessed to have this goddess in my life guiding me through the storm, taking it on right by my side.
As Jamie reached the altar, Liam released an exhale, relieved to finally have her in his arms again. They both seemed to be enveloped in a bright aura of happiness, deep connection, and undeniable love. They had gone through their fair amount of trouble and came out stronger in the end. Today, with our family and God as their witness, they would become one.
“Liam Dornier, do you take Jamie Amato as your lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?” The priest asked, as my mind fluttered to the day I would be standing before him again. I mouthed my answer clearly towards Francesca, who stood on the other side of the altar, her smile sparkling in her eyes – “I DO.”
“Jamie Amato, do you take Liam Dornier as your lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
“I do,” Jamie replied, and Francesca mouthed back to me, her hand resting on her small belly.
"What God joins together, let no one put asunder.” He had said the exact same thing at our wedding, and damn was that true.
They tried, they bloody tried.
Even I fucked up tremendously, and still, here we were, together and growing strong.
“You may now kiss the bride.”
The crowd cheered to the newlyweds as their love melted into that kiss. They had done it. Pulled through hell and came out on the other side, holding hands.
Again, my mother had helped plan the reception, even while she was all the way over the pond in Italy. She arrived just before Francesca’s abduction and helped Jamie put all of this together, just as she had done for me. Teresa Battaglia had outdone herself once again.
For the first time in a long time, there was a true celebration in our family. How today contrasted so greatly to the spectacle my wedding was wasn’t lost on me.
Unlike then, this was family and love.
The newlyweds walked through the tunnel of guests, bedding their happy wishes and congratulations, and I couldn’t help but feel proud of my brother. How he stood up for Jamie against the Mafia. How he risked everything for her. How he saved her and would die for her, and he nearly did. This is what being a Battaglia truly meant.
“Don’t look at me that way,” Liam said as he approached.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re saying goodbye.”
“I am saying goodbye,” I teased, even though I knew what he meant. This wedding would be the official moment when he’d step down from our business. I couldn’t deny that I’d miss him, but this was his path. “Sending you off to sunshine and margaritas.”
“Sure.” He pulled me in for a hug and held on for longer than normal. “I’m always here if you need me.”
“I’ll never.” I pulled him back and gently tapped his face twice before turning my attention to his bride. “Congratulations, Jamie. Not that you weren’t before, but welcome to the family, officially.” I hugged her before turning to Liam as they made their way out to finally begin their happily ever after. “You actually made her marry you. How deceiving can you be?”
“At least it was her choice to marry me.”
“That’s being rectified, Asshole,” I taunted back. “Besides, it’s not my fault I’m irresistible, and she fell in love with me despite everything.”
I pulled Francesca towards me, kissing those delectable lips of hers without holding back.
“Oh my God, get a room!” Alison joked, stepping in to hug the bride and groom. “Oh, wait, there’s actual proof that you’ve already done that!”
“Alison Battaglia, everyone! The life of every party,” I teased her, trying to bring her mood up. She hadn’t been acting quite like herself. I hardly ever saw her bright light go dim, and lately, she just wasn’t shining.
“No, no. This party is not mine to steal the light,” She replied before hugging Jamie. “My dearest friend. I am so happy for you. You truly caught a good one, Liam.”
“Well, truer words have never been spoken,” Liam confirmed, his pride clear in the glint in his eyes. “Now, if you'll excuse us, I’m taking my wife to paradise for two weeks.”
I hugged Francesca as Liam and Jamie stepped into the limo that would take them straight to the strip, nuzzling her from behind and whispering in her ear, “We are going back to Cuba for our second honeymoon. I want to see you in that tiny thong again, but this time I’ll book the whole fucking hotel so I don’t have any fucker lusting over you.”
“I can’t wait to be Mrs. Battaglia again, but I’ll be bigger than a whale when that happens. I don’t think Willy will want to come out and play by that time.”
“Willy?” I chuckled inquisitively. “Is that what you call it?”
“Well, it’s big and… you know, I like it free.” I laughed at her words, pressing my cock into her.
“He will always want to play with you. As a matter of fact, I think he wants you to free him right now.”
“It’s best we not keep him waiting.”
I was happy. The happiest I’d ever been. The happiest I’ll ever be because I got to hold my wife in my arms, love her, protect her, and soon enough, marry her again.
◆◆◆
“The mafia isn’t a place for half-measures, Matt. You’re either in control, or you’re not,” Francesca said as soon as the door to our apartment slammed shut behind us. She had been like a lidded volcano these past two weeks since the wedding and apparently she’d reached eruption point now.
“What are you saying, Francesca?” I asked with a wicked grin on my face.
“That since you haven’t taken your reins, you have a choice to make, and I’m going to lay down your opinions for you.”
“I’m listening, Boss,” I teased, but something told me that her next words were going to wipe that smile right off my face.
“You can either fuck me like you did that night that you were shot, or I’m getting my shit and going back to Detroit.”
“Like fuck you are!”
“Then there you have it.”
“You’re hurt, Francesca. I’m not touching you. I don’t recall every detail of that night, but I can guess things got nasty.”
“No half-measures, Matteo Battaglia.”
“What?” I grabbed a handful of her hair, pulling her face so close to mine that our lips almost fused. “You want to get fucked raw, is that it?”
“I want you to fuck me like you’re starved, just like that night. You were you. Untamed, unrestrained, un-fucking-believable.” She pushed me further, and it was about time I took her off this raw sex ban I had going on since she was back home.
“Then be a good girl and get on your knees for me.”
“Make me.”
I got fucking lucky. We got to keep it all. Turns out her uncle did have some new developments that made it possible. The sneaky Don had found a loophole. A precedent that could not be taken back. Apparently, Don Bartolini was happily married for over twenty-five years to Don Fiori’s sister. There was no beating around the bush with that one. No way they could object to our marriage at all.
She was my happy ever after. The perfect beginning to my personal fairy tale. The answer to the prayers I never made, and now I finally had it all. The life, the love, the future in our own hands, and a goddess halfway down to her knees in need of a spanking.
This woman was insatiable. More now than ever. It couldn’t all be because of the hormones, but I wasn’t complaining at all. I’d try to keep up as best I could.
“That’s too easy, Gattina .” I pulled down my zipper and undid my belt before taking my semi-hard cock out. “Suck it until I’ve fully grown in your mouth.”
“That seems like a trap. Luring me in with my favorite.”
“I promise you won’t be walking straight tomorrow, Gattina. You’ll feel me in every damn movement you make.”
Before her knee had fully hit the floor, my phone rang from my inside pocket, distracting me from her lustful gaze. I quickly dismissed it, rejecting the incoming call. Soon enough, it rang a second time, and I reached over to do the same.
Francesca’s lips were barely wrapped around the crown of my cock when her phone rang instead of mine.
“Maybe it’s urgent. We should probably take it,” Francesca said, pulling herself up.
“It’s Jimmy again,” I replied before answering and putting the phone on speaker. “Jimmy, this better be fucking good!” I sneered.
“BOSS!” He shouted into the mic, breathless, “THERE WAS A BOMB… AT AD! THEY WERE ALL IN THE BUILDING.”
“WHAT?” I shouted back, every muscle in my body tensing, my teeth grinding to the point they actually hurt, just a mild pain compared to the one threatening to tear through my chest at the thought of losing them all.
“THERE ARE FLAMES AND BLACK SMOKE EVERYWHERE. JAMIE AND LIAM MADE IT OUT SAFE. YOUR DAD, TOO. BUT…”
“WHERE’S ALISON?” I shouted back. Bustling noise, fire truck sirens going off in the distance, and panicked screams from the background pierced through our otherwise silent apartment as we waited for Jimmy to reply.
“We haven’t found her yet,” He said, his voice solemn before he shouted again, “MAX, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? YOU CAN’T GO INSIDE.”
“Get your fucking hands off me,” I heard Max grunting on the other side of the line.
“He’s never making it out,” Jimmy said to someone else, the phone probably forgotten as both Francesca and I frantically pulled our clothes on as we tried listening to all the commotion on the other side.
Another loud explosion sounded through the mic, blasting through my chest and making my heart beat erratically.
Jesus fucking Christ, my baby sister!
“GET BACK, GET BACK.”
With his shouts of panic, the phone call went silent before another louder blast cut it off entirely. At that moment, my soul left my body while the memory of loss drenched my world in darkness again.
Alison...