Chapter 23
D ominic
I’m a stoic man. I don’t like to show emotion. I rarely get really angry, and I don’t enjoy shouting. I’m a type-A man, and I don’t like disorganized chaos. I’m not one to put myself out there for anyone other than family, and I certainly never wanted a woman to take over my life.
Until her.
This beautiful woman steamrolled into my life when I didn’t know I needed her the most, and she’s buried so deep into my soul that I don’t know how I’d ever move on from her.
Still, wearing my heart on my sleeve is new, and awkward, and as I wait for Katharine to put me out of my misery, I can feel my anxiety hooking its claws into my confidence. And honestly, I probably should have done this when we weren’t mostly naked, sitting in the middle of our backyard, and when I wasn’t buried inside her. Yet it also seemed like the perfect time to give her this ring, a symbol of my complete and utter devotion to her, when I couldn’t be more vulnerable.
Say something, baby. Please.
“Oh, Dominic,” she gushes, a breathtaking smile breaking as she throws her arms around my neck. “I love you so much.”
“Oh, thank fuck,” I mutter, burying my face in her neck.
“Were you nervous?” she asks, and I nod. “What? Why? You’re never nervous. ”
Lifting my head, I look at her. “First time for everything, I guess.”
Kate rests her forehead against mine. “Did you think I wouldn’t like the ring? I love it, baby. It’s perfect.”
I let out a relieved exhale, surprised at how tense I was as I waited for her reaction. “I’ve never bought an engagement ring before. I didn’t even take one of my sisters with me. I wanted to do it myself, but it was overwhelming.”
“Not even Arianna?”
“No. I took Sienna and Aspen. Sienna did help. She suggested an emerald, but I knew this aquamarine was perfect for you. Aspen agreed, but mostly shopped for herself.”
“Really?” Kate’s voice breaks as a new wave of tears pour out. “That makes it even better!”
“It does?”
“Of course it does! I love that they were part of it.” She rests her forehead against mine for a moment before sighing. “I asked for a sign, you know.”
“What?”
“When the basement flooded, and that horrid article came out, I cried in the closet and begged my mom for a sign that I was supposed to be with you.”
I open my mouth to tell her anything that will get whatever thought is out of her head. I don’t believe in signs. There’s no direct lines to heaven. We make our own destiny. But before I can say a word, Kate continues. “I asked for a sign, and you opened the door about ten seconds later.”
“Really?” I ask quietly.
“My mom was always pretty punctual. I think she sent me to you, Dominic. I think we were destined to be together, even before we met,” she whispers, before leaning forward to kiss me softly. The moment our lips touch, it’s as if we’re shocked with an electrical current. Waves of endorphins zing throughout my body as I turn us quickly, lowering Kate to the blanket. My dick had softened slightly while I waited for Kate to react to the ring, but immediately hardens as she unconsciously clamps down on me. With her legs wrapped around me, she tries to use her feet to make me move faster, but I just chuckle and nibble on her collarbone.
“One of these days, you’ll let me choose the speed,” Kate mutters.
“Maybe. But today is not that day, Mrs. Santo.” I feel her breath catch, and I smile as I tilt my head to kiss her pulse point. I love that Kate has a reaction every time I call her wife. Mrs. Santo. Mine . Every single time.
“I want you to speed up,” she stammers breathlessly, “because I’m about to come, and I want us to come together, husband.”
And fuck if she doesn’t know how to get me too. I groan as my body immediately starts a more punishing pace, feeling her walls flutter around me as I hurtle us both toward perfection.
I let out a guttural moan as I feel the first spurt coat her walls, fireworks exploding behind my eyelids as I ride the wave. Kate’s body bows upward into mine, as she silently comes, her nails digging deep into my back.
“ L’anima gemella ,” I rasp.
“What?” Kate asks breathlessly.
I rest my head against her shoulder for a moment, before raising up to meet her eyes. “I said my soulmate. You’re my soulmate, Katharine.”
“I thought you didn’t believe in soulmates,” she says softly, her eyes filling with tears.
“I didn’t, but I hadn’t met you yet, raggio di sole .”
“Will you please tell me what that means now? Please, Dominic. It’s been bugging me for months,” Kate laughs as a tear falls from her eye. I catch it before it hits the ground.
“It means ray of sunshine. You’ve always been a bright spot in my life. In all of our lives, really. At the beginning, that really pissed me off,” I chuckle. “I didn’t know how to handle my thoughts about you. Then I caught myself looking forward to seeing you. Even arguing with you. Seeing that fire burn in your eyes was spectacular. But nothing even compares to how I felt watching you bring love and peace to my kids. You aren’t just a ray of sunshine to me. You’ve become home to all of us.”
“You’re my home, too,” she whispers, pulling me down to give me the sweetest and most poignant kiss of my life. “I’ll never be able to thank you for all you’ve given me, Dominic.”
“Just promise me you’ll love me, even when I mess up.”
“I have to. I made a vow.” Kate tries to keep a serious expression, but fails miserably as she breaks into a fit of laughter.
“Speaking of the vow, I was wondering if you’d be up for a renewal? Maybe not right now. But sometime soon? I’d like my family to be present. Our family.”
Kate gasps, pulling so hard on my neck, my arms buckle and I crash down onto her with a laugh. “Oh, yes! A renewal. Here? Just a simple thing with family, right?”
“I was thinking maybe at the hotel,” I murmur. We have tons of weddings there. It’s almost a rite-of-passage for Eternity Springs residents to have their weddings at Everlasting. I naturally assumed most women would love to get married there, so I’m surprised when Kate’s face screws up in distaste.
“No, that’s not really my style. I mean, I love the hotel. I do. But it’s pretty formal for a renewal, don’t you think? I don’t need much. I only want to have the kids, your family, my brothers, and maybe a couple friends. If we can’t have it here, what about your parents’ house? I love their backyard. We could just do a simple ceremony and cook out.”
I’m stunned into silence.
“Dominic? Are you okay?” Kate asks with a giggle. “How do I manually reset you?”
“Not sure,” I murmur, shaking my head and blinking hard to force myself back into the present. I’m so used to women expecting what they think my family can offer them, I just expected Kate to fall into that line. In yet another case of Kate being the exception, and not the norm, she once again proves why she is such a diamond in the rough .
And yet, I’m oddly disappointed she doesn’t want to have our renewal ceremony at Everlasting. I guess in some dark corner of my mind, I always thought if I met the woman, I’d get married there.
“Hey,” she says softly. “If you want to have it at the hotel, then we’ll have it there. I don’t care where we get married. I just want to be with you, the kids, and our loved ones. Doesn’t matter to me where we do that.”
“You never cease to amaze me, sweetheart,” I murmur, rolling to my side and tucking her against me. The temperature has dropped since we stepped outside, but the ground’s residual heat has kept us warm. Still, a light breeze is cooling my skin quickly, and I know we need to get dressed and head inside. I just want one more minute basking in Kate.
“Dominic?” she whispers.
“Hmm?” I respond, my eyes closing.
“I don’t want to wait.”
“Wait for what?” I ask, yawning.
“To get married.”
“We’re already married, baby.”
“But in front of family, it’s really real,” she says.
“According to the law, and the state of Colorado, it’s still really real right now,” I say, deadpan.
Kate slaps her hand against my chest, and even with my eyes closed, I can tell she’s rolling her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“I do. And I don’t want to wait, either.”
“Good.”
“But we agree only family and a few friends?” I ask. “Do we even need bridesmaids and all that crap?”
“I don’t know. Maybe one?”
“I don’t know how I’m supposed to pick between my siblings,” I admit.
“Oh, that’s true. I didn’t think about that. I only have Matt and Zane, and I doubt either of them would wear a dress,” she snorts .
“If you asked, I think they both would do whatever you wanted, Katharine. That’s how we roll in this chaotic Italian family.”
“You know who we should have officiate?”
“No.”
“You don’t even know —”
“You’re going to say my grandmother. I know you are.”
“I think it would be adorable! She’s like a hundred and fifty years old, and she probably has the best stories and advice for us,” Kate says, her voice full of admiration and adoration for my grandmother.
“First of all, she’s eighty, not a hundred and fifty. Secondly, her stories would mostly be embarrassing facts about me as a kid, and any advice for us would probably be either illegal or very frowned upon by most people.”
Kate props her head on my chest, her chin resting against my heart. “It would mean a lot to me if she was part of it.”
I can hear her unspoken words. She’s thinking about this ceremony, and how her mom is missing it. How her miserable excuse for a father was never a factor in her life at all. No grandparents that she knows of, and somehow my Nonna has become a pseudo-grandmother for her.
I can’t bring Kate’s mother back, or do anything to improve what happened with her father. But I can give her this. If my wife wants my one hundred and fifty year old grandmother to be our vow renewal officiant, then I’ll make it happen.
“What color would you like Nonna’s dress to be?” I ask, laughing when Kate squeals with glee.
“Pink. Nonna’s favorite color is pink. I bet she’d throw rose petals too, if we asked.”
“Nonna is one hell of a jack-of-all-trades. ”
“Very true.”
Two short weeks later, we are ready to walk down the aisle. I was ready to plan something for our house, or at my parents’, but Kate could tell I really wanted to do it at Everlasting. She again reminded me she didn’t care where we had the ceremony.
It’s a good thing we changed things up, because our intimate family-only event has slowly gotten bigger and bigger. Kate’s half-brothers, Matt and Zane, are coming, as well as Matt’s wife, step-daughters, son, and his mom, my aunt. A handful of Kate’s friends basically demanded they get an invite as well. That led to my father requesting two of his friends be in attendance, and then a couple of my buddies heard about the ceremony and wanted to come. I was ready to lay down the law, especially about my dad asking for his friends to come, but Kate told me not to do that. She didn’t want to start a riot on our day, and I think she was secretly looking forward to the whole shebang.
What we thought would be under fifty guests has now morphed into well over one hundred. Kate intended to wear the pink dress she wore for our actual ceremony, but my mom said absolutely not. Along with Sienna and Aspen, they went to a bridal shop in Denver to find a more appropriate dress. Kate returned ten hours later with a glazed expression, admitting she’d never known a woman to haggle like my mom. Somehow, my sweet and genuine mother managed to talk the store manager into dropping the price significantly, then had a seamstress do alterations on the spot. When I asked to see the dress, Kate threw a hand over my mouth.
“You’re not allowed to see it before the ceremony!” she whispered.
“We’re already married, Katharine. I can see the dress.”
“No,” she hissed, her eyes wild. “Sienna and Aspen would tattle. They are so invested in how romantic all this is, and I can’t do that to them.”
“How would they know if you showed me your dress?” I asked.
“Have you met your daughters? They’d know,” she said. “Besides, your mom took it to your parents’ house. She didn’t trust you not to look.”
Undoubtedly correct. I’m generally not a fan of surprises, even when it’s something as simple as my wife’s wedding dress.
I should’ve known, however, that Kate’s dress meant I’d be expected to up the ante with my own wardrobe. Which is why I’m now fixing the cufflinks on a full tux as Alex stews nearby. I can hear the string quartet Hannah hired playing as guests find their seats. With showers forecasted all day, we chose to hold the ceremony inside, by the massive stone fireplace, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Rocky Mountains.
I’m antsy and agitated. Because we didn’t have a true night-before-the-wedding, my parents bluntly suggested Kate stay at the hotel last night. I fucking missed her. Even FaceTiming her while she soaked in the tub in our bridal suite, where we both enjoyed a little self-care together, didn’t help. Kate has become my home, and I can’t handle even one night apart from her.
I hear Alex scoff, and I turn to him. The dude looks absolutely miserable. “What’s going on, man?”
He hesitates before saying, “I thought we’d be single bros forever, Dom. Thought we were on the same page, and we’d be raising our kids, swearing off women. What the fuck, man? Why you gotta do me like this? I mean, I’m happy for you, really, I am. But damn. Now Mom’s never gonna leave me alone about moving on.”
I stare at him incredulously. “You’re upset because I fell in love with my wife?”
“Well, no. Maybe. Yes, a little,” he admits, making me chuckle. “I’m happy for you. I think. But it just reminds me of the shitshow my life is.”
“I thought you didn’t want to have another relationship,” I comment, watching Alex’s face screw up in disgust as he runs his fingers through his hair.
“No, it’s not about that. Sometimes I just fucking hate how life turned out for me. ”
“Things going okay with you getting set up at the police department?” I ask.
Alex sighs. “Yeah. It’s just … not what I wanted. I don’t know. It’s a lot of sitting behind a desk right now, so hopefully I’ll feel better once I’m on patrol.”
“I’m sure you will, man. And if you don’t like it, we’ll figure it out. You’ll find your niche,” I tell him confidently. Honestly I always saw him doing something similar to our cousin Matt. While Matt has worked as a police officer, then a School Resource Officer for the elementary school in Mountain Springs, where he worked with his now-wife Victoria, his real passion has always been woodworking. He’s been slowly putting more time into building a career out of it. Alex has always loved working with his hands, and I could see him doing something like custom cabinetry, or anything in construction.
“You guys ready?” Luca asks as he knocks twice on the door. My youngest brother used to be somewhat standoffish and surly. But now, thanks to Hannah, he has a permanent grin on his face. I used to find that ridiculous, but now I completely understand it. I can only hope that some woman comes along and knocks Alex right off his feet. If anyone deserves to find his partner, it’s him.
“Yep. Let’s get this party started,” I say, slapping Luca on the back as I cheerfully stride past him.
“He really is a different guy when he’s getting laid regularly and actually likes his wife,” Alex mutters, and Luca snorts in agreement.
“I heard that,” I call back.
As we reach the main space where the ceremony will be held, the string quartet immediately changes the song. I look up the aisle at my grandmother, proudly standing behind a music stand, organizing what appears to be at least a dozen loose pieces of paper.
“Honestly can’t believe you approved Nonna running this,” Luca says quietly. “She’s bound to say something completely fucked up.”
“Kate wanted her to be the officiant. She actually suggested a hybrid officiant and flower girl situation, but Nonna then asked if she could be carried in by four shirtless men, like a queen, and we shot that down. She settled for having free rein during her speech.”
Luca shudders. “Shirtless men? Seriously?”
I shrug. “Are you actually surprised?”
“I’d prefer to not imagine what Nonna is into.”
“Boys! Get up here!” Nonna shouts, the sound blasting through speakers around the area and reverberating against the tall windows.
“Jesus Christ,” Alex mutters, coming up behind Luca and me. “You gave that woman a microphone?”
“I did not,” I reply. “That is definitely not one the hotel owns. Does she have one? It’s glittery. What’s the word? Bedazzled?”
When neither of my brothers respond, I turn to look at them. “What?”
“You know the term bedazzled,” Luca comments.
“So? I have daughters, man. Just wait until you’re there before you judge.”
“Boys, don’t make me come down there to get you!” Nonna yells. We all snicker as we walk to the front. Nonna points to where I need to stand, and my brothers sit in the front row. Looking out at our guests, I nod at my cousin Matt, his wife, Victoria, their three kids, and Matt’s mom, my Aunt Angie. I see a couple of Arianna’s friends that are now friends with Kate, as well as my buddy, Sebastian Garcia, who I’ve known since high school. He’s unabashedly staring at Isabella, and she’s either completely clueless, or she’s ignoring him.
My parents smile widely at me, pointing to a phone my mom holds. I see Leo’s face, and he gives me a somber wave. It looks like he’s still in a hospital bed, but I can’t tell for sure from this distance. I’m about to ask my mom for the phone when the music abruptly changes, and I look to see Hannah scurrying down the aisle in front of the absolute vision that is my wife.
In true Kate fashion, she didn’t choose white for her dress, and I couldn’t be happier. Now I understand why my mom subtly brought me a light pink tie, and corrected me to explain the color is called blush. Kate’s dress is blush tulle, with a smattering of flowers haphazardly scattered throughout the bodice before it drops to layers and layers of ruffles. Her hair falls down her back, now with matching pink streaks, and a diamond headpiece with matching flowers. Her bouquet is a perfect juxtaposition of bright colors to her muted pastel dress, and I can’t help but think of how similar it is to Kate and me. Her smiles that light up the room versus my stoic passiveness. Her happiness to my pensiveness. As Kate walks toward me, a spring in her step, I find myself meeting her halfway, not willing to wait another second before I can have her in my arms again.
“Hi,” she whispers playfully, and I know I’m done for. Taking her face in my hands, I kiss the hell out of her. She’s already my wife, so fuck these stupid traditions.
After multiple people begin catcalling me, I break off the kiss and rest my forehead against hers. We sigh in unison, like we know it’s okay to relax now. Today begins the rest of our lives together. “You ready to do this thing?”
“Absolutely,” she says with a brilliant smile. “Let’s see what Nonna has planned.”