Chapter 30 #3
“Thank you, sweet girl.” I give her a hug and then stand up.
Marcel hobbles toward me, a cane in his hand. I rush over, not wanting him to trip over the rough terrain. He blocks my view of the shooting range, his hand on my arm.
“We’re all here because Deuce told us what he had planned.” Marcel dips his head, voice lowering. “But if you don’t love the boy, tell me now and I’ll get you out of here. He’s my boy, but I’ve decided you’re mine now too.”
Hot tears threaten to flood my eyes. I squeeze the hand on my arm, hoping he knows how much I appreciate his acceptance.
“That’s the thing, Marcel. I do love your son. Very much.”
His smile lights up his whole demeanor. “That’s good because I very much want you as my daughter.” He lets go of my arm and holds out his crooked elbow. “Come on, then.”
I slide my hand through his arm and he turns, allowing me to finally see Deuce, standing there in the dirt in a tuxedo. He takes my breath away. Marcel urges me forward, but I feel stunned looking at the man who put all this together for me.
Deuce in a suit is enough to cause accidents on the street.
Deuce in a tuxedo is just plain lethal.
Marcel delivers me to Deuce, stepping back and letting Deuce say whatever he needs to say after all this crazy lead-up. Deuce takes my hands in his, that green-eyed gaze locking on mine and making me feel like I’m drowning in the best way possible.
“Valentina,” he breathes.
My shoulders relax just hearing his voice. He is my safe place. The one person in this whole crazy world I can count on to put me first. To think of me in all the big situations in life. To think of me in all the little ways that count too.
“When I told our friends and family what I had planned today, they all wanted to be part of it. They love you already, just like I do. They see the woman behind the scary insults and out-of-this-world knife skills. I see the woman who desperately wants to be loved, but is too scared to ask for it.” He pushes my hair behind my ear, his fingers skimming along my jaw.
“I see the girl who needed a parent to love her and, instead of receiving that, had to become her own caretaker. I see the strength you wear like a shield and yet I see the soft woman you can be when you’re given the slightest bit of safety. ”
He releases me suddenly, his hand going in his pocket, and then he’s dropping to a knee. My mouth pops open, wanting to tell him not to get his beautiful tuxedo dirty. Then my brain catches up to what’s happening and I gasp.
Deuce is on one knee, a sparkling ring held between us.
“I want to be your safe space forever, Valentina. I want to show you how much you are loved every single day of your life. I want to slide this ring on your finger, knowing it’s not a way to pin you down or make you a liability, but rather it’s a promise.
A promise to always put you first. A promise to find a way to make your life better than you ever dreamed possible. ”
“You already do,” I manage to whisper. My heart is pounding so loudly I’m not sure he could have heard me.
His smile is dark and cocky and so heated my knees begin to quake. “And I’ll do all that so much better as your husband. Let’s do what was never possible in your prior life. Let’s be legally connected. Say you’ll marry me, Valentina.”
I step around the ring he’s still valiantly holding in the air and cup his face in my hands.
Somehow tears have leaked out onto my cheeks.
It’s not surprising. I think that might be all I’ve done this weekend.
I’m just so overwhelmed with this feeling of rightness.
Like I’m right where I need to be for maybe the first time in my life.
“I love you so much, ciuccio.”
“Then marry me,” he whispers. “Make me yours.”
Make him mine. Yes, I like the sound of that.
I lean down and kiss him, his lips so familiar now it makes me want to cry with happiness. “Yes, baby. I’ll marry you.”
He whoops and somehow picks me up off the ground to spin me around in celebration.
I laugh, startled and yet somehow not. Yes, life will be safer with Deuce, but never boring.
Our friends and family cheer from behind us, an omen to how this life will be.
I’m not just gaining a husband, I’m gaining friends.
Family. A community. More than a little orphan girl from New York could ever hope for.
He puts me down long enough to slide the ring on my finger and that’s when I see it. There’s a long line of target paper clipped on the apparatus behind him. The bullet holes spell out: Will You Marry Me?
“How long did it take you to shoot all that?” I murmur, holding my hand up to see the way the ring catches the sunlight.
Deuce kisses my cheek, a wry smile on his handsome face. “Let’s just say Heaven’s stock of ammunition has been depleted.”
I’m still laughing as our people crowd around, offering congratulations. Someone pops a bottle of champagne, and for once, the loud noise doesn’t startle me enough to reach for my knife under this beautiful dress.