Chapter 48
Four Months Later
I adjust my bow tie, staring at my reflection in the mirror.
For a man who doesn’t look any different, I am .
Damien steps behind me, doing the same. “I appreciate you inviting me to this one.” He slaps my shoulder. “Glad you didn’t leave me out.”
I flip him off. “You’d have objected if you’d been invited to the first wedding.”
When his bow tie is straight, he backtracks a few steps to sit on a chair. “Nah, if I’d done that, you’d have probably shot me.” He scoots toward the edge, resting his elbows on his thighs. “Though I’d have just made you annul it later.”
“You wouldn’t have made me do shit.” I spin on my heel to face him.
“True. You were so obsessed with Genesis that I could’ve offered you a billion dollars and control of the world in exchange for not marrying her, and you’d have still told me to fuck myself.”
“Damn straight.” I snatch my tux jacket and pull it over my shoulders. “And still shot you because the offer would’ve pissed me off.”
The door opens, interrupting our conversation, and Antonio steps inside the Groom Room.
Antonio shuts the door, turning to look at us, stone-faced. “Not to sound like a drag on your wedding day, but we have a problem.”
“When don’t we have a problem?” Damien says, already sounding stressed, all the amusement from our conversation gone.
I stare at Antonio grimly, waiting for whatever bad news is coming my way.
Whatever it is, it’d better not affect my wedding today.
Genesis already had one subpar ceremony. I won’t allow that to happen again.
“Pissed-off Russians are blowing up my phone,” Antonio states before stopping. “Not physically, metaphorically.”
It’s wild that we have to clarify that.
But men in our world have an affinity for blowing shit up.
We’ve murdered every Russian who was aware of Dima’s plan to kidnap Genesis, including Denis. That motherfucker got a personal three-hour torture session from me before I gutted him, hung him up by chains in a warehouse, and left him there for two more days before dropping him in the ocean.
“Tell the Russians to kiss our Italian asses.” Damien kicks his feet up onto the table. “Dima murdered Yaroslav, their boss . They should be happy the disloyal fuck, his son or not, is gone.”
Antonio kicks Damien’s feet off the table and sits beside him. “Dima’s cousin is coming from Russia to take control of the family here. None of them are pissed at us, but they want a contract.”
“We don’t owe them shit,” I sneer. “Did you tell them Dima took my wife? If anything, they owe us a fucking favor. A huge fucking one. Tell them I want a shipment of their fucking eyeballs for my wedding gift.”
“What kind of contract do they want?” Damien asks.
“Marriage.”
Damien lets out a breath through clenched teeth.
“He wants one of our men to wed his daughter,” Antonio adds.
All attention slips to me.
“The fuck are you looking at me for?” I ask. “We’re at my wedding, so don’t get any ideas.”
“Calm down. We’re not planning to make you a polygamist,” Damien says. “We’re brainstorming. Start doing the same.”
“We only have …” I pause to think of options.
“Emilio or Leo,” Antonio says. “I vote Emilio.” Leo is Antonio’s cousin.
I shake my head. “Emilio will say no. He doesn’t want a wife.”
Antonio strokes his jaw. “He won’t have a choice.”
“I think a wife would be good for Emilio,” Damien inputs, as if we were parents discussing sending him to boarding school for bad grades, not forcing him to marry a stranger.
I point at each of them. “Fine, it’s Emilio. But don’t you inform him of this decision until after my wedding.” I straighten my lapels.
“Having sane Russians on board with us will help,” Antonio continues. “The Irish are still pissed at us. Even though Riona is in charge, I have a feeling the higher ups in Ireland aren’t happy about a woman being in charge.”
Riona is currently the boss of the Irish mob, based out of Boston. She’s the first woman to carry the position after murdering her father. I like Riona, father murderer or not. She’s coolheaded for the most part, and she broke the marriage contract with Damien so he could marry Pippa.
“Fuck the Irish,” I say.
Antonio stands, buttoning his blazer. “We’ll discuss this later. Genesis will probably kick your ass if she walks down the aisle and you’re nowhere to be seen.”
This morning, I went to my father’s gravestone and told him he was right.
Every parent loves hearing that.
He’d told me and Damien that, someday, we’d find a woman we loved as much as he loved my mother. He swore, one day, a woman would bring us to our knees and she’d become the reason we stayed alive.
Sometimes, in the back of my mind, I wonder if he ever saw Genesis as that woman for me. If he already knew.
I’d sworn to him, there was no heart for me to give to a woman. Genesis proved that wrong. She pushed her manicured hand into my chest, planting roots and helping my heart to grow large enough to fit room for herself there.
For our growing family.
The music starts, and everyone in the pews turns quiet. The cathedral is full of guests. All attention turns to Genesis as she struts down the aisle with Uncle Mick by her side.
We take regular date nights to the pizzeria.
At first, and even though they didn’t voice it, I could tell they were concerned about my affiliation with the Lombardi family, as they had been with my father.
But after so many years after losing my mother, they said they regretted ending their relationship with her.
Time is too short, and it was one of their biggest regrets.
I’m also extremely careful with them. Other than today, we only see them during date nights at the pizzeria.
My lips twitch into a smile as my eyes are glued to her. She’s headed straight to me, her baby bump on display in her white dress.
Her eyes aren’t on anyone but me.
I mouth, “ So fucking stunning ,” to her, and she blows me a kiss.
She’s made me the luckiest man alive.
As she grows closer, I hear a slight squeal from Darcy.
Even though this is her second time as the maid of honor, she took the duty very seriously. Amara is our flower girl, and she made a show of stopping to show her ballerina moves each time she dropped a flower.
Genesis’s bridesmaids—Pippa, Gigi, Neomi, and her sisters—are behind Darcy. Her choosing them as bridesmaids became a problem.
Cristian and Benny wouldn’t allow another man— one of my groomsmen —to walk them down the aisle. That resulted in them becoming part of my wedding party.
Who’d have thought my groomsmen would consist of Lombardis and Marchettis?
It’s fucking comical.
The closer Genesis gets to me, the more she takes my breath away.
When they reach me, Uncle Mick hugs her, then me, before taking his seat between Aunt Belinda and Betty. Betty gives me a thumbs-up, and I shake my head.
My smile meets Genesis’s as she stands before me. I grab her hand in mine, pulling her closer until we’re only inches apart. I inhale her sweet scent.
Father Jerome steps before us to start the ceremony. He almost bowed out when he saw Antonio during the wedding rehearsal two nights ago. In order to attend the wedding, Antonio had to take a trip to the confessional and then recite a shit ton of Hail Marys.
Happiness seeps into my cruel bones, into my hardened heart, as I repeat my vows to Genesis.
“You may kiss the bride,” Father Jerome finally says.
I wrap my arms around her waist and kiss her hard and deep.
Like it’s been killing me, standing here, waiting to have my lips against hers again. Like I’m not a man who kisses her nearly a hundred times a day.
A simple contract led us to this.
No, my family led me to this.
Deep down, I know they accepted Genesis into their lives because they knew she’d be good for me. They saw the good in her heart and how trustworthy she is. I’ll never take her for granted.
We don’t fly out for our honeymoon until tomorrow morning, but we’re starting it tonight at a suite at the Park Hyatt hotel.
It’s after midnight when we finally arrive at the hotel. Pippa and Antonio threw us a long but extremely generous reception dinner. For so long, I’d thought I didn’t have family, but I’m learning you don’t have to share blood to be family.
It’s been a busy few months. I made Genesis wait a few weeks before allowing her to return to Safe Hearts. She was pissed, but she had no idea I had an ulterior motive.
Safe Hearts Mission now has its own butterfly house.
With the building structure and codes, we had to settle for that rather than a butterfly garden.
The children love it, and sometimes, Genesis teaches her classes in there.
As someone who’s never been a butterfly person, I’m not going to lie—it’s cool.
To make up for the lack of a garden, I had that installed at our house, near the patio. Every morning, she sits out there and reads, works on teaching plans, or schedules social media posts for Safe Hearts.
I want to give Genesis everything she’s ever wanted in life for giving me something I thought I’d never have—happiness.
I’m shirtless in bed, my back propped up against the headboard, as Genesis crawls up the bed to straddle me. She told me to get comfortable as she changed into the sexiest white lingerie I’ve ever seen in my life.
Genesis smooths her thumb against the bandage on my chest. “What’s this? Tell me you didn’t get shot before our wedding this morning?”
I chuckle over the fact that that’s her first thought. Shaking my head, I carefully peel back the bandage to reveal my new tattoo.
“You said this was where you wanted your name,” I say when the full tattoo is uncovered.
Her breathing hitches as she stares at her name in cursive writing with a crown covering half the G .
“When we decide on a name, our baby’s name will be right beside yours.” I run my hand over her stomach, giving it three gentle taps.
It’s what I do every night—a reminder to our baby that Daddy is here and he loves her.
Yes, her.
We’re having a girl.