31. Romeo
31
ROMEO
F ucking Tessa like that took the edge of the madness brewing within me, but it was the slower, more delicate and tender lovemaking the next morning that seemed to really “cure” me. In her arms, relaxing in knowing she was fine and unharmed, I cherished all that she represented.
“I did shoot at him,” she said nervously when she recounted what happened with Nina at the store.
I shook my head. “I don’t think you hit any of them.”
She exhaled a long breath of relief. “I can handle your being the killer. But I don’t know if I want to join that club.”
I kissed her brow and smiled. “Me neither. I want to protect you, Tess. I don’t want you to ever be in the position to have to defend yourself like that or take a life.”
“I would have if it meant keeping Nina and me safe, but…”
I smiled wider and brushed her hair back from her face. “But I’ll handle the killing.”
She frowned. “I do want to keep up with the training. Shooting practice and maybe even some martial arts. I feel more confident to know how to fight back, even if I know you will be my protector.”
I nodded. “I agree. And you will continue it. I’m proud of you, Tess, for fighting back. It’s sexy as fuck.” I squeezed her bare ass to emphasize that point.
“Please,” she groaned playfully. “I think I need a teeny break from another round.”
Later, after we dressed and moved out of the bedroom, she asked if we could move to the house that I had wanted to renovate. I wasn’t opposed to the idea at all, and I looked forward to her making her mark on the place and getting busy updating it.
“You’ve been thinking about this a lot, huh?”
She nodded over a late breakfast. “I have. For a while, I wasn’t sure if I was a girlfriend or what. When Stefan goaded me about not really being a Constella, I resisted the thought that I didn’t matter enough to you.”
As soon as we catch him, he’s paying for putting that doubt in her mind. “You do.”
“I know.” She smiled quickly. “But as I tried to figure out who I am to you, I daydreamed a bit about fixing up that place. Nina said the family has so many properties.”
“We do.”
She perked up. “Hey, that reminds me. I might need to ask a favor.”
I huffed a laugh as I stood. “Don’t call it a favor . You’ll be my wife as soon as I can arrange. Spouses don’t need to exchange favors.”
“Okay. Then I need to ask you something.” She shrugged. “My friend Liam could use a place to stay for a while, so I was wondering…”
“Sure.” I recalled the fondness in her expression when she mentioned her old friend. I also recalled the jealousy I felt at the idea of another man in her life. An envy that no longer mattered. She said she’d marry me. She said she’d be mine, and I could put faith in that. Tess was mine, and no one else’s.
Especially not Elliot Hines, whom I planned to pay a visit to later that day.
“You don’t even know what I was going to ask!”
“Were you going to ask if he could stay in one of the houses we own?”
She nodded.
“Then sure.” I kissed her brow, hating that I’d need to leave for a while to deal with Elliot.
My father and Franco rode along with me for that particular trip.
After the bullshit that Stefan pulled yesterday before going into hiding, it was a given that we would eliminate our enemies once and for all. It felt like a constant waiting game to figure out the best way to strike, but today, right now, we would hit back in such a way that would hinder the Giovannis and the Devil’s Brothers.
Elliot was clearly a high player in their schemes, and whatever those two groups were plotting, it made perfect sense to take out the men who were a part of that bigger goal.
Stefan and Reaper would continue to cause issues for the Constella Family. They wouldn’t stop. They wouldn’t give up. The only end we could count on was killing them all, and sooner or later, that would happen.
I hadn’t been bluffing. The Constellas always win. We always come out on top. Yesterday was another example of it. Carlos and the other guard would live. Nina wasn’t wounded, just scared. And Tess hadn’t been captured.
Now, as we rode to Elliot’s office, we would ensure we remained one step ahead of our enemies by taking out the slimy lawyer.
“Congratulations,” Franco said once I told them that I’d proposed to Tess.
“Did you use one of the family rings in the safe?” my father asked after telling me congratulations as well.
I shook my head. “I’m taking her to the jeweler’s after this stop.”
My father scowled, looking out the window. I doubted he wanted the memory of Nina in danger, but he wasn’t going to freak out about it. He’d called Tess and personally thanked her for looking out for her friend.
He didn’t get it. That was the loyal kind of woman she was. No thanks expected.
I also explained that we’d move back to the house that I’d first brought her to. Renovating would be a good project to share with her, but Franco shook his head. “Update the utilities first, so you can have the surveillance installed. Then move in there.”
I’d already planned on overseeing those steps, but I didn’t have to tell him that. He spoke up out of care.
“When will you plan the wedding?” my father asked several minutes later.
I shrugged. “Whenever she wants. Preferably sooner than later. Why?”
“Trying to figure out if I can pace myself here. Baby on the way. My wedding. Now yours.” He looked at Franco at the same time I did.
“What?” he asked, shrugging.
“Are you going to be next?” my father asked.
Franco smirked. “No.”
“Never?” I asked, teasing further.
“Not going near the idea of marriage ever again. No thanks.”
Again? That sounded… specific. But it wasn’t the time to ask him about his word choice. We arrived at the legal office, and I let my father lead the way.
I’d already gotten a taste of violence in killing the Giovanni guard who put his hands on Tess. I gave my father and Franco a chance to vent some of that dangerous energy. Killing Elliot seemed anticlimactic, just a single shot to the head. The two bikers positioned at the building for security were taken to a warehouse to be interrogated, then killed.
All in all, it was an efficient day of work. My father and Franco left me to return to Tess, and I smiled at her excitement the whole ride to the jeweler’s. I arranged for a private viewing of the entire store, but I wondered if other customers being here would prompt her to be less indecisive.
“They’re all too expensive!” she exclaimed after the first hour of browsing.
I leaned over one glass counter and cleared my throat for the jeweler to come closer. “No more.”
He nodded, hiding a smile.
“No more what?” Tess asked.
“No more telling you the prices when you ask.”
She pouted.
“Choose whatever you want.” If she took all night here, so be it. But I was impatient to make love with her and see my ring on her finger.
“There’s so many choices,” she argued. “Can’t you pick?”
I shook my head, amused and entertained.
“Seriously.” She crossed her arms and gave me a playful smile. “You asked. You pick.”
I sighed, playing along. I closed my eyes and spun, then turned to spin the other way twice more. Pointing my finger out, I aimed at whatever lay in my path.
“Nice choice,” the jeweler said, holding out a bluish diamond ring.
“It was random,” I deadpanned.
“Ooh.” Tess’s brows raised as she looked at the ring. “I can’t believe that worked. But, Romeo… I think this is it.”
I chuckled, walking closer as she admired the ring. “Tess, I don’t care which ring you pick, just as long as it’s mine.”
She grinned, holding up the ring and presenting it to me. “This one.” She dropped it, and the jeweler shrieked.
I lowered to the carpet and picked it up, and I realized her ploy. On my knee, I asked her again. “Will you marry me, Tessa?”
She held her hand out and laughed lightly. “It would be my pleasure, Romeo Constella.”
I slid the ring onto her finger, and after I stood, I pulled her close for a deep kiss, a promise.
Because this woman would always be mine, to love, to keep, and to protect.