“Yes, but there’s a good reason why.”
“Don’t keep me in suspense,” he says, pulling me close and nuzzling my ear. He always knows exactly what part to suckle when he wants to melt me into a puddle of goo.
But I can’t melt right now.
Not yet.
I take a small step backward, still holding his hands in mine. My heart thrums against my chest, delicious shivers making my body shudder.
And then I drop to one knee, unable to keep the smile from spreading across my face. “Dante,” I say, tears springing to my eyes. “You once told me you were an unconventional kind of guy.” I sniffle. “Well, that must mean we’re a perfect pair because I’m an unconventional kind of girl. You gave up so much for me, and you’re ready to move across the country to help me realize my dreams. I believe that there were a lot of people upstairs pulling strings for us to find each other, and I am so thankful we did. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I want to spend the rest of my life making sure you know it.” I swipe away one stray tear and hold out a shiny gold band. “I love you more than you’ll ever know. Will you be my husband?”
He smirks. “Is this because I said I loved you before you finally said it back? You wanted to be the first this time?”
I giggle. “Maybe.”
“Well, then, you know we Villanis like to have the last word. So…” He drops down in front of me and pulls out a small, black velvet box, flipping it open to reveal a glittering diamond engagement ring. “I’ll say yes if you do.”
“Oh my God, yes!” My hand flies up to my mouth. “Were you planning this all along?”
“Of course I was. I figured whatever surprise you had planned, you’d never see this coming as the cherry on top.”
“You’re right, I didn’t at all!”
“Happy anniversary,” he says, pulling me close. “And happy engagement.”
“Well, not yet,” I say.
He furrows his brow. “No?”
“You didn’t say yes! It has to be mutual!”
“Yes,” he says with a wink. “See, I told you I’ll always get the last word.”
I roll my eyes and let out a huff, but he snakes a hand around the back of my head and crushes his lips against mine. He tastes like spearmint, so cool and fresh and sweet.
“I love you so much,” he murmurs against my lips.
“I love you, too,” I say, wrapping my arms around him.
“Okay, so are you gonna tell me why you drove me away from here and then back again?”
“Well, I couldn’t very well throw us an engagement party at another restaurant, right?” I snap my fingers and the partition slides over, revealing the rest of our party guests, including my new bestie, Tommy Marcone.
Tommy grins, standing aside so we can see the two cakes he’s decorated. One says “He Said Yes” and the other says “She Said Yes.”
“I’ve never done a double engagement party where there are two engagements for the same couple,” he says in a dry voice.
“You knew!” I exclaim.
“Of course I knew.” He smirks. “The chef always knows.”
Dante hugs me close and drops a kiss onto the top of my head before everyone rushes over to me to get a look at the huge rock sitting on my left hand. I hold it out, admiring it along with the rest of them. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.
Heaven clasps her hands together. “A wedding! Yay! And it’s one where you’re not being forced to marry the groom!” She chuckles as Matteo snakes an arm around her waist and dips her backward as she lets out a squeal.
“I don’t hear too much complaining from you now,” he says gruffly.
“Yeah, that’s because her husband doesn’t suffer from the Irish curse,” Kaz pipes in, hugging his wife Lindy close to him. “No more peanuts for you, Heaven. Only Italian sausages.” Kaz points to Marchella and Jaelyn, Roman and Sergio’s fiancées. “Am I right, ladies?”
“Hell, yeah!” Jaelyn says. Sergio smacks her ass and grabs her close as Marchella spews champagne all over Roman while she chuckles.
Alek and his wife Gianna roll their eyes. “Kaz, seriously? You’re about as subtle as a hand grenade,” Gianna scoffs.
“Well, I know I can’t argue Kaz’s point about the sausage,” I say with a giggle. “I’m a lucky girl.”
Dante smacks my ass. “Damn right,” he murmurs against my ear. “And just wait until later for the real celebration.”
I lay my head on his shoulder, smiling at the banter between the Villanis, the Severinovs, and the Marcones.
“Nobody made a better borscht than my grandmother, you fucking guinea bastard!” Alek snips, rolling his eyes at Tommy. “Don’t even insult me by saying that!”
“So now you’re challenging me to make a better borscht than your grandmother? Game on, Ivan Drago!” Tommy bellows.
“Wait, wait,” Dante says, chuckling so hard he can barely get the words out. “Tommy, you remember that restaurant review you got awhile back? About how your gnocchi…wait, lemme get this right…’resembled a saggy ball sack?’”
Tommy’s wife, Gemma, doubles over with laughter. “Oh my God! I found that article and framed it for him as a joke.”
“Yeah, not one of your funnier ones,” Tommy mutters.
I spit out my champagne. “Wait, somebody wrote that?” I gasp through the laughter.
Tommy shrugs. “Yeah, and when he came to my restaurant, I fucking threw a chair at him.”
I can’t even breathe right now because my body quakes with hysterics.
And it doesn’t stop there. The groups laughs and goads each other for hours.
They are one-hundred percent family first, business associates a far second.
They all have each others’ backs, no matter what.
A tight-knit group that I am thrilled to be part of.
A real family.
I haven’t felt as connected and so much a part of something since I lost my parents and Maks. It’s been a long time, and I’m going to cherish it forever.
Dante holds me tight against him as we toast again with bottles of Veuve Clicquot champagne.
I really do have everything I could ever want.
I let out a soft giggle as Dante’s lips assault the back of my neck. “I can’t get the key in the lock,” I murmur. “You’re distracting me.”
“You need to work on your focus so I can get you inside…and then I can get inside you,” he whispers against my hair, his low voice full of wickedly delicious promise.
It is so damn hard to concentrate right now, with his demanding tongue trailing a path around my ear. I gasp, sliding in the key once more and doing an inward cheer once the lock beeps. I turn the door handle, drop everything in my hands, and wrap my arms around my fiancé. He gathers me in his arms and carries me outside to the balcony, letting me down in front of one of the day beds.
He reaches around my back and unzips my dress, then he slides the shoulder straps down so they fall to my wrists. The dress slips off easily, falling to my feet. Dante’s eyes take on a predatory look as they run over my almost-naked body. I swear I hear a growl rumble deep in his throat and a shiver runs through me, despite the heat.
Even at night, the temperatures out here are sweltering.
I take a step toward him and unbuckle his pants as his fingers reach behind me to unhook my bra.
“You know you made me the happiest guy on the planet tonight, right?” he murmurs, kicking off his pants once I finally get them to his ankles. He pulls off his shirt and tosses it behind him.
I look at his massive, stiff cock and grasp it, stroking it as I nod my head. “And I’m the happiest girl.”
“What the hell kind of fate is this, huh?” He reaches behind my head, fisting my hair and drawing me toward him.
“It’s twisted, that’s for sure,” I whisper with a soft giggle. “Just like we are, I guess.”
“Twisted and crazy and fucking hot,” he says, his lips lifting into his signature sexy grin. He gives my ass a smack, and I squeal before he tears my thong right from my body. “Sorry, I hope you didn’t love that pair,” he says with a chuckle.