Page 119 of Maddest Temptation

God. My heart was breaking. I wiped that tear away and sat closer to her. “It’s all right, Principessa.” I wiped another tear. “We killed Grigori and his operations here in Chicago. The Bratva won’t dare return so soon. You’re safe now.”

I had made sure of it. After that night, I had Vitelli and all my men hunt down the Russians and gave them a choice, either leave my territory or die. I hated not being able to fight beside my men, but Francesca was more important now. She was my family and family always came first—even before the Outfit.

“What about Donato?”

I shook my head. “Dead,” I confessed, and she sighed, visibly relieved.

Francesca looked at her wounded shoulder and then at me. “Will Marco pay for my father’s mistakes?”

I had thought about that. He had known about Donato’s meetings with the Bratva and hadn’t warned me, but he was just a kid and in this I was biased. He was Francesca’s brother.

I shook my head.

Francesca sighed. “Thank you.”

“He’s your brother, I would never harm him,” I confessed. I kissed her nose and she grinned. It was the sweetest sight in the world.

I closed in and kissed her lightly. She tried to deepen the kiss, but I moved back, eliciting a frustrated groan from her which made me chuckle.

“I love you,” I proclaimed. “I want, no, I need you to be mine, forever.”

Her eyes shot wide. “Is this a proposal?”

Fuck that’s not how I planned this, but almost losing her had opened my mind and made me see that everything I needed and wanted had always been right in front of me.

I removed the box from my back pocket and opened it for her. “Four years ago, I broke your heart, and in the process, I lost you. It was the biggest mistake of my life, and I will regret it forever. I know I don’t deserve this, or you, but I am literally begging you. I have lived these past four years in darkness and misery. I am only alive when I am next to you. You make me want to live. You are the very air I breathe, Francesca. Without you I am nothing.”

“Cassio–“

“Wait,” I stopped her. “I need you to know that I always loved you even when I broke things off. I never stopped, and I never will. You are it for me, Francesca. Seeing you in this bed unresponsive, made me realize that if I can’t have you then I don’t want to live anymore.”

“Don’t say that.” Tears snaked down her cheeks.

“It’s the truth, my heart beats only for you.” I confessed.

She reached for my hand, and I offered it to her. “I love you, Cassio, and I forgive you. I have for a while now.”

Those words hit me hard like a baseball bat to the stomach. I had never expected how much they would affect me and how much I needed to hear them.

“I love you.” I stood up “Will you marry me?”

She beamed bright as the sun. “Yes, yes!”

“Thank fuck,” I placed the ring on her finger and kissed her.

“Love you, too,” she mumbled through kisses.

I lay beside her in bed and watched as she inspected the ring, a fat, satisfied smile on her face. The doctor had come earlier and checked on her. Marie and Vitelli were on their way, which meant we had a couple of minutes to ourselves. Francesca lifted her head from my shoulder and looked me in the eye.

“Why are you crying, Principessa?”

“I’m happy, Cassio. I never thought I was going to have this,” she confessed.

“What?” I asked.

Just then Vitelli, Marie and Marco stepped into the room. When they saw her awake and smiling, they entered and began to fuss over her. When Marie saw the ring, she gasped and the two wouldn’t stop smiling. Vitelli came next and he hugged her, too, like a brother would. I saw then in his eyes a promise that he would always protect her. Marco came last, and we all let the two of them talk for a while.

“Congratulations, man.” Vitelli tapped my shoulder. I grinned. “So, marriage…who would have thought.”

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