Page 71 of Secret Baby for the Mafia Don

“Kate?” It’s Grazia and she’s twisting the handle of the door insistently. “Are you okay in there?”

I look at Elio and he shrugs. I don’t care that we are caught either.

“Elio,” Grazia says sternly. “I swear to God, if you have ruined her hair or makeup, I’m going to skewer you!”

We both laugh at her words. “You should know me better than that,” Elio says back. He glances back at me and I nod. He pulls the door open to reveal Grazia in a beautiful pink dress, tapping her foot on the marble floor in annoyance.

“I don’t need to tell you that this is bad luck,” she states flatly.

We both laugh like children caught making out in the back seat and she rolls her eyes.

“Ugh,” she says. She grabs Elio’s wrist and tugs him out of the room. “You need to be at the altar waiting to meet your bride. Get going.” She starts fussing over my hair and my dress, but then calls back to Elio, “Make sure that you act surprised to see her, at least.”

“Yes ma’am,” he calls back and I grin.

Grazia tsks at me. “Shameless,” she says, tugging at the bustle on my dress. “You both should know better.”

For some reason, I can’t stop laughing. Grazia gives me an annoyed look, but then her face relaxes into a smile. “It’s good to see you so happy,” she admits.

“Thank you,” I say. I take her hands. “Thank you for everything that you have done for both of us over the past few weeks.”

She nods and smiles. “It’s what my Nonna would have done. She used to say that life is fleeting and that we have to make the most of the times when things are good.”

“She sounds like a wise woman,” I say.

“She was,” Grazia agrees, then she wags a finger at me. “And she would never, ever have approved of your husband seeing you before you walked down the aisle. However, since you two have been intended for one another since birth, I suppose she would have excused this lapse in good sense.”

“I hope so,” I tell Grazia. “We can’t take it back now.”

Grazia sighs. “Well, I don’t think anyone else will know that you two jumped the gun on your wedding night by a few hours. Let’s go.”

I follow Grazia out into the hallway and around the corner where I meet my father. He bursts into tears the moment that he sees me, causing me to start crying again. Having my family back filled a hole in my heart that I didn’t even realize had gotten so big.

Grazia rushes around clucking over us, applying mascara again and dabbing at my cheeks.

The walk down the aisle is a blur at first. There are so many people standing up and watching me approach the altar. I can’t take in all the faces around me, so I just look straight ahead and smile.

Elio’s wickedly handsome face swims into view and I focus on him with relief, tugging my father forward faster as we draw nearer to the man that I love.

As we get closer, I realize that Grazia didn’t need to worry about a thing. Elio’s cheeks are streaked with tears as he reaches for my hand and turns me toward the officiant standing before us.

“Dearly beloved…” the officiant begins. I think about Elio shouting my name earlier as he came, and I grin. This might be the ceremony that binds us together legally, but our marriage began ten minutes ago.

I look up into Elio’s dark, sultry eyes. I know everything behind these eyes, he’s revealed his deepest darkest secrets to me. His whole self. He doesn’t have to feel the torture of his past alone anymore.

I know everything. I know him. And it only makes me love him more.

As the words of the ceremony wash over me I think of how grateful I am for this man that I understand inside and out. He turns to meet my gaze and the love that is reflected back at me fills my heart.

“I’ve got you,” I mouth silently to him.

“You’re mine,” he mouths back with a smirk.

The road to this moment was long and winding. Fraught with pain and suffering, but none of that matters now.

Today is the first day of a life that I never thought I would actually get to live.

Epilogue

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