Page 140 of Ruthless Mafia Daddy

“I’m not going anywhere.” I take his hand and squeeze it. “You’re stuck with me.”

“Forever?”

I look into his eyes. “Is that what you want? What you said in the car…”

“Yes. Forever. I love you, Lila Morano. So, what do you say?”

I smile, nodding, tears streaming down my face.

“Use your words, sweetheart, I need to hear you say it.”

“Yes. Forever. I love you too, Andre. So much.”

He beams. “Good. And I guess we should make it official…”

I blink, glancing up at his face.

“Is that supposed to be a proposal?” I tease. “Because your whole ensemble is really adding to it.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to raise your heart rate by doing some big, romantic gesture.” Andre grins, his shoulders finally relaxing.

This is a joke, right?

I laugh.

When Andre slides off the bed, I frown. Then he drops to one knee beside me.

“Oh, my god.” My hand goes to my mouth as I stare at Andre.

His dark eyes are filled with nothing but warmth as he takes my hand and presses a kiss to my knuckles.

“For a long time, I thought I had had my fill of happiness.” He takes a deep breath as he looks down at our entwined hands. “So, when you came along, I thought it was too good to be true. I thought the universe was playing some cruel trick on me. I didn’t know I was ready for you, so I tried to fight it. I tried to suppress the feelings that were starting to grow, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to let you go.”

“Andre…” My eyes start to sting with tears.

“I don’t deserve you, Lila Morano, but I will spend every day for the rest of my life trying to make myself worthy of you. So, think you could accept me, flaws and all? Better yet, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

Tears stream down my cheeks, my throat thick with emotion. All I can do is nod vigorously before throwing my arms around Andre, almost falling out of the hospital bed.

“Words, sweetheart. Is that a yes?” He chuckles, wrapping his strong arms around me.

“Yes, of course it’s a yes.” I take his face in my hands and kissing him.

“I love you, Lila,” he whispers against my lips.

Those three words have my heart cracking open all over again, but this time from an overflow of joy.

“I love you too, Andre.”

I wake up a few hours later to a knock at the door. Andre is still beside me in the bed, though he’s now wearing a crisp white shirt and slacks.

“What happened to the sweats?” I mumble.

Andre chuckles, tightening his hold on me.

“Marco and Rosa arrived an hour ago with some supplies. They’re eager to see you, but I told them you were sleeping.”

The knocking on the door becomes louder.

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