Page 23 of Vow to Me

“I’m never going to be one of those men Izzy, if you ever decide to let me into that guarded heart of yours, I’ll never leave, and I’d rather die than hurt you. I may not be able to promise you romance or all that flowery shit girls like guys to give them, but Ican promise you that,” he says with a smile, making me snort like the motherfucking lady that I am.

I lean up and press a kiss to his lips which he immediately accepts, cupping my jaw and taking the kiss deeper. I pour everything into the kiss, all of my fear, my gratitude and my thankfulness that this is the man I ended up marrying. He’s a goddamn dream, a rare light shining through my darkness.

He’s everything I never knew I needed and everything I could ever want wrapped up in a sinfully handsome package.

“We need to stop, baby. If we keep going then I won't be able to control myself, you’re too sore for all the things I want to do to you,” he groans as he pulls back from me. He wraps his arms around me, and I rest my head on his shoulder, snuggling into him before turning my attention back to the show we were watching.

And that's how we spend the rest of our evening, cuddled up on the couch watching some show that's so bad, it ends up being funny. We laugh and we talk and just enjoy each other's company. I don’t know what will happen next for us, but I’ll happily sit back and find out.

I start drifting off to sleep, still perched on his lap. Luca must realize because suddenly he stands, still holding on to me and walks me to his room.

It's an unspoken agreement that I'll be staying in this room now too, I guess. He places me on the bed and climbs in beside me.

“I don’t know what the hell I’m doing here, Izzy. You never asked earlier, but this is the first relationship I’ve been in. We may not be conventional, but we areeverything,and I'll dowhatever it takes to prove that to you,” Luca whispers to me from behind where he’s spooning me as I drift off into sleep.

I don’t think it will take much work for him to prove anything to me, because I think I already know.

Chapter Twenty-One

Luca

Iwake up to find Izzy snuggled into my side, we must have moved at some point during the night because she's now draped over me, as if she's trying to burrow herself into me.She’s already has,I think to myself.

It takes far too much effort to pull myself out of bed and away from the sleeping woman who occupies not only my bed, but my head and heart too. But unfortunately, I have shit to do today, and lounging around with my new wife isn't on the to-do list, as much as I wish it was.

Yesterday felt like a dream, she’s a fucking dream. Not once have I ever spent a day with a woman the way I did yesterday with Izzy, it wasn’t about sex or anything trivial like that, like it probably would have been in the past. I just wanted to spend time with her, watch her, breathe the same fucking air as her.

I meant every single word I said to her, if she decided she didn’t want to have kids, I’d happily go to war with her father if it came to that, I know my family would too. We may need Antonio’s shipments, but we could always make a deal with someone else if we needed too. My family would support me and whatever I wanted; they’d do anything it takes to make me happy.

And Izzy is what makes me happy.

I get ready for the day, dressing in a suit as usual and make the drive to my father’s estate so we can prepare for a meeting with Andrev. Dad texted me last night to let me know we had a meeting with the new head of the Bratva later today and asked me to come see him beforehand for breakfast and to catch up on business. I may have only taken one day off, but the Mafia stops for no one, not even me.

Reaching his home, I let myself in and make my way to the kitchen, where Dad is sat at the kitchen island with a coffee and today’s paper.

“Morning old man,” I quip, and he curses me under his breath.

“You’re later than I imagined you would be, I figured you’d be itching to get out of your apartment after spending the whole day with your wife yesterday,” he says with a smirk.

Asshole.

“Keeping tabs on me?”

“Yup,” he says, emphasizing the “P” and shrugging, “I keep tabs on all my sons. Speaking of which, you need to have a chat with Enzo and see what the fuck he’s doing following some girl around all day.” He pats me on the back as I take a seat beside him, and Beatrice sets a coffee down in front of me. I thank her before turning to my dad.

“There is no fucking talking to him, and you should know that by now. Christ, he let himself into my apartment to ask my wife for dating advice. He’s finally fucking lost it.”

He just stares at me, a look of disbelief covering his face. Clearly, that was one thing he didn’t know. Fuck, now that’s a rare event, not much gets past our father.

“Just talk to him and make sure he’s not going to hurt the girl,” he grunts, “how are things between you and Izzy?”

I stare up at the ceiling, trying to decide how much I should divulge. My dad is probably the best person to talk to about this, my brothers and Alec have never had a serious relationship with a woman, so they would be as fucking clueless as I am. Whereas my dad loved my ma with everything he had.

“Honestly? I’ve known her for a week, and she’s fucking embedded herself deep inside me. She can be batshit crazy at times, but then she’s also the sweetest fucking person I’ve ever met. I spent the whole day at home with her yesterday. The. Whole. Day. I can’t remember the last time I just stayed home and did nothing, I could have happily stayed home this morning, she’s on my mind constantly and I feel like I can’t breathe when she’s not around me. She’s messing with my head, what the goddamn hell is wrong with me?” I finish my rambling and turn to look at my dad, who’s sat with a shit eating grin that takes up his whole face, his eyes twinkling with delight.

“Well, son, I think it’s safe to say you’re in love with your wife,” he says with a laugh.

“I can’t be in fucking love with her, I’ve known the woman for one fucking week!” I roar.

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