Page 45 of Vow to Me

It doesn’t help that Luca’s been acting fucking weird all day. He fucked me against the kitchen wall this morning, but he’sdistanced himself from me since, he’s acting skittish and he’s definitely fucking hiding something.

My phone rings and I sit up from where I’ve been lying on the couch to reach it, I pick it up and see Enzo’s contact on the screen.

“Hey,” I say when I answer.

“Hey, sis.”

I roll my eyes at the nickname. “What’s up? Why are you calling me and not Luca?”

“I just wanted to tell you that since the books I bought you got destroyed I went back and got you some more, I just dropped them at your apartment,” he throws out casually, and I inwardly groan that he’s keeping up this idiotic ruse with his girl.

“Enzo, for fuck’s sake. Just talk to the girl, take her to dinner, coffee, a drink, I don’t fucking know. Just stop lurking in dark alleyways to watch her, coming up with excuses to visit her store and just fuckingtalkto her. And STOP letting yourself into our apartment while were not home, you’re a fucking pain in the ass.”

“But you love me.” He chuckles, and I huff out a breath. “When have I ever told you that I love you? I barely tolera—” I’m cut off as Luca snatches the phone out of my hands and looks at the screen before bringing it to his ear.

“I suggest you delete my fucking wife’s number before I catch the next flight home and fucking strangle you Enzo,” he growls and hangs up before swinging his gaze to me.

“Well, hello to you too, husband. How nice of you to grace me with your presence. Now tell me, is there a reason you’re avoiding me?” I ask and bat my eyes at him.

His mouth opens and closes but no sound comes out and he spins on his heel and stalks out of the room.

What the fuck just happened?

I take a deep breath before standing and following after him, he walks through the kitchen and out of the double doors. As soon as I get outside my breath catches in my throat and my steps falter.

The sun is just setting so the sky is a deep blue. Theres candles set up as a walkway across the sand to where Luca stands in the middle of the beach, my eyes meet his and his gaze is so full of love that all I want to do is run and fly into his arms.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Luca

I’m not sure why the fuck I’m so nervous, but I feel like I’ve been walking on eggshells all day waiting for this moment. I’ve barely spoke to Izzy all day out of fear that she’d see right through me and realize what I was up to.

I’ve never made a romantic gesture before, considering I’ve never had a fucking girlfriend before, so this is a big step for me.

When I walked into the sitting room to grab Izzy and overheard her on the phone to someone saying something about loving them, I saw fucking red at the thought of her telling another man that she loved them. Then I realized it was my fucking annoying little brother and I calmed the hell down before she decided to ask what was going on with me. I got the fuck out of there and made it out to where I had everything set up rather than reply to her, figured it was easier because I knew she wouldn’t let me get away with saying nothing, I knew she’d follow me. Stubborn pain in the ass that she is.

Izzy storms out of the patio doors and halts as she takes in the scene surrounding her. Her eyes meet mine and they widen before she takes measured steps towards me, never breaking eye contact.

“What’s going on?” she asks as she reaches me, and I swallow as I take her in. She’s dressed in a pale blue summer dress with her feet bare. She’s not wearing any makeup and her hair is piled on top of her head as usual. She’s fucking breathtaking.

I clear my throat and do the one thing I thought I would never do—drop down one knee.

Izzy’s mouth pops open and she stares wide-eyed at me and whispers my name. I pull the small box from my pocket and flip the lid, making her breath catch. She doesn’t even bother looking at the ring, she just stares into my eyes and waits to hear what I have to say.

“Izzy, you deserve the world. You deserve sunshine and roses and rainbows and fucking unicorns. You deserve everything little girls dream of, and everything grown women read in those ridiculous romance novels and wish they had. You deserve to wake up each morning knowing your husband will come home to you and only you. You deserve to be treated like the queen you are.” I take a deep breath and take hold of her hand.

“I don’t deserve you, baby. You should have had a real proposal, a real wedding which you got to plan yourself, you should have been able to choose your own husband instead of being stuck with me.” She shakes her head at me, but I continue. “You deserve fucking everything, and I’ll give you it if you let me, this is me letting you choose, I want you choose me, baby. I want to re-do our wedding, I want to have a real marriage, I want to spend my life with you. I want to stand up in front of a room full of family and friends—not business associates there for appearances—and vow to love youforever. I want you to vow to me that you’ll spend the rest of your life loving me, vow to me that you’ll never leave, no matter what hard times we go through or arguments and fights we have. Vow to be mine, baby. I love you so fucking much. Marry me Iz, properly this time.” I finish my speech and hold my breath as she stares at me with tears pooling in those gorgeous eyes of hers that I get lost in every single day.

Her legs buckle and she drops to the ground in front of me, she wraps her arms around my neck before bringing her mouth to mine in a passionate kiss. I freeze for a second before responding and my tongue tangles with hers, it takes all of my self-control to pull back and not take the kiss further, but somehow, I find the strength to lean back and look into her eyes.

“That’s not an answer,mia regina.”

“I love you, Luca. So fucking much. Did you doubt my answer would be anything other than yes?” She smiles and it’s my favorite type. The type of smile that lights up her whole face, making her eyes shine and making my chest constrict. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life loving every single part of you, I see you, Luca. Thank you so much for seeing me too. You’ve been everything I never thought I could have. I came into this marriage expecting to have to fight tooth and nail every day for my place in this world, but you’ve shown me that not all men are the same, you’ve shown me what love feels like, what safety feels like, what compassion feels like. Of course, I’ll marry you,amore mio.”

My breath catches at the nickname. I never thought I’d be one to engage in fucking pet names. But here I am, sat with the love of my life. She’s my little demon,mia regina,myeverything.

“Thank fuck,” I say before slamming my mouth back to hers and pulling her to me so she’s straddling my lap before realizing I’m still holding the ring box in my hand. I break the kiss and rest my forehead against hers for a beat then sit back so I can pull the ring from the box and place it on her finger.

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