Page 98 of Convenient Mafia Vows

We talk about the refurbishments currently happening to the Dragon’s Den, and my vision for how it will look when works are completed. It was Don Dragonetti’s idea for me to get involved in his casino’s renovation plans after the wedding reception. Surprised, I’d felt out of my depth. I had no formal qualifications or experience, but he said he had complete faith in me, and Caleb encouraged me to try.

I’m glad he did. I’m decorating the nursery in our apartment now. I wake early every morning, drag on paint-splattered overalls , and spend my days blissfully hand-painting fairy tale scenes around the walls. I’ve finished Cinderella’s castle. Now, I’m working on an underwater scene with Ariel, Sebastien, and King Triton, and when that’s finished, I’m going to paint the house and characters fromEncanto.

Driving back along the Byway, Caleb leans forward and asks Kev to pull over on the side of the road.

We climb out, and I can’t believe that we’re standing in the exact same spot where we stopped the first time Caleb took me out on his Harley.

“How did you remember this spot?” I lean against him and admire the spectacular view. Caleb’s breath is warm on my cheek, and his hands are resting on my pregnant belly.

The last time we were here, I didn’t even know how Caleb felt about me. I had hope, but I also had the end of our fake marriage contract looming over my head. Now… I inhale deeply and relax against my husband’s chest. Now, I literally have everything that I could ever possibly want, and I still pinch myself frequently to remind me that it is real.

“How could I forget?”

I turn around in his arms and kiss him on the lips as our baby girl kicks him for getting too close. His face breaks into a wide smile that sets him aglow. He has been glowing since the day that I announced the pregnancy, and I can’t wait for him to meet our baby. I already know that he will be the best daddy in the world.

“Do you remember what you asked me that night?”

“Uh-huh. I asked you what you wanted.”

“And I didn’t answer because I received the phone call about Don Mateo’s heart attack.”

Mateo Dragonetti. Who’d have thought that the mafia boss would’ve become such a huge part of our lives when his daughter was the reason Caleb married me. “I remember.”

“Ask me again.”

I smile. “What do you want, Caleb?”

“It’s easy. It’s the easiest question I’ve ever had to answer. I want this. All of this, mo chroi. I want our daughter, and all the other children that will follow her. Sometimes, I wonder what I ever did to get so lucky.”

He lowers his head to my belly and kisses it tenderly, and the baby responds with a gentle kick.

He straightens, cups my face in his hands, and peers into my eyes. “But most of all, I want you, Victoria.”

Thank you for reading my book, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did creating it. Please leave a review to help me grow.

If you enjoyed Victoria and Caleb’s story, you will adore Brandon and Rose in Fake Dar Vows.

Here is a sneak peak.

Brandon

My phone vibrates on my desk, my mom’s face smiling at me like a cameo portrait inside a precious locket. She’s wearing her favorite pearls in the image, her hair swept back Audrey-Hepburn style, her smile revealing perfect white teeth. I can almost imagine her hissing under her breath, “Answer the damn phone, Brandon,” while the photographer catches her still sharp cheekbones in exactly the right light.

I reject the call.

Again.

I hit redial on the landline telephone on my desk and get straight through to Julia, my personal assistant. “Has my mother tried calling today?”

“Wrong question.”

“How many times?” I try.

“Ooh, at least a dozen, maybe more. I lost count shortly after I arrived.” I can hear her chuckling to herself as I cut her off.

I swivel my leather seat and stare out of the penthouse window at the winking glass of the Chrysler Building in the sunlight. My mother wants to discuss my father’s birthday arrangements even though she’ll already have everything in hand with zero input from either me or my brother. It will be the same scenario as last year, and every other birthday before that: she’ll run through the itinerary that she emailed to me a week ago, and wait for me to say, “I’ll be there, Mom.”

She knows I can’t refuse. It’s the big seven-oh, and she’ll want everything to be perfect, because there’s no room for anything less in Ruby Weiss’s life. The decorations will be themed, the food will be gourmet, and the games will be competitive—just how my father likes it—and we’ll all be expected to perform like circus animals, raising the bar a little higher with each turn.

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