Page 126 of The Deadly Candies

“Oh yeah, sorry,” Kathy blushed. José and Sam signed their paperwork, and then Matteo, who refused to get up from his chair or let Debbie go, signed his signature along with Carmelo. The same was done for Carmelo and Debbie. The pair were married.”

“Now let’s have the ceremony and recite our vows, in front of everyone,” Debbie said, holding on to Matteo’s neck.

“What vows?” Matteo asked.

“The ones you wrote for me,” she reminded him.

He blinked.

“You better have written your vows like I told you!” Debbie pouted.

Carmelo took Kathy’s hand, and she addressed the room without looking back: "We'll say our vows in private. Goodnight."

Samuel turned on the radio to drown out the arguing couple and pulled José into a loving embrace. They swayed in each other’s arms. Upstairs, there were three bedrooms, one bathroom, and privacy for all.

Kathy grabbed the waiting basket and wine, barely noticing Matteo and Debbie still tangled together in an argument over vows to each other, or José swaying with the judge to the soft jazz drifting from his portable radio.

There would be no need for vows. They were married.

* * *

This was Debbie’s house.She knew what the night would bring, so she had Matteo assign the rooms and furnish them for the evening. It was no easy thing, but the mobster in training had the resources and heart to get it done. Each room had a little sign hung, which Debbie had gone upstairs and put in place after Henry Freeman’s men had searched it. She had worked alone, telling Kathy there would be a surprise waiting for her.

Kathy reached the door with their names. Mr. & Mrs. Ricci. Her fingers brushed the lettering.

“Stop.”

She froze, tossed a glance back over her shoulder. Carmelo stood there, grinning—that slow, dangerous smile that always made her pulse stutter. The basket of food Mama Stewart had packed for theirhoneymoon(because that’s what tonight was,theirwedding night, the most sacred night of her life) swayed in her grip as her heart kicked back to life.

“Signora Ricci,” he spoke in a firm, yet gentle voice, stepping closer, “does not walk across the threshold. She iscarried.Non fare la birichina!(Don’t be naughty).”

“Oh?” Kathy arched a brow but took a playful step back. Her whole being seemed to be filled with waiting. A sense of urgency drove her, but his calm temperament soothed her.

“Put it down,” he ordered.

She obeyed, setting the basket and wine bottle carefully on the floor, her movements deliberate, teasing. Carmelo didn’t rush. He took his time, circling her like a man savoring the last moments before a feast. She could feel the sexual magnetism that made him so confident. When he finally reached past her to open the door, his knuckles grazed her hip—a spark even through layers of fabric.

Then, without warning, he swept her up, one arm beneath her knees, the other cradling her back. Kathy gasped, thenlaughed, the sound bright and breathless as he carried her into the room—theirroom, their gift from Debbie.

And there, in the golden glow of lamplight, she beheld it: the first day of their future.

The bed was dressed in crisp white linens, strewn with rose petals, the deep red of Sicilian sunsets—a single vase of baby’s breath—just like the sprigs in her hair.

But it was the far wall and what the groom had left there for her that stole her soul.

A mural.

Carmelo must have painted it himself—swirls of cerulean, green and gold, a safari, with animals they saw together at the zoo grazing across the land, melting into Sicily’s beautiful landscape and mountainous terrains, their two worlds stitched together by brushstrokes. In the center, there is a single phrase in an elegant script:“Da questa notte, per sempre.”From this night, forever.

Kathy felt bottomless peace and joy. She turned her face into Carmelo’s neck, breathing in the scent of his cologne—citrus and spice and somethingmade ofhim—before whispering against his skin, “Youdid this, how? And so fast. For me? For us?”

“You inspire me. That’s how. When I lost you, I drew your face every day, the moment my hands could hold a pencil. I’m sorry we fought the first day we saw each other. I’m sorry, you’ve been forced to endure so much because of me. When you left me, I realized how great your love had to be for me, to look past everyone and everything and still believe.”

“After that day, I saw this—our dream. I came back the next day, and the day after that, every day I could. I was here. I started painting. I didn’t know how it would happen. I knew it would be that you’d be mine, all mine again. Because you and I belong together, Kat.Sempre.”

“You’re amazing. Your art… your heart, Melo, it’s amazing,” she touched both sides of his face.

He let her down to her feet, and of course, her body naturally pressed into his, arms around his neck. They kissed—a soft kiss—a promise between them. Then he took her hand. She had worn his ring through Debbie’s ceremony. He kissed it as well.

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