Page 52 of Mafia Doctor's Secret Baby

“I think you know,” I reply, popping open the ring box so she can see the gem glittering at her in the warm sunshine pouring through the window.

“But when did you…I mean, how did you…”

She seems to be struggling with her words right now, and I guess that shouldn’t come as a surprise, all things considered. She’s just wrapped her head around the thought of leaving with me, and now I’m down on one knee before her, asking her to spend the rest of her life with me. Or at least, I will be, just as soon as she catches her breath.

“I wanted to be prepared if you came back to me with the answer I wanted,” I explain softly. “I got the ring because I want to make things official between us, Katie. And I…”

I draw in a deep breath. I’ve been figuring out exactly how to put this into words since the moment I picked out the ring—I know it’s not going to be easy, given everything we’ve been through, to capture the extent of my feelings toward her, but I have to try.

“Katie, when I met you, I could never have imagined it would lead us here,” I admit. “I…I thought we would just be a passing fling. And we might have stayed that way, had it not been for the fact that you turned up in my hospital room a few months later, bringing our daughter into the world.”

She presses her lips together, her eyes gleaming with tears.

“And even back then, even with the craziness of finding out I had a daughter that I didn’t know about,” I go on. “I knew. I knew there was something about you that I wanted to hold close—I knew I needed you as part of my life, no matter how difficult it might be, no matter what it might cost. And now that I truly know you for the person you are, I can tell I was right. You’re brave, you’re strong, you’re smart—you don’t take anyone’s shit, including mine. If you weren’t already the mother of my child, you’re exactly the woman I would want to have a family with. I love you, and I know I’m only going to fall more and more in love with you with every passing day. So…”

I pause before I come out with the ultimate question, the one I know is going to change everything.

“Katie Kincaid, will you marry me?”

She nods before she can even speak a word out loud—I didn’t expect any different answer from her, but it still sends a smile spreading across my face.

“Of course I will,” she replies finally, as I rise to my feet and take the ring into my hand. “I—I don’t know what to say…”

“You don’t have to say anything other than yes,” I promise her. And as I slip the ring onto her finger, it’s as though I can sense our whole future spreading out before us—our entire lives together, at each other’s side, raising our daughter and maybe future children in the years to come. It doesn’t matter what shape our family takes—as long as she’s a part of it, I will be happy.

“Oh my God,” she sighs, gazing down at the ring.

“You okay?” I ask her, rubbing my hand along the small of her back. It might be a joyous occasion, but that doesn’t mean it’s not overwhelming for her to make sense of what she’s just agreed to.

“More than okay,” she replies, with a slight giggle. “I just…I guess I didn’t expect to be proposed to today.”

“Hope I didn’t throw off your schedule for the week too much,” I joke, and she laughs.

“Hmm, I’m sure I can squeeze it in among everything else,” she muses aloud, as she extends her hand in front of her and looks down at the new ring on her finger. “I just…I can’t believe this, Luca.”

“Really?” I shoot back playfully. “Because if I turned up in the city and my father saw that I had a daughter and a girlfriend without a ring on her finger, I think he would kick my ass into next week.”

She laughs, a little shakily.

“Oh God, I haven’t even met your father yet,” she says, rubbing a hand over her face. “What’s he going to think of me, getting you to marry me like this when he hasn’t even met me…?”

“He’s going to have to find some way to get used to it,” I reply firmly. “And he will. He’s dedicated to his family, and that family involves you and Polly now too.”

“Aren’t mafia weddings supposed to be huge events?” she asks, her face brightening. “Do I get to have the fairytale walking-down-the-aisle moment in a big frothy dress…?”

I chuckle, and wrap my arms around her.

“You can have anything you want,” I assure her, dropping a kiss on her forehead. She rests her hand on my face again, and I can feel the cool pressure of the ring against my skin—a reminder of the promise she’s just made.

“I’m going to hold you to that,” she teases me, leaning up to kiss me again. And as our lips sink into each other once more, I know I am helpless to deny her anything she asks for right now. Whatever she demands, I will give it to her, if it means she will be happy.

And as I hold her in my arms right now, I get the feeling she is. Happy, that is. And my job for the rest of my days is to make sure she stays that way.

No matter what it takes.

25

KATIE

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