Page 29 of Forging Caine

Chapter 10

Antonio

Iknewthismomentwould come from the night we met as adults. I’d joked and teased her about eloping to Vegas, talked about children with her, spent time with her friends and family. But now that it was happening, my mouth was drier than the superb wine I’d sampled at Cassandra’s party.

A tremor shook my hand like the day I introduced myself to her in college.Stop being so nervous, you fool.

When I asked Faith this same question all those years ago, she’d been the one to bring it up, asking me when it would happen.

But this? This time, it was right. It was the right woman. The one I was meant to be with, and everything I’d planned to say flew from my brain.

What if she said no?

What if it was too much, too suddenly?

What if finding out about her father changed things?

Get out of your head, Tony.

Samantha took a shaky step backward, letting go of me and bringing her hands to her chest. She rubbed the fingers of one hand together, hidden behind the other hand—the sign her nerves and panic were taking over.

You just told her you didn’t want to be her boyfriend.The start of this song and that line were supposed to force you to keep talking.

I reached into my pocket, fumbling with the blue leather box that must have weighed a thousand pounds. As I lowered to one knee in front of her, I clutched onto a decade of dreams about Samantha Caine. The knowledge deep inside me that she was the one I belonged with.

Words tumbled out of my mouth, none of which were the ones I’d rehearsed the entire way home from Napoli. “We don’t need to set a date, choose invitations, a dress, a venue, anything.”

Her eyes grew slowly wider, and her nervous fingers stopped moving.

I creaked open the lid of the tiny box and took her left hand.

She was silent. She was going to say the ring was too big.

I should’ve planned it better. Shouldn’t be asking this my first night back, after she found out about her father or after visiting Fiori. Shouldn’t have called the staff to decorate the patio.

Samantha remained still, not coming closer, not saying anything.

Marone, that was the worst proposal in the history of humanity.“All I ask is that you consider saying you’ll marry me. Someday. Anyday.”

Nothing.

An ache spread out from my heart. I didn’t have a backup plan. Hadn’t truly considered she’d say no. What if it scared her off? What if her fears were so strong she’d leave rather than risk her heart? I swallowed, trying to clear the lump in my throat, and my words came out weak. “And if you’re not ready yet, I can put this ring away and—”

She let out a half-laugh and the barest hint of a smile appeared. “You talk too much sometimes, you know that?”

If I waved this off as another tease—claimed the ring was only crystal—would she believe it? “Am I distracting you yet?”

Her smile grew and she nodded several times. “Yes.”

My stomach clenched at the word. It was the one I wanted, but it hadn’t come after the right question. “Yes to me distracting you or… to the other?”

She bit down on her lip, the smile growing wider than I’d ever seen. She slipped off her promise ring and moved it to a finger on her right hand, then held out her left. Another giggle burst out of her—two in the space of an hour had to be a record for her. “Yes, I’ll not be your girlfriend anymore.”

“Yes?” I choked out, trembling as I withdrew the engagement ring from the box to place on her finger. “Really yes?”

She stretched her hand, shaking as much as I was. “Just don’t ever do that to me again.”

After I’d slid the ring onto her finger, I stood and threw my arms around her, squeezing my eyes shut and burying my face in her hair. “Maybe you’ve never noticed I mask my nerves with humor.”