I feel someone touch my hair affectionately, and I keep my eyes closed, enjoying the caress.
“Happy birthday, amore!” As soon as Luca’s voice sings through my room, I open my eyes immediately and see him sitting with his back against the bedside table, looking at megently, giving him a smile, still feeling his caress in my hair. Its smell slowly takes over my senses, my body relaxes, and my heart beats fast as if I was running a marathon.
“I thought you were in Sicily in meetings; your mother said you were meeting with the soldiers and Underboss in preparation for the succession of power.”
“I couldn’t miss your birthday Principessa!” The smile on his face is sweet, and I can’t help thinking how the way he looks at me has changed since the day we met.My sick and madly passionate heart melts, beating hard in the hope that one day, he may be able to love me as much as I love him.
I sit down on the bed, feeling his hands immediately go to my waist, pulling my body toward him, making my back rest against his chest; I rest my head on his shoulder, looking at his handsome face and feeling his lips come to meet mine.
“I’m glad you’re here; it’s the best surprise I could have received!”
A challenging smile plays on his lips. “The best, are you sure?” I nod, unable to stop smiling as I look at him. “Better than getting to know our house?”
“Our house?” I look at him confusedly; we haven’t talked about where we’re going to live yet. I imagined we’d use one of our families’ properties until we found the ideal place. “You’ve decided you want to stay in one of your family’s properties?”
A pleasant laugh rings through the room. “I bought us a house four months before the attack, a villa, a real Italian palazzo. We’ve been renovating and adapting it for the necessary amenities, including virtual assistants. All the amenities, technology, and security that money can buy were included in the house, let’s call it future in the past.”
I look at him, feeling tears gathering in my eyes; he bought a house for us to live in together long before I knew we wouldn’t be married for two years. It sounds incredible…
“Now all you have to do is decorate it, make it our home!”
I smile at him, seeing his gaze focused on my face and softness taking over. “Thank you!”
As soon as the car passes through the large gates, a long driveway between trees leads to the majestic neoclassical mansion that will be my home. I look at the three-story white house in the distance and can only smile. The car stops next to the fountain in front of the house; a marble statue of an angel holding a spear stands tall and majestic in the center.
“It’s beautiful!”
Luca opens my door, offering me his hand to get out of the car. “There are ten bedrooms in total, twelve bathrooms; there’s a cinema room, a library, a game room, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, a panic room, a gym, as well as a small training and weapons room. We have a tennis court, which seems a bit unnecessary, but it was already built, a small yard, which my mother insisted we keep, and a small playground.”
I look at Luca, a little surprised. “A playground?”
“Yes, I think the last owners had children, the park was built, including a tree house. The toys were old and worn out, as was the tree house, so we replaced everything with something more modern and up-to-date.”
A giant smile appears on my lips. “You prepared our children’s playground?”
“I thought it was the smartest thing to do, the space was already adapted, so I renovated it. There’s even a playroom on the second floor, so you can decide what to do with it.”
“I think we can keep it that way, maybe decorate it to our liking, maybe buy a few things, and when the time comes, they’ll have everything ready.” A loving smile appears on Luca’s lips, and he pulls my body closer to his.
“Our children will be lucky to have you as their mother!” I can’t hold back the smile and the little tears gathering in myeyes.
“They will be born into a dangerous world, but we won’t let anything happen to them; they will be safe.”
“I will protect you with my life, you and our children!”
“I know!” I embrace Luca, listening to his heart bare in a steady and calm way, and his head rests on mine, and a kiss is deposited in my hair. I’ll be fine; we’ll be fine, no matter what life holds for us; we’ll be together; we have oneanother; it’s all that matters. I am well if we continue like this in the arms of each other until the painful end!
Chapter 17
I feel someone lightly shaking my body, and I keep my eyes closed, trying to keep sleeping; maybe people will give up.
“Come on, Chiara, we have a lot to talk about, and besides, today is your wedding.” I open my eyes and see Aurora and Leticia standing next to my bed, smiling at me with what looks like contagious joy. I smile at them, sit in bed and be immediately embraced by them. Today is my wedding day. I’m getting married! “God, I’m getting married! I still can’t believe you’re getting married!” I look at Aurora and realize what she means; it feels like time has flown.
I look at them and let out a ridiculously happy laugh: I’m going to be a married woman. I never thought that getting married at such a young age would make me happy, and here I am, smiling like a child receiving the best present ever. In a few hours, I’ll be a married woman!
“We have something new to give you; you could consider it a kind of wedding present!” I look at Leticia, waiting for her to continue talking. She looks in Aurora’s direction, and they both share a conspiratorial smile.
“I don’t want to pressure you to finish talking, but in a minute, I have to take a shower and start getting ready, you know, to meet my fiancé at the altar; nothing you have to worry about; you’re just the bridesmaids, the ones who should be rushing me and making me stick to schedules.” I smile in their direction, throwing down the best card I have in my deck at the moment, trying to quell my curiosity quickly.
