“I love you.”
He was quiet for a moment as he processed my words. “No one, besides my siblings, has ever loved me before.”
I nodded. I knew that. It was the same for me. Only Valentino had ever said those words to me and meant them.
“I don’t even know if I know how to love properly,” he whispered.
I wrapped my arms around his waist. “We can learn together.”
I felt him press a kiss on the top of my head. “I love you. So fucking much, it hurts just looking at you sometimes.”
I let out a watery laugh.
“I love you,” he repeated.
“I love you too.”
“Good. Because I’m not letting you go. There won’t ever be a time in your life when you don’t belong to me. Perhaps when I’m dead… but no. Even then, you would still belong to me.”
“I know,” I said with a sigh. There were worse things in life than to belong to a man as protective and dedicated as Elio. “Just like you belong to me.”
“Every single piece of my soul.”
I smiled a little, and we didn’t say anything more. There was nothing more to say.
“Baby,” he said after a moment.
“Hmm.”
“When you’re all cleared by the doctors, we’re getting married.”
I pushed up off his chest and looked at him. “Did you just ask me to marry you?”
He shook his head. “I’m not asking. I’m telling you. We’re getting married as soon as you can.”
I didn’t say anything for a moment.
Then I laughed. How could I not expect this?
Of course, he was telling me we were getting married.
“You’re just lucky that I happen to want to marry you, big guy.”
He smiled, baring his teeth. “Yeah?”
I nodded. “Yeah,” I said.
“Good. Then I can’t fucking wait to make you my wife.”
Then he leaned down and kissed me sweetly. I pulled away first, aware that I hadn’t really properly cleaned my teeth in days.
I grimaced. How gross.
He frowned. “What?”
“My breath?—”
“Is fine.”
