Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 248(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 248(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
He could feel his mother here as he looked at her, as he smelled the flowers, as he felt the wind touch his skin, as he looked at the emerald-green dresses and accents Chloe had chosen to match his mother’s eyes. Like the priest who stood behind him had said she would be, she is proud.
His father didn’t hide his pride, either, as he went to give away whom Lucca would call his fiancée for the last time, letting not only his son but the family know that Dante gave his full approval.
When a breathtakingly beautiful Chloe approached the gazebo where they had first met, Lucca smiled as he held out his hand for her to take. They were about to say the most important two words they’d say in their entire lives to each other, but there were two important ones that had started it all …
“Hey, darlin’.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
MEANT TO BE
Their wedding had been absolutely beautiful, and she couldn’t be happier with how it had gone. She was glad she hadn’t changed a thing or made it smaller since they had gotten to share their love with all their family and friends. But, now that it was over, Chloe couldn’t understand why she was so nervous as she stood in the bathroom alone. It wasn’t like they hadn’t had sex before … Maybe it was because, in the week they had moved into the Caruso family home after Dante had gifted them the house as a wedding present, Lucca had slept in his parents’ old bedroom while she had stayed in his old room.
As she’d slept alone, she’d been afraid some of her old nightmares would make a return appearance, but they hadn’t. She had felt safe and secure in the bed without Lucca there, and on the third day of sleeping alone, she had come to the awareness that she was no longer the terrified teenager, afraid of her own shadow. She was an adult who understood—as much as she didn’t want to—that evil could take place during the night and the day.
She might not be scared of nightmares anymore, but what she had become afraid of, and she couldn’t fathom why, was the fragility of life itself. Ever since Lucca had expressed God wouldn’t have a place for him in heaven, all she could think about was him believing he was without redemption.
There was something he didn’t know, and that was the boogieman had a heart after all.
In the bathroom, she shook her head at herself as she put on the sheer, frilly negligée Elle had gifted her at her bachelorette party. Then she opened the door, expecting her wide-awake husband, but found Lucca sound asleep. In shock and disbelief he could possibly fall asleep early on their wedding night, she moved to the bed, about to wake him, but when she glanced at the clock on the nightstand, she realized it was her fault he had fallen sleep. She had been in the bathroom too long.
Damn.
She got up to turn off the light and hoped she wouldn’t trip over something in the unfamiliar bedroom, but when she flipped the switch, Chloe stood in stunned delight at the cast of a soft, warm glow across the ceiling.
“Do you like it?” Lucca asked from the bed.
“I love it.” She looked up in awe as she made her way to the bed and slid under the blankets when he pulled the covers back for her. “I thought you were asleep.”
“On my wedding night?” Lucca slid his hand over her belly to reach for her hip, pulling her to his chest. “Nero, Vincent, and Dom would never let me live it down.”
Curling into his warm body, she pressed a kiss to his tanned cheek. “They wouldn’t say anything.” Chloe almost snorted at the thought. Well … “At least not within your hearing. Besides, how would they know?”
“Because you would tell one of the girls, and from there, it would all fucking go downhill.”
An offended Chloe’s jaw dropped. “I would not.”
But Lucca knew his new wife too well. “You would.”
“Be careful, you’re coming dangerously close to starting a fight on our wedding night,” she warned, giving him the glare that was still a work in progress. “And I haven’t totally forgiven you for not telling me you had hired Gia to be my bodyguard.”
“You’re the one who wanted Professor Grabby Hands back and didn’t want any of the men accompanying you into the restroom,” Lucca reminded her without an ounce of remorse. “So, I whacked two birds with one stone.”
Chloe chuckled, but then a small part of her happiness suddenly dimmed. “I talked to Vincent this evening before we left. I didn’t mention his father.” She swallowed hard, her mind going back to the evil look that had been in Vinny’s eyes and the desolate one in his son’s. “How’s he doing?”