“What?” I press. “What is it?”
“When I imagined our wedding day, I thought it would happen by our lake. I pictured the stars above us as we promised to love and to hold, till death do us part.” Her voice softens. “I guess I’m just mourning the dream I had for us. It’s silly, really. Before I met you, I never thought about things like that at all… and now…” She shrugs.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask softly, pressing a sweet kiss to her lips. “It was your idea for us to go to Vegas and elope.”
“That’s because I got tired of waiting. First, it was Marcello’s wedding. Then Enzo’s. And then Lucky’s.” She scoffs softly. “Lucky’s, Kill. He got his happily ever after before we did.”
“Now you see why I fired my gun,” I mutter.
“I knew it!” she laughs, but my heart is too heavy to join her.
I kiss her quickly once more and then gently shift her back into her seat as I stand.
“Where are you going?” she asks, confused.
“I’m stopping this plane from taking off.”
“What? Now?!” she gasps.
“Yes,dusha moya,” I say calmly. “I will give you your dream wedding if it’s the last thing I do.”
And with that, I slide the cockpit door open and order them to stop.
Both pilots stare at me like I’ve lost my mind, but they aren’t the ones I need to make happy.
It’s Stella’s smile I need to ensure is always on her lips.
“This is crazy,” she laughs, that beautiful, beaming smile finally back in place.
There it is. That’s more like it.
“It’s late,” she adds. “You’ll never find someone to do the ceremony.”
“I would ask your brother-in-law, Alejandro,” I admit, “but that would defeat the purpose of us trying to elope without anyone finding out. Lucky for us, I’ve become extremely well-connected in Chicago lately, thanks to our casino. I’m sure I can find someone discreet to perform the ceremony for us.”
“Really?” Her green eyes sparkle.
I extend my hand to her and wait. When she places hers in mine, her engagement ring winks at me like it’s just as pleased as she is with the change in venue.
“Now,milaya,” I whisper softly, “will you make me the happiest man on earth and dance with me one more time?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Bonus Epilogue
Stella
Two years later
This confessional booth is smaller than the one I remember at St. Mary’s Cathedral back in Chicago. But I guess it reflects everything else in this godforsaken city.
Six months we’ve been at war with the Cosa Nostra here in New York. Six fucking months since I last set foot in my own home, unwilling to leave without Annamaria.
I honestly thought that I would have my sister back in the loving arms of her family in a matter of weeks since that fucker Raffaele stole her from right under our noses. But what neither of us accounted for was the tenacity and cunning of his older brother, Matteo.
This scheme of his must have taken years to plan, because when the full force of the Outfit came down on New York, the bastard was ready for us. More men than I can count have been butchered by him, unwilling to let my sister out of his grasp.
He says he wants peace, with the condition that the Outfit never lay claim to New York again.
