“Darling, tell me something I don’t already know,” he says before opening the door to where Roger’s waiting. “She’s ready.”
Roger’s gaze moves across my face as his mouth drops open. “Damn, Martin. I knew you had it in you.”
Martin runs his finger down Roger’s tie. “You owe me, big boy.”
“You know I’ll pay up,” Roger says with a wink before looking over Martin’s shoulder at me. He clears his throat and steps to the side. “Are you ready? Everyone’s waiting.”
I rise to my feet, take a deep breath, and head toward my future.
8
Angelo
“Breathe, brother.” Lucio’s hand is on my shoulder as he stares down at me, slowly shaking his head. “This isn’t your first rodeo.”
His words don’t give me solace. I’m not nervous about getting married. Tilly’s the best thing that’s happened to me since Marissa passed away.
But I never thought I’d be happy again. After such immense grief, the possibility of finding even a small sliver of something special seemed completely out of reach.
“I’m fine, man.” I climb to my feet and shake out my hands, letting go of whatever’s chewing on my gut.
“It’s time.” Roger stands in the doorway of the room we’ve been sequestered in next to the altar.
“Did you give her the letter?” I ask.
Roger nods. “She’s getting her makeup fixed right now.”
“Shit.” I run my fingers through my hair, knowing I should’ve given it to her last night.
Roger steps forward and swats my hand away from my head. “You’ve got to stop doing that. Now I have to fix this mess,” he says as he starts to fiddle with my hair, smoothing back the pieces I’ve moved out of place. His gaze keeps flickering to my face between movements. “Stop stressing out. This is a happy day.”
“Roger, you’re one of us now,” I tell him as I peer up at him. They’re words that need to be said and should’ve been spoken long ago. “We’re your family.”
Roger lost a lot when his brother died. He went from having a brother to having no one. A single second changed his world, right down to how he identified himself.
“What?” He widens his eyes.
I reach out and grip his arm. “You’re part of our family now, Roger. You’re my brother too. My family is yours.”
Lucio, Vinnie, and Leo stop moving and walk toward us.
“You’d…” His voice trails off while tears fill his eyes as he sweeps his gaze across us.
Lucio touches Roger’s shoulder. “Family is more than blood.”
“Today, you become one of us.” I gaze into his water-filled eyes, and his face scrunches into a horrendous ugly cry. “You’ll never be alone again.”
“Jesus,” Roger hisses. “Are you trying to make us all look like shit for the wedding pictures?”
I burst out laughing because it’s Roger. He’s so manly about some things and so not about others.
Vinnie steps forward and hands Roger a tissue. “Dry your face, princess. You have a bride to walk down the aisle.”
Roger dabs the water from his face, concentrating on taking deep, long breaths. “You seriously have shit timing,” he tells me as he crumples the tissue in the palm of his hand.
“Go get my girl and bring her to me.” I slowly rub my hands together and take a deep breath. It feels like we’ve been waiting forever for this day to get here, when it’s only been a year.
Roger slaps my shoulder and strides toward the door. He stops just before stepping into the hallway and turns to face us. “I love you guys,” he says softly, still choked up.
