Mamma kissed me and took her seat. Papà cleared his throat and said in Italian, “She will always carry a piece of my heart with her.” His eyes were hard, unrelenting. “Take care of her as thoughshe carries your heart, your very breath, in her hands.”
He didn’t have to say it.Or elsewas implied.
“Always,” Saverio said, then signed the word, his face as serious as papà’s. He held out his hand.
Papà took it, and I grinned when Saverio pulled him in some and patted him on the back. Then he looked at me and my entire life shifted to set me in the right direction. After papà kissed my cheek, Saverio offered me his arm and I took it. He placed his hand over mine, and we walked to the altar together.
“There was no need for candles,” he whispered in Italian. “You burn as bright as any light I’ve ever seen.”
“When you need to see, I will be your light,” I said in Italian. “When you need to be hidden, I will be your darkness.”
“You have my back,” he said.
“And you have mine.”
“Us,” he said.
“Always.”
“Then the beast out of his mind in love did something he knew he would always do.”
“He married the girl.”
We grinned at each other.
The priest met us. I turned to Saverio, and he turned to me. He took both of my hands in his.
All the words were spoken. All the promises were made.
He slipped a diamond and tanzanite band on my left finger. It was made to fit my engagement ring. I slipped a ring on his finger. The “M” engraved on it, embedded with onyx, gleamed in the candlelight.
Both of ourvena amoris, our veins of love, encircled by the vows we made. We wore them as a physical representation of who we were to each other.
You see me, you seehim.
You see him, you seeme.
“Saverio,” the priest said. “You may now kiss your bride.”
He stared into my eyes for a long moment before his hands cradled my face and his lips gently touched mine. It was a kiss that lingered on my lips long after we pulled apart.
It was a kiss that sealed our fate.
Tutto suo. Tutto mio. Per sempre.
All his. All mine. Forever.
Time to celebrate.
Chapter23
Saverio
My wife’s laughter echoed in the night.
After we’d landed in Sicily and arrived back at the property, I picked her up and carried her to our casa. We were just getting to the door. It seemed like a permanent grin had stuck to her face since the wedding.
She narrowed her eyes at me, and it made her look comical with the grin. “Is that sweat on your brow, Rio?” She slid her hand against my forehead. “Am I too heavy for you to carry?”
