“No! No, no, no. Nothing’s wrong. There’s nothing that’s wrong,” I rambled. “I just needed to ask you both something.”
“Well, go ahead and ask,” Luc pushed, and Mia looked at me expectantly. I reached into my jacket and nervously pulled out the small ring box. “Oh, fuck off,” Luc said, eyeing it in my hands.
Things had definitely changed because Mia didn’t even flinch at Luc swearing with Link in his arms. Either that or she knew it was a lost cause to try and stop us.
“D?” Mia asked.
Blowing out a breath, I straightened out my thoughts. “I want to propose to Vittoria. I kind of already did. Long story. Very tired and very stressed and thought that... well, thought that maybe I’d lost my family. I fucked it up, but I wanted to ask permission to ask her properly.” I kept my gaze locked with Luc as I spoke. “I’ve had a few days to think over it properly without two potential funerals hanging over my head and I still want to marry her.”
“D,” Mia said awkwardly. “Wouldn’t it be better to ask Gabe? He’s Tori’s twin. Or Emilia might—”
“He’s not asking out of respect,” Luc told her.
“Well, technically...” I said, shrugging.
“You’d do it even if I said no?” Luc asked, staring me straight in the eye. There were times he was my brother and times he was my boss. Luc didn’t often pull rank, but it was necessary, and I understood the depth of the question.
“No,” I answered without hesitation.
“The ring is pretty presumptive.” Luc nodded to the box and I went red to the tips of my ears.
“You picked out the ring before you asked Xavier,” I reminded him. “We have too much ego to believe someone would tell us no.”
“I don’t understand,” Mia cut in, and Luc shifted in the bed, leaning back and resting Link against him. He winced with the movement, and Mia hovered as she continued, “What’s going on here?”
“I’m not asking permission from her family to give her away,” I explained. “I’m asking permission for the marriage.”
“For it to go ahead?” Mia asked slowly. “You don’t need our permission.” The amusement laced her words.
Luc ran a hand along the back of her head, coming around her face, and cupped her cheek. “He does, love.”
“Not much is going to happen in this family without your permission, boss,” I said, pocketing the box again.
“Like granting permission for people to get married?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. Luc moved his hand from her face.
“Of all the shit you’ve seen in this family, this is what surprises you?” I asked in return and almost laughed.
“Marriage is an alliance, Mia,” Luc explained simply. “It’s a way to tie families together.”
“Normal people marry for love,” she mumbled.
“We’re all a bunch of highly suspicious psychos, in case you missed the memo,” I muttered but the look Luc shot me made me shut up.
He continued, “The last thing we’d want is for anyone to get any big ideas and pose a threat.”
“So, we get final say,” Mia concluded.
“You do,” I said, putting my hands on the rail at the foot of the bed and looking between the both of them. “And I’m asking you whether you’ll allow it.”
Luc handed Link back over to Mia, less concerned about her being able to carry him, before he answered me. “This is the riskiest bet I’ve ever seen you put your money on.”
“You have to play big to win big.”
“You’re risking my family.”
“She helped us in the end. She knows who you are to her and she hasn’t said a word.”
Luc tore his eyes away from me, moving his focus to Mia who in turn was looking down at Link. “Love,” he prompted her.
