“I want to express the amount of gratitude and love I have for you, but I’m afraid it can’t be done in a five-minute speech.” She nervously giggled. “It’s more than the butterflies in my stomach or the chemistry between us. It’s more than my cheeks heating up at the sight of you. It’s the fixation of our souls. You’re a dream come true. You’re kind, sweet, intelligent—the list goes on. I love the way you acknowledge my weaknesses and turn them into strengths. How you constantly bring out a better version of me.
“You also never hesitate to cook for me no matter how busy or tired you are,” she added. “You have no idea how I felt when you said that was a form of love for you. How much I started wanting that for us.”
“I wanted that for us too,” he revealed.
Her heart constricted.
God, how I love this man.
“But seriously, Nicolas. How lucky am I to call you mine? I’ve never wanted anyone more than I’ve wanted you. I love you for helping me discover this side of myself too. The one that can feelso muchunapologetically. So today, as yourwife, I promise you the most important thing: to be honest and never wear a mask around you.”
She saw his intake of breath. How his eyes reddened.
Oh, my beautiful Nicolas…
“I’ll be faithful and loving, but I’ll also be a spoiled brat because you like me that way.”
“My spoiled little wife,” he corrected.
“I vow to support you, inspire you, and love you. For as long as we both shall live, I will be by your side, for better or worse, in sickness and health, for richer or poorer. I will stand by you until the day we die and even beyond that.”
Tears filled her eyes and her voice broke completely.
“I love you, Nicolas. A million times over.”
He looked like he wanted to kiss her so badly. So much that he dived straight into his vows to get closer in doing so.
“Since the day I met you, Em, I knew you were special. You’d seen me in a state I never ever wanted anyone to. Yet somehow I was glad that you did. If not for it happening, I don’t know who I’d be today as I stand before you.”
“You would’ve been just as perfect,” she reassured him, making him smile as he went on.
“I thought nothing else could top that, but the day you so boldly proposed to me?—”
The attendees erupted in a fit of gasps.
Emily slapped him on the arm.
He gave a cheeky wink.
“—did. You were offering yourself to me in a way I’d only everdreamedof. I became protective of you, cried for you, and without even realizing it, I’d fallen for you.”
Nicolas’s eyes deepened with emotion.
“Loving you came more naturally than anything else in my life. Everything else felt like an expectation I had to liveup to, but you never asked that of me. You simply just loved me. Completely. For who I am.”
Her eyes drifted to the side, where his family sat. Alessandra and Anna looked like they were crying. Riccardo simply continued to stare. She’d grown used to his inability to trust her, but it didn’t matter because the only person whose trust truly mattered already gave it to her.
She looked back at Nicolas.
“Because you came to me so easily, I was always on edge of you leaving in the same carefree manner. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you. You’re like a ray of sunshine in my life. You taught me so much over this past year about how to love and how to be loved that all I want is to feel that with you forever.”
His eyes held her own with such passion it stole her breath away.
“I vow to always protect you from harm, to stand beside you through every adversity, and to be the one you turn to when you need strength. I love you more than words can express, but I’ll spend a lifetime showing it, in every kiss, every glance, and every year I spend adoring you. Thank for being my wife, Emily.”
A tear escaped her eye as her hands trembled in his. He gave them a reassuring squeeze before wiping it away.
“Now time to exchange the rings,” the priest announced.
