I could tell it wasn’t, but I could also tell she wasn’t going to say anything else. It wasn’t the time or place to get it out of her, though. I’d work on that later when we were alone. For now, we needed to get married. I wouldn’t be able to breathe easily until she was my wife.
I’d been waiting for what felt like years for this. Being a soldier in her father’s organization meant I wasn’t good enough for one of his daughters. Added to that, I had the stigma of a drug addict mother and my father being gone. I was nothing. I had no family outside of the Morelli siblings. I was a charity case at best, according to Luca Morelli.
He didn’t mind having me around later on when I became more useful to him. When I could start running errands and being useful to his organization, but that didn’t mean he would welcome me into the family with open arms as his daughter’s husband.
If Luca Morelli or his son had ever realized the irritation and dislike between us was more than just that of siblings butting heads, that it was the sparks of two people drawn together yet pushed apart at the same time, they never let on. I’d planned to talk to Romeo when he took over the family, but all the waiting had grown tiresome over the last two years. The more aggravated I got at not being able to claim Bianca as mine, the more we tended to argue. It was like our hearts and souls knew they were supposed to be together, even though the family rules said we couldn’t.
All of that was coming to an end. She was mine now. “You look beautiful.” I complimented her as I took her hand in mine. She could have come down in jeans and a t-shirt and still would have been the most beautiful woman in the world to me.
Her hand felt delicate and fragile in mine. She was so small yet so strong and completely unaware of her value and strength. Bianca Morelli was pure kindness and grace, but she had powershe wasn’t even aware of. She had the power to bring me to my knees.
“You look nice, too.” Her sweet smile hit me right in the chest. I wanted to tell the preacher to hurry up and get it done, but I just pulled her into my side and held her close as we faced the man who would bind us together forever.
“You come of your own free will to this union?” the reverend asked Bianca, not at all hiding his fear and distrust of the men in the room, including me.
“Yes, I do,” she said softly with a small nod.
“Let’s get this done, Father. I told you she wanted to marry him,” Kozlov pushed, and I silently thanked the man.
The preacher still didn’t look comfortable, but he noticed that Bianca was clinging to me as much as I was to her. That must have given him the comfort he needed in performing the small ceremony because he spoke the words and asked for our vows.
“I didn’t write any.” Bianca’s eyes widened with worry, the wheels in her head spinning.
“You want me to go first?” I asked, giving her a small rueful smile, but she nodded with eagerness. So I held her hand and pulled the ring from my pocket. “Bianca, I will love, honor, and protect you from every threat with every beat of my heart until my dying day. With this ring, you’re mine.” I slid the ring onto her finger while gazing into her honey colored eyes.
Bianca took the ring I offered her and my left hand. She stared at the object for a moment without saying a word, then she looked up into my eyes. Her voice was soft but steady, emotion heavy in her words as she spoke. “Lorenzo, you’ve been my friend and protector for years, even when I didn’t know or want you to be. I thank you for that.” She wet her lips with her tongue and continued. “With this ring, I promise to love you and stand beside you no matter what the next step in our lives is orwhatever tries to pull us apart. I promise to trust you when I’m scared and have faith in you when I feel like all hope is lost. From this day forward, I’m yours as you are mine.”
She slid the ring onto my finger, and the preacher pronounced us man and wife, giving me permission to kiss the bride. I didn’t hesitate to take her into my arms and slant my mouth over hers. Bianca Morelli was now Bianca Vitale. She was mine. God help any man who tried to take her away from me. That included her father.
Kozlov and Alek left after we finished signing the certificate, and the pastor left soon after. Bianca and I made our way back up to the room hand in hand.
“How do you feel?” I asked as we entered the elevator.
She let out a deep breath. “Relieved, but also overwhelmed.”
“Why?” She seemed like she needed to talk, and I wanted to give her the chance to do that because once I got her back in bed, the time for talking was over for a while.
“I’m relieved because I’m not married to Arias, but I’m also overwhelmed because so much is uncertain. Did Alek tell you why they were supporting this marriage?” She bit her lip nervously.
“Vaguely.” I shrugged.
“He said it was to give Romeo time to get his house in order to prevent a war between our family and his.” She shook her head. “Could it come to that?”
“Hopefully it won’t, Bianca, but in this world, it could.” I tried to answer honestly, attempting not to cause added worry. We didn’t want a war with the Russians any more than they seemed to want one with us. The cartel was the enemy here. The Kozlov family dealt in drugs and money laundering. We were guns and drugs, and while there was some overlap, it wasn’t enough that our business dealings really hindered each other. We worked around each other.
What worried me most was the fact that Alek and Kozlov seemed to have insight into the Morelli family businesses. It was something I would have to talk to Romeo about when we got back home. I didn’t want to do it here or over the phone. “Is that why you looked so flustered when you walked through the door to the ballroom?”
She nodded, and I pulled her into my arms, letting her head rest on my chest. “I meant my vows, Bianca. I will protect you until my dying day. You don’t have to worry about this, okay? Let me worry about it.”
“Okay,” she whispered. We walked toward the suite hand in hand. When we got to the door, I swept her up in my arms after disengaging the lock to carry her over the threshold. She giggled and looped her arms around my shoulders as I carried her to the bedroom.
“I can’t get enough of you,” I said against her lips before claiming her mouth in a hungry kiss. She opened for me, stroking my tongue with her own, feeding the beast within me that was crazy for her.
When we moved into the living room, Bianca still in my arms, I noticed the dinner plates and a bottle of champagne set out on the table. I set her down on her feet just beside the couch and pulled her back to my chest, my hands sliding down her bare arms, causing gooseflesh to follow in their wake.
“Yes, but not for food.” She looked at me over her shoulder, her eyes filled with lust and longing.
“God, you’re perfect,” I groaned, reaching for the zipper on the back of her dress. “This looks incredible on you, but I want it off now.” I slid the fragile zipper down as I kissed her across her bare shoulders and neck.
