Mikhail sighed and gestured for Anya to resume—or restart—playing the music.
The first time I tried to walk down the aisle to Andre with this very small group as witnesses, Rose bawled when she dropped her pacifier. Natalie blushed so hard as she calmed her daughter down, and we began again.
The second time Oleg and I walked down the space between the chairs they’d set up, Renee blew her nose so loudly that it made Owen cry. The grumpy maid who’d seemed to judge me a year ago when I arrived was a blubbering, bawling mess, crying profusely at seeing me and Andre marry.
This third time, I nearly tripped over my dress.
“Itoldyou I was too short for this dress,” I told Anya.
“You’re not too short, you’re too pregnant,” Claire quipped.
“Ahem.” Andre shot his sister a look.
She smiled and resumed playing.
No more takes were required. I held my head up high, proud and excited to be the one and only woman who’d have this sexy Mafia man waiting at the end of a makeshift aisle.
Finally.
At last, I’d shed the stain of being a Giovanni and would have the privilege to call myself an Orlov. To officially and legally know I washis.
In the aftermath of that fateful night that ended with Uncle Roberto’s death, a marriage, even a hasty elopement, was the furthest thing any of us could focus on.
Andre had been intoxicated with that dart-like bullet he’d gotten at the Giovanni nightclub. Other Orlov soldiers had suffered from it too. No long-lasting side effects lingered, but I wasn’tmarrying the man I loved when he wasn’t one hundred percent with it.
His shoulder had to be stitched back together again. This time, I let Claire handle it, in her clinic instead of how I’d done that sham of a surgery in his bedroom. It had ended up being a bit more intensive than anything I was equipped to do as a nurse, and I felt like it was only right to let him recover before we’d marry.
So many other things had to be dealt with as well.
Esmeralda suffered a setback, suffering from a stubborn infection and nearly dying a few times. She was still with us, stable enough to watch me marry the man of my dreams. While there was no escaping how little time she had to live, I woke up every day with the promise to do as she asked and embraced all that my life could offer me. When the time came to say goodbye, I would be able to know that I’d done all I could to remove the pain and suffering she’d faced before.
With my uncle gone and many of the Giovanni force dead, there was a little bit of an upheaval with what would happen to his failing empire. The Rossis negotiated with Mikhail and Andre about how to handle the survivors. No one wanted some rogue Giovanni to fill the void of leadership and begin new problems, and many meetings had been required to hammer out all those details. I hadn’t wanted to know any details, and I never asked. I wouldn’t. Because while he had his job and duty, I had mine.
Working in Claire’s clinic was a perfect solution for me, and I knew that someday, I’d go back to school and get my degree. Or maybe not. I was fond of teasing Andre for how he’d been loopy and claiming he wanted five, no ten, wait, three more kids withme. If he wanted to keep me knocked up, that was fine by me. I couldn’t wait to meet our son.
I put my hand over my baby bump, which seemed disproportionally large for someone of my short stature.
Andre smiled, noticing my protective touch.
I sighed happily, so full of love as I walked toward him. Toward my future.
Renee’s loud, messy sobbing was barely noticeable as I looked at Andre and admired his rugged features.
“For the love of God,” Mikhail drawled softly, shooting Renee an expression of pure annoyance.
She sniffled and pressed her tissues to her nose.
Esmeralda giggled.
I turned to see her past Andre as I reached him at the end of the clearance. Thomas beamed right back at me. I was so glad he had been picked up from my uncle’s place and brought here too. His father was now an Orlov driver and Thomas was hoping to become a mechanic.
Everything was falling into place. It was an idyllic closure I never imagined I could hope to have.
Free of my uncle’s control. My cousin cared for as much as she could be. A new family and friends who valued me. A husband to spoil as much as he’d let me.
Andre smiled and kissed me while George prepared to start as an officiant.
“I can’t wait to call you my wife,” Andre said.
