But one that made him look genuinely happy.
That grin made me fall deeper for him.
But I was still too scared to say those words. Afraid they’d push him away, and he’d change his mind.
“I know I said I don’t like you in white,” Enzo continued, stretching his hand out before taking it in mine, intertwining our fingers while he scooted in closer. “But one day, you’re going to wear it when you walk down the aisle before we say ourI do’s and you become my wife.”
A tiny laugh left me. “What if I don’t want to wear white?”
“Honestly, I don’t care if you wear black or fucking puppypajamas. Just know that you’ll be my wife. You won’t just be my Fawn anymore. You’ll be a Marchetti.”
Those words felt like heaven.
“And what does your family think about that?”
“My mother asked what color invitations we want.”
I smiled, thinking of the woman I’d had a two-hour conversation with after she came to the hospital when Enzo was shot. I’d told her about my past, about my truths, about everything because, for once, I felt a maternal warmth from someone.
I had known at that moment that I wanted her to be my mother-in-law.
That no matter how dangerous the Marchettis were, I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to be in their son’s life and have a future with him.
“And the arranged marriage?” I asked because not only had I overheard that conversation, but I’d asked his mother about it, not knowing it was a secret.
I could tell she wasn’t very happy about it.
“She said that since her son was shot, he deserved to select his own wife,” Enzo told me. “Good job on blurting that out.”
I smiled. “I had to make sure I don’t have to fight for you.”
“Never, my Fawn. I’m yours and only yours.”
We sat there for another two hours, trading random facts. With each one, I fell deeper in love with him and never wanted to leave his side.
When it was over, Enzo looked me in the eye, and I loved the way his lips moved when he said, “Blair, even with every fact you gave me, light and dark, good and bad, you only proved something I never thought would wake inside me.” The next words left his mouth slowly, as if he wanted me to hear each one and never forget them. “I’m in love with you, my Fawn. I want all of you forever.”
Hope, love, and happiness spread through me.
Just like that emotion had climbed out of him, a feeling just as powerful surged through me. No one had ever protected me likehe had. I’d never looked forward to waking up beside someone, telling them about my day, or hearing their voice.
A moment passed, and for the first time, I saw fear on Enzo’s face as he waited for me to speak.
No bullet scared him.
No knife. No weapon. No threats.
Only the thought that I might not love him back.
That I didn’t want him as much as he wanted me.
I pressed my lips to his and said, “I love you,” into his mouth, like I wanted the words to fall down his throat and rest on his heart.
So they’d linger inside, like a new organ he needed to live, because I would be with him until he took his last breath.
Forty-Nine
Enzo
