Page 512 of Reign

“Yeah.”

I raise myself enough to kiss him.

His mouth meets mine gently. One hand settles against my cheek while the other holds my waist through Mamma’s dress. He kisses me beneath the shifting ripples, with her perfume warm on my skin and the song she once hummed into my hair.

Luciano didn’t ask my grief to leave before I could belong here.

He made room for it.

He made room for her.

I lie beneath the ripples with his heart beating against mine and I understand what his real gift is.

He has given every part of me a home.

Chapter 69

Luciano

Wedding Day

My house has disappeared beneath flowers.

White orchids climb the columns in the foyer. More spill across the terrace, line the garden paths, and cover every available surface as though nature has made an organized attempt to reclaim the estate.

They are still bringing in more.

Marisol stands at the center of the foyer directing staff, florists, and several men who appear to be carrying an entire tree toward the back of the house. She has managed this estate through armed guards, Elena’s expanding wardrobe, and a wedding planner who believes every instruction is the beginning of a negotiation.

Today may finally defeat her.

She catches one of the florists attempting to move an arrangement she approved twenty minutes ago.

The woman stops before Marisol says a word.

Perhaps not.

We wanted a small, intimate wedding.

That became impossible the moment every man connected to the Amatos assumed his invitation included his wife, his children, and anyone willing to put on a suit and claim distant relation. Most of Cosa Nostra is now crossing my property in formalwear. Half my cartel is here as well. The other half remains in Florida because someone has to continue running the organization while I surrender my home to flowers.

My family has filled whatever space remained.

I look through the open doors toward the garden.

Workers are arranging the final chairs. Guards occupy every entrance and patrol the perimeter beyond the walls. The terrace has been cleared for the reception, and most of the first floor has been emptied of furniture to accommodate people I never intended to entertain inside my home.

Elena wanted a garden.

My wife gets what she wants.

Wife.

There’s a rule against seeing the bride before the wedding. My mother has explained it repeatedly. Adriana tried once. Even the wedding planner made an attempt before realizing I wasn’t listening.

I know the rule.

I simply don’t care.