“I’m not.”
Dante shoved a hand through his hair and sighed. “All week, you’ve been second-guessing everything. Why?”
I considered his question for a moment. If Bella had asked me the same question, I knew what I would tell her. So I decided to give him the truth.
“Because I don’t feel worthy of you.”
He stepped back, staring at me hard, and then he broke the silence by laughing. “Are you fucking serious?”
“Hey!” I swatted my hand at him and missed. “Don’t laugh at me.”
Dante surprised me by getting on his knees in front of me. Raising my hand to his mouth, he kissed my skin. His gaze moved to the massive diamond ring and then to my face. “Baby, I don’t feel worthy of you.”
“I never thought I would see Dante Luciano on his knees.” A smile tugged at my mouth. “What a sight.”
“Don’t mock me, woman.” He dropped my hand and rose to his full height. “You’re smart. Beautiful. A pain in my ass. But you’re perfect for me. You challenge me in ways no one ever has.”
He kissed me so hard it drained the air from my lungs. It didn’t last long, but it was enough to set my skin on fire.
“I’m glad you asked me to marry you.”
His eyebrows rose. “Yeah?”
I nodded. “When I was a girl, I thought you were a god.”
He laughed. “I’m just a man, baby.”
“I would watch you at parties and see how people gravitated to you. You may not like people, but they like you. There’s something about you, Dante.” Hooking my arms around his neck, I smiled. “I don’t know how to explain it. But I’ve always been drawn to you.”
“I thought you had a crush on Nico.”
“I had a crush on all four of you.” I brushed my lips against his. “But you scared me the most.”
“I’m a lot older than you,” he pointed out. “When I was a man, you were still a girl. The twins are closer to your age than Nico and me.”
“Angelo kinda scared me,” I confessed. “He’s always had that crazy look in his eyes. Stefan looked so sweet but still had that hard stare all of you have.”
“I don’t stare hard,” he countered with a smirk.
“You have no idea how scary you four look when you’re not talking or smiling. It’s intimidating.”
He pressed his lips together, and a worried expression darkened his handsome features.
“What’s wrong?”
Dante turned on his heels and exited the bathroom, speaking with his back to me. “Nothing. Let’s go. Your family is waiting.”
“What are you not telling me, Dante?”
He stopped at the center of our bedroom, his body angled toward me. “The Vitales’ men found Giancarlo.”
I took a deep breath and blew it out my nose. For a while, I had been trying to prepare myself for the day they found my dad. Even though he wasn’t my father biologically, he raised me. I still felt something for him, even after he screwed me over and stole my money.
“But you promised not to hurt him.” I inched closer to Dante. “What are you going to do to him?”
He rolled his broad shoulders. “It’s up to Vincenzo Vitale. Giancarlo owes him a lot of money.”
I tugged on his jacket sleeve to stop him from walking away. “Dante, please. Let him go. I will work it off. I will do anything. You have to make a deal with Vincenzo.”
