Chapter 40—Charlotte

6 weeks later...

Warmth tickles my cheek as I stir against something furry.

My eyes flutter open, and I sit up, frowning at myself for falling asleep again.

I tried harder this time. I even put on an episode of The Real Housewives of Beverley Hills, thinking the drama those women got up to would surely keep me awake.

But no, it didn’t work.

My nine-week pregnancy body had succumbed to tiredness. At least it was better than having morning sickness all the time. That had calmed down a lot.

It was just the constant sleepiness and sleeping, which didn’t help when you were trying to take care of a man who was supposed to be resting.

I could hear him now outside arguing with one of his brothers. I was guessing it was Salvatore because he’d barely left his side since Gabe got home from the hospital. The other two were trying to act tough by making calls, but where they failed was that either Vincent or Nick would call every half second.

No one was, however, worse than his parents in regards to him, who decided they were going to stay for a week when he came home.

No one was worse, though, than my parents and Cordelia, who was always here.

Everyone was offering their support and love in one way or another, and it was nice. I couldn’t even be annoyed at the persistence because it wasn’t that long ago when life for me was very different. Very different from what it was now.

Today I just wanted to stay awake long enough to make my man and his brother a nice meal.

I grabbed my shawl from the edge of the sofa and wrapped it around me, then made my way outside to see what the guys were arguing about this time.

The garage door was open, and the two were inside working on one of Gabe’s old cars.

Gabe’s arm got broken, and he has a cast on it. He’s supposed to have it in a sling, too, but he keeps taking it off.

He broke a few ribs, too, and fractured his leg. He was in the hospital for a week and was actually meant to stay longer but discharged himself early to be with me.

“Prick, you aren’t modifying my car. Drives fast enough,” Gabe snaps at Salvatore.

“It’s slow as shit,” Salvatore counters. “Oh my God, Gabe, you are going to drive me bat shit crazy.”

“Meee?” Gabe hisses, giving him an incredulous glare.

I bite back a smile. It’s funny to watch them argue. Funny to see they haven’t changed one bit over the years.

Salvatore throws a fist in Gabe’s shoulder, and he sees me just as he’s about to retaliate.

“Goddess, what are you doing up?” He comes to me and slips his arm around me as if me walking around is some kind of hazard.

“Gabe, I’m fine,” I assure him.

“If you need to sleep, you’re supposed to.”

He’s been like this the whole time, and even when he was in the hospital, he made sure people were around me, tending to my every need.

“Gabe, she has to wake up sometimes.” Salvatore laughs at him.

“Hey, don’t encourage her. We’re going back inside.” Gabe ignores the wild stare Salvatore gives him and ushers me right back in.

He sits me back down on the large sofa in the sitting room. Out of the two of us, he’s more in need, but he insists on taking care of me.

He had a cast on his leg up until last week when he took it off himself, deciding he’d had enough of it. He also walks with an occasional limp that has gotten better, but I worry that he’s not resting as much as he should be.

“There, that’s better.” He smiles, placing my feet up on a cushion.

“Gabe, you do realize I’m going to have to do more than sit down for the next seven months. Right?” I laugh.

He had a fit the other day when I went to school.

I’ve had more than enough time away for a person who just started and decided I want to be there as much as possible before the baby comes.

He pulls up one of the wooden chairs and sits in front of me with a smile on his face.

“Goddess, minimal, you will do minimal. Save your energy for the important stuff. Like when this comes off next week.” He nods and taps his cast. It makes a hollow sound.

“Gabe, that cast is supposed to come off in four weeks.” I frown.

“Screw that. no one has time for that and not for the plans I have for us.”

Plans?

My interest piques.

“What plans are these?”

“Number one.” He raises a finger, and his smile brightens. “I haven’t asked you to move in with me properly yet. The place needs fixing up and modification. It needs your stuff and a nursery.”

That does sound exciting. I straighten up and look him over.

“So is that what you’re going to do? Ask me to move in properly?”

He nods and brings himself closer to take my hand. He looks at my hand and smiles.

“I’m going to ask you to move in with me properly, but I plan to do a little more than that.” A wicked smile brightens his face.

“What?” What is he planning?

“We’re gonna get all set up here, so business and school is taken care of, then we’re heading to St. Lucia for the summer.”

My lips part in sheer surprise. “What? We’re doing what?”

“That’s as much as I’m gonna tell you now, baby. Don’t want to spoil the rest of the surprise.”

“Gabe, what surprise? Oh my gosh, you can’t do that. I’m sure there’s some rule somewhere about not keeping a pregnant lady in suspense.”

“Don’t worry, Goddess. This is a good kind of suspense. Food for the soul.” He leans forward and kisses me, then lowers to kiss my stomach too in the habitual way he’s developed over the last few weeks. “I love you.”

“I love you,” I answer. I will never, ever grow tired of telling him that.

He stands when Cordelia comes in with a little bag that looks like she’s brought me pastries from the coffee shop.

He smiles when he sees her and makes his way back outside to Salvatore.

Cordelia joins me on the sofa and hands me the bag.

“All your favorites,” she bubbles.

I shuffle to give her a hug. “Thank you so much. You are the best.”

“You okay?” Her eyes sparkle as she looks me over.

Am I okay?

It’s such a simple question, but it holds so much meaning for me.

These days when I’m asked that, I think about the meaning of it.

There’s no one who wants to take me away, and the only man who wants to own me and make me his is the man I’ve always wanted.

There’s no Tobias. There’s no Antonio. There’s no one who wants to hurt me in any way.

I look forward to the future with hope and happiness because of Gabe.

I’m safe no matter what happens. I know I will be safe with him.

We belong to each other, and that’s everything I could possibly want.

“I’m okay,” I answer with a smile and relish the feeling of being complete.

I can’t wait to see what plans Gabe has in store for me.

$ Chapter

Epilogue 1—Charlotte 2 months later...

The princess cut engagement ring on my finger glistens against the radiant rays of the sun as I lay the single white rose on Abuelita’s grave.

She loved white roses.

I brought red roses for Freddo and Tony. They’re all buried together in the family plot at Rose Hill Cemetery.

It’s the first I’ve been here since being back in Chicago.

It’s the first time I’ve had the emotional strength to bring myself here.

Today felt fitting, not for any special reason, in particular, it was just that I wanted to come here before going to St. Lucia next week for my wedding.

God, did Gabe ever have a bunch of plans in store for us… for me.

He proposed to me on the night I officially moved into the house with him. My moving in consisted of buying a whole bunch of stuff that he classed as adding a woman’s touch to his bachelor pad which technically was big enough for a family of four.

On that night, the man surprised me on bended knee with a ring, popping the question of belonging to him on paper.

Be his Mrs. Giordano?

Absolutely.

It was a no-brainer and the easiest yes to fly from my lips.

We’re getting married in St. Lucia next week. I still can’t believe it.

I’m starting to show too. I have a little baby bump, but my wedding dress is beautiful. The kind I don’t want to wait until after the baby to wear.

It’s the kind I would have loved my grandmother to see me in.

I look over the grave and feel … well, I’m not sure what I should feel.

I miss her so much, and nothing will quite take the pain away from the day she was killed.

My grandmother and my brothers should be there next week, but they won’t be.

That’s the hard part and what I need to move past.

I think they’d like to know that I’m okay. That’s why I’m here.

“I got out of the dark, Abuelita,” I say and find myself smiling. “I found my way out and chose the right path. You don’t have to worry about me anymore. I made my way back to the path I was supposed to be on, and the darkness is gone. Love led me to the light.”

That felt good to say, and what cements it is the warm hands that cover mine.

I look up at Gabe, and he slips his arm around me.

He’d hung back so I could do this, but he always seems to know when I need him most.

Like the light you look for in the dark.

That’s him for me.

Always and forever…

***

Epilogue 2—Gabe

“What does it feel like to be married?” Salvatore asks me.

We both gaze out at Charlotte, sitting on the sand on the beach.

“Feels like I … belong to her now.” I smile. “Feels like I got more than my wish.”

He nods. “I like that.”

We’re sitting on the patio of the beach house, resting after a long day. The wedding was last week, and I’m sort of in work mode now but still enjoying my honeymoon with my wife.

Everyone should be flying back home tomorrow, leaving us here for another two months to enjoy the paradise of the Caribbean.

It’ll be the first time in years that I won’t be around my brothers at The Dark Odyssey or in some form or way.

“You made it, Gabriel. You did it.” Salvatore smiles back at me.

“Salvatore,” I straighten up and rests my elbows on the table. “I made it, but don’t think I missed the part of how well you had my back.”

He had my back the whole time, and I won’t forget how he saved Charlotte back at the mine.

“I promised I’d take care of her,” he says with a smirk.

“Yeah, well, I know you would have done it anyway. Without me asking.”

“Yeah… well, looks like you grew up on me. I don’t think you’ll need me anymore watching over you. Wife and child on the way, that’s big stuff, Gabriel.”

“Yeah, it’s big stuff. Maybe it’s time for me to watch your back now.”

He chuckles. “You already do that.” He stands up when his phone starts ringing.

He checks it and the smirk on his face tells me exactly who that is.

“Mimi calling?” I ask in a purely nonchalant manner because they still think they’re friends.

“Mimi calling. Last night she needed my help finding the cooking channel. The night before, she claimed she couldn’t find her keys.”

“Oh… okay.” I chuckle.

He laughs. “I’m gonna see what it is tonight.”

He nods, gives me a tap on my back, and leaves.

I watch him go. There must be only a few things left that will work in this game of theirs.

We’re a bunch of mobsters who own a sex club, and she works for us. This must be some weird foreplay stage of their game.

I wish them luck.

I return my attention to my wife as she walks up from the beach. She looks amazingly beautiful with her wild velvet hair. The sun is making it sparkle, and she’s glowing.

I rise to my feet and meet her halfway, scooping her up so I can carry her the rest of the way. Straight to our bedroom, where I plan to devour her forever.

And ever.

My goddess. My girl.

The End.

***

About the Author:

Faith Summers is the Dark Contemporary Romance pen name of USA Today Bestselling Author, Khardine Gray.

Warning !! Expect wild romance stories of the scorching hot variety and deliciously dark romance with the kind of alpha male bad boys best reserved for your fantasies.

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