Merger: Takeover Duet #2 Page 18

  “If she doesn’t, what? Do I end the best and really only relationship I’ve ever had?”

  “No.” My mother covers my hand with hers. “If she says no, you ask again and again until she says yes.”

  “So, I pester her into marrying me?”

  “I’ve spent enough time with Lauren to know she’ll say yes. She’s madly in love with you, but she is scared to take the next step. Remember, she’s lost everyone she’s ever loved. There’s no greater heartache in the world than losing your parents. You should know this.”

  “I do.”

  “But you still have me and your brothers and sisters. Lauren has no one. She’s been independent for so long that taking the next step has to be frightening.”

  “I suppose you’re right, Mamma.”

  “I’m always right, Antonio.” She smiles and pats my hand, going back to the pot of sauce and picking up her spoon. “Ask her. It’s the only way you can move forward with certainty.”

  “I will.”

  “Now run to town and buy the biggest diamond you can find. Don’t cut any corners, and make sure it’s flawless.”

  I’m appalled that she thinks I’d get Lauren anything less, but it’s my mother, and she always feels the need to “guide” her children.

  I round the island and kiss her cheeks, thinking of everything I need to pull off a proposal that will make Lauren say yes without any hesitation. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

  “Big, Antonio,” she says as I’m halfway to the door.

  “Got it, Mamma!” I yell back and head into town, ready to spend a small fortune on a ring.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  LAUREN

  “Why didn’t we eat with the rest of the family?” I ask as I set my fork down on my empty plate.

  There’s nothing better than Mrs. Forte’s sauce. Not even the best restaurants in Chicago’s Little Italy can come close to the perfection she achieves every single time.

  “I wanted to sit in my favorite place with my favorite girl.” He smiles over the candlelight.

  “Your only girl,” I remind him with a smirk. “You were busy while we were gone.”

  His secret spot near the lake has been transformed. The rocks have been draped in blankets and pillows, with two place settings waiting for us when we arrived. He lured me out here, reminding me that there was a meteor shower tonight. And watching nature’s fireworks was a perfect ending to a stressful week.

  “I had help.”

  I gaze across the flickering flames and smile, touched by the sentiment and amount of thoughtfulness he put into such an event. He moves the empty dishes off to the side and scoots across the blanket until our legs are touching.

  “Mi amore,” he says quietly as he grabs my hand. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.”

  “Okay.” I swallow hard, my mouth suddenly dry because of the look on his face.

  “Like the moon, you’ve locked me into your orbit since the moment our worlds collided.”

  I love when this man speaks to me as if we’re in a romance series on the Science Channel.

  “I can’t imagine my life without you in it. In a few short months, you’ve changed everything I’ve ever known and made me want more out of life.”

  My heart races. This conversation is heavy, but he wouldn’t… Would he?

  He reaches underneath the pillow to his side, and I hold my breath. Maybe he would. Oh my God. He’s going to ask. I gasp, suddenly unable to breathe as the moonlight radiates off the diamond like a star in the sky kissed by the heavens.

  “Antonio.” I cover my mouth with shaking hands.

  “I can’t wait any longer. I’ve never loved another person like I love you, Lauren. I’ve never wanted to settle down and have a family of my own until you came into my life. I don’t want you to be my girlfriend anymore. I want you to be my wife and the mother of my children.”

  I hold my breath as he pauses, and tears begin to fill my eyes. When he hinted around about our future on the island, I shut him down quickly. But as each day passed, I couldn’t imagine being alone again.

  I wanted it all. I wanted him. I wanted the picket fence and the tiny feet running around the house with unusually loud laughter compared to their size. I wanted the American dream and everything I didn’t have as a child.

  “Yes!” I screech and fling myself into his arms, peppering his face with kisses. “Yes.”

  He laughs and pulls away, still holding the ring in his hands. “I didn’t ask yet.”

  “Get to it, Forte. Stop beating around the bush.” I wiggle my fingers near the ring, unable to wait any longer.

  My entire body is shaking. I don’t remember the last time I was this excited. It was probably something work-related, but for the life of me, I can’t remember. But this day, this moment, I’ll remember forever. Sitting in Antonio’s private spot as the Perseid Meteor Shower plays over our heads.

  Antonio leans forward, bending down on one knee. “Lauren Bradley, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  “Yes,” I say again with just as much enthusiasm as I did a moment ago before he slips the ring on my finger. It’s by far the biggest rock I’ve ever seen other than those in museums which show off the excesses of royals around the world. “It’s so beautiful.”

  He falls backward and takes me with him. “I love you, Lauren. You’ve made me the happiest man tonight.”

  “I love you too, Antonio.”

  But I know there is one more thing I have to do, and Antonio isn’t going to like it. It needs to be done. I have to be free.

  ANTONIO

  I was practically buzzing by the time we walked back to the house just after the moon rose high enough to block out the meteors. Lauren said yes, and soon she’d be my wife. Sleep was impossible; my system was too hyped to get any rest.

  I stared at her for hours, watching her sleep so soundly with a hint of a smile on her face. Soon she’d be Mrs. Forte, and I’d do everything in my power to make her happy.

  “Couldn’t sleep?” Mamma asks as she enters the kitchen just after six.

  “I tried.”

  She grabs a mug from the cabinet and pours herself a cup of coffee before joining me at the table. “It didn’t go as you hoped?”

  “She said yes, Mamma.”

  My mother’s face lights up at the news. “You’ve made me a happy woman this morning, Antonio.”

  “I’ve never been happier in my life.”

  The words I speak are the truth. Never have I experienced the euphoria I do in Lauren’s presence. Everything, even down to the most mundane chore, is thrilling and somehow interesting when I have her to share it with.

  “Why couldn’t you sleep?”

  “I’m worried I’m going to mess it up,” I admit, turning the coffee mug in my hands.

  “Marriage isn’t easy. You’ll make mistakes like every person does when finding their way on a new path. My mother gave me the best advice just after I married your father.” She glances out the window, staring off into the distance. “She said to never go to bed angry. That was her key to a happy and long marriage.”

  “That’s it?”

  “When that doesn’t work, she said to drink plenty of wine.”

  I laugh and remember my grandmother. The portly woman who wore nothing but black for the last twenty years of her life because her husband had died.

  “It always helped me with your father, especially once you kids were born.” She laughs as she lifts the mug to her lips. “I miss him so much, Antonio.”

  “I know, Mamma. He’ll be home soon.”

  “I know. I wouldn’t trade a day of my heartache because I married the love of my life.”

  I understand her words. There have been days I’ve felt anguish with Lauren, like when Trent snatched her away. But even during those times, I never once wished I hadn’t met her. I live with no regrets, especially when it comes to her.

  “Don’t bury yourself in work either. Life is
too short to be stuck in an office.”

  “Tell that to Lauren,” I sigh. “I fear she’ll work herself into an early grave.”

  “Find a way to change her mind.”

  “How?”

  “A baby often puts life into perspective.”

  “Mamma.” I shake my head and close my eyes. “I can’t force her to have a child.”

  “Wine, my son. Wine.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  ANTONIO

  “Stop touching it.” Stefano smacks my hands away from my bow tie. “I can’t keep fixing it.”

  The tiny scrap of fabric feels more like a noose than a decoration. My palms are sweaty, and I can’t seem to stand still. I’ve never been this nervous in my life, not even when I asked Lauren to marry me.

  “Don’t,” he says as I start to reach for it again.

  “We should’ve gotten married on the beach in the Bahamas.”

  Stefano shoves a glass of whiskey in my face, urging me to drink. “Your island is too small for all of us.”

  I chug it down without taking a breath and hand off the empty glass to him. “Lauren never should have let Mamma plan the wedding. She turned it into the affair of the century.”

  “It’ll be fine. By the end of today, it’ll all be just a memory.” Stefano smiles as he refills my glass. “One more and then I’m cutting you off. Mamma will have my balls if I let you get drunk.”

  There’s a light knock on the door, but I let Enzo answer it because he’s the closest, and I’m too busy with my second glass of whiskey.

  Mamma steps inside carrying a small envelope in her hands. She kisses my brothers before she steps in front of me. “My son. You look so handsome today,” she says.

  I kiss her cheek, careful not to mess up her makeup. “Thanks, Mamma.”

  “I saw Lauren. She’s stunning in her gown.”

  “Is she okay?”

  I hated being away from her last night. Spending the night apart the evening before the wedding is a silly tradition, but one my mother had insisted that we observe. My brothers took it upon themselves to take me out for a final hurrah before my life changed forever. It was just another excuse to get drunk and party a little too hard at their age, but I indulged them. I was the only one who woke up without a headache this morning.

  “She’s fine, dear. She’s a little nervous, but she’s in better shape than I was when I married your father.”

  “You were nervous?”

  My mother always seems so put together and in control of her emotions. She’s loving but calculated in everything she does, and she has always carried herself with a certain sense of self. To think of her nervous about anything is almost absurd.

  She nods as she hands me the envelope, closing my fingers around the paper. “Don’t read this until I leave, and do it alone. And yes, I was nervous about our wedding night mostly.”

  “I don’t want to know.” I laugh and carefully kiss her cheek again. “Go be with Lauren. She needs you,” I tell her.

  Today won’t be an easy day for her. As a little girl, Lauren dreamed of her wedding day. She’d told me as much. She’d thought her mother would button up her dress and give her sage advice before her father walked her down the aisle. But none of her dreams would become a reality with both of her parents gone.

  “I’m going. Do not get your brother drunk,” she tells Stefano.

  “Mamma,” he says like he’s insulted.

  “The priest will be in here soon to escort you to the altar.”

  My mother leaves without another word, and I glance down at the envelope with my name scrawled across the front. To my surprise, it isn’t written in my mother’s handwriting, but it’s Lauren’s familiar cursive style.

  “Give me a minute,” I say to my brothers and wave the envelope in the air. “I’d like a moment in private.”

  I’m certain the words inside aren’t bad. My mother wouldn’t deliver bad news without a warning. Or at least, I don’t think she’d bring me something without knowing what it was first.

  Enzo, Stefano, and Marcus leave the room and shut the door quietly behind them. I sit on the couch at the opposite end of the room, resisting the urge to pull the bow tie away from my throat.

  Slowly, I tear open the envelope, carefully unfolding the delicate pieces of white paper inside. I lean back and prepare myself for anything.

  My darling Antonio,

  Six months ago, you walked into my life and changed everything in an instant. You were my Big Bang, causing every particle and atom in my soul to burst into life. Before you said hello, I’d been walking in darkness without any real purpose.

  I tried to forget you. I tried to move on. You weren’t Lou, and I wasn’t Elizabeth, no matter how badly we wanted to be. But being the man you are, you didn’t give up and chased me until I had no fight left in me.

  As you said before, our orbits are locked together. You are my sun, the giant, shining star that chased away the darkness and cold that had filled my world.

  All the things I accomplished before you hold little meaning. There’s no point in victory without someone to share in the tiny moments that dot our brief lives in a seemingly endless universe.

  I’ve put a lot of thought into our future and everything that you dream for us to be. Your dreams are mine as we’re about to say I do and became a single entity, forever locked together in wedded bliss.

  I want nothing more than to hear the patter of tiny feet as our children play. I want their laughter and tears and everything in between. I want to leave behind a piece of us when our time here is up. Something that only we created through the true miracle of life. Not something we built with our hands or constructed out of a pile of scrap, but a sacred moment that is truly a blessing from the heavens.

  The thought of having a family had always scared me. After losing my parents and being left alone, I never wanted to face that heartache again. But I can no longer deny myself a chance at happiness. I can no longer deny you the thing you want the most. I want us.

  I want our children to know their family and grow up in Italy, surrounded by nature’s beauty and so much love that they’ll never know the sadness I’ve endured.

  I want the family I never had.

  Because of this, effective January 1st, I’ll be stepping down as CEO of Cozza Interstellar and starting on my new journey.

  You’ve taught me that life is too short to be trapped in a boardroom. I’ve achieved everything I ever wanted to in business and fulfilled my father’s dream. To continue my legacy, and that of our families, you better knock me up fast because it takes many years to grow a small tribe.

  I’m laying down the gauntlet, Mr. Forte. Will you accept the challenge?

  I’ve never been more excited about a journey and the unknown, but I know with you by my side, the best is yet to come.

  Love Always,

  Lauren xoxoxo

  I stare at the piece of paper in my hand in complete shock. It takes a full minute after I read the last line before I can even muster a single word.

  Every ounce of nervous energy leaves my system. No longer am I worried that she’s second-guessing her decision to become my wife.

  “It’s time,” Stefano says, opening the door slowly as I sit stunned on the couch.

  “I’m ready,” I tell him as I climb to my feet with my bow tie still perfectly intact.

  I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life.

  LAUREN

  He’s there.

  Standing at the altar, waiting to be mine.

  “You ready, kid?” Mr. Grayson asks at my side.

  When he heard about our wedding, he insisted that he walk me down the aisle. It was a little surprising, but I politely accepted his invitation. No one else had been as kind and supportive of me at Interstellar than him.

  “I am,” I say and take a step forward, holding on to his arm. “Thank you, Mr. Grayson.”

  He pats my hand and smiles. “Anything for you, m
y dear girl.”

  Antonio hasn’t taken his eyes off me. The look in his eyes is similar to the first time we stood in a boardroom together. All the guests have stood and are watching as I glide down the aisle as gracefully as I can in the heels and puffy dress that I just had to have. I wanted to be the princess I’d always imagined when I was a little girl.

  By now, Antonio’s read the letter and knows that not only am I marrying him, I’m going all in. I no longer want to spend my life locked away in my office while the rest of the world lives. I want more than I’ve ever allowed myself to dream.

  The trip up the aisle passes in a blur because I haven’t stopped staring at the man who will be my husband long enough to focus on anyone else. He meets us at the base of the altar with his hand extended and a smile on his face.

  “Mi amore,” he says softly as he takes my hand in his.

  “Mio marito,” I whisper.

  Mr. Grayson releases my hand and disappears toward the crowd that is still on its feet.

  My eyes are locked with Antonio’s as we ascend the steps to say our vows. I don’t have a single doubt as I’m staring into the eyes of the man I love. The eyes that hold my future.”

  The End

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