Fire Bound (Sea Haven Sisters)(88)
“Marry me, Giacinta Abbracciabene. Come with me now. Let’s do it. I’ve got a priest standing by. He’ll marry us today.” He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a small black velvet case.
Lissa swallowed hard. He wasn’t joking. He meant every single word and she could tell this meant something to him. Not just something. Everything. She couldn’t speak. She could only look at him. He’d planned this. After. After knowing about Luigi’s betrayal. After knowing Arturo betrayed her. Knowing she had loved them both, at least the illusion of who they were. He had somehow managed to arrange this. He had to have had help. Still. He gave her his declaration of love.
“Are you going to give this to me?” he asked gently. “For me, Giacinta. For me.”
It wasn’t for him. He might think it was, but in reality, it was for her. To belong somewhere. Everyone needed to belong.
“You’re certain, Casimir? Because this is a lifetime commitment. We might actually survive our encounter with the Sorbacovs, and then what? How are you going to get out of this if you marry me legally?”
“Malyshka. Baby. Do you really think I would ever want out? Ever? I haven’t been to the farm, but my brothers seem to love it there. Lev told me he goes sea urchin diving with Rikki. Stefan owns an art gallery with Judith. Max heads up security for Airiana. And Gavriil…” A grin broke through, as if he couldn’t quite believe what his older brother did. “Gavriil is working the farm with Lexi. I intend to learn the art of glassblowing with my wife. Welding as well. I want to work with you. Live with you. Share your home and your bed. Permanently. When we’re eighty, I want to be sitting on the front porch with you in a rocking chair while our grandchildren play where we can see and hear them.”
She moistened her lips. “You want children?”
He nodded. “I want the family neither of us ever got to have. With you. I want that with you. And I want us married before we go to Russia.”
“I didn’t expect this.” Her heart beat so fast and so hard she felt the ache spreading through her body.
“Do you love me?”
Her breath caught in her lungs. In her throat. The raw emotion on his face tore her up inside. “More than anything.” It was true, truer than she’d even known. In that moment, everything was crystal clear to her.
“That’s all that matters. We have today to be us. Casimir and Giacinta. Luigi is with his wife and children. Tomorrow we can deal with the underbelly of the world and the ugly people residing there. But we have this day for us. The documents are legal. The priest is as well. I just have to text him, and we’ll go get clothes. A dress for you, a bridal gown. A suit for me. We’ll get married and spend the night in a beautiful little villa overlooking the sea. Say yes, golubushka. Give me you.”
“Tell me when you put this all together.”
For the first time he hesitated. “Does it matter?”
She knew then. He’d done it when he’d discovered Luigi’s treachery. When he knew and she didn’t. When he knew he would have to tell her, to take something precious from her. He had set this day in motion then.
“Won’t the Sorbacovs hear about a Casimir Prakenskii applying for permission to marry Giacinta Abbracciabene, an Italian citizen?”
“I told you, I have friends in high places. The priest will delay the paperwork getting to public records as well. The Sorbacovs will not have a clue that a Prakenskii has married and is the happiest man alive. When they are gone, whether we live or not, those papers will be made official to the world.”
She moistened her lips. He was so beautiful, sitting there looking at her with his dark, tinted eyes and the spill of dark wavy hair. Still, she preferred the gorgeous Russian with his strange, silver eyes and short, spiked, black and silver hair.
His thumb slid along her inner wrist, a lazy, languid slide that sent a million butterflies winging their way south. Her heart thundered in her ears. Could it be that easy to take something for herself? She was giving up her life for everyone else. Could she really do this? Marry him? It didn’t seem possible that he could have planned this down to the minutest detail, including making it actually legal, but who cared if it wasn’t? She doubted if they would live through the Sorbacovs’ security.
“Malyshka. Are you going to give this to me?”
The little breeze that had been flirting with her hair there on the balcony went still. The insects below in the gardens sounded more like music than an annoying drone. She nodded slowly, because she couldn’t speak. She couldn’t bring herself to ruin that perfect moment. She hadn’t had a lot of perfect moments in her life and this was number one. The best.