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Book:Forced Marriage (Owned by the boss) Published:2024-10-15

Delilah
It’s been months since the chaos with Caleb. Romano is still underground, and no one has heard a peep. Carmine doesn’t believe Romano will be hiding forever. Our enemy is planning something-in Carmine’s opinion.
I was able to take my test too. My professor hasn’t gone back to work. He hasn’t been able to talk since the attack and near-death experience, so he took a leave of absence from teaching and hired a temporary replacement. The university let me make up my test due to my kidnapping and my professor being attacked. I was finally able to graduate, and I was able to go to medical school.
But being six months pregnant and pre-labor scares was a no go, so I’ve been ordered to stay home. Medical school will have to wait.
But there’s something else happening in the meantime.
Carmine is giving me a real wedding. Today. I have the dress, the maid of honor, and my father walking me down the aisle.
I have it all because Carmine wanted me to have it all.
“You look so beautiful,” Christy says, as she zips up the back of my dress.
I look in the mirror and smile, feeling beautiful. The dress is strapless and simple and hugs my top until it flows over my stomach, so I’m comfortable. The tulle has crystals that add a hint of shine over my dress’s bottom half. For a last-minute addition, Christy places a real diamond necklace around my neck with a ten-carat blue sapphire Carmine bought me as a wedding gift.
“Jesus, this weighs a ton. Don’t fall over from it.” She clips it in place, and we stare in the mirror at our reflections. “You look so gorgeous. I’m so happy you get this day. You deserve all the good things, Delilah.”
I turn around and hug my best friend. “So do you, you know. I know what happened-”
“-I don’t want to talk about him. I don’t ever want to talk about him. Today is your day. Okay?”
“Okay.” I smile, dropping it for now. Christy hasn’t brought up what happened once. She won’t talk about it, and it makes me worry about her. “Is Ethan here? He’s your date, right?”
“Yeah, but it’s not like that. I don’t want to date.”
A knock at the door interrupts us, and my dad peeks his head in. “Oh,” he gasps. “You look stunning, Lilah.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“I’m going to go. I hear the music, and that’s my cue to start the show. Don’t be late.”
I roll my eyes. “I won’t be. Carmine would never allow it anyway.”
Christy is wearing a light purple gown with a long train that drags behind her as she walks away, looking like a goddess. I take one more look at myself; for some reason, I’m nervous. I’m already married and pregnant. There’s nothing to be nervous about, but this moment with Carmine is different. It isn’t forced. It isn’t angry.
“You’re happy,” my dad says out of nowhere.
“I am. I’m…” I can’t find the words to describe it myself. “I’m right where I need to be.”
My Dad holds out his arm for me to take, and I loop my hand through it. “As long as you’re happy, that’s all I care about.”
We step outside the bedroom and walk down the hall. The marble floor is littered with red roses, petals, and candles.
I take a deep breath as I walk down the hallway that will forever change my life. We head down the stairs, my heart skips the closer we get to the front door. They open when Dad knocks on the wood, and I gasp when I see my dream wedding right in front of me.
The sun has set just enough for the twinkling lights in the garden to come to life, reminding me of fireflies during summer nights when I was a child. The rose petals and candles drift down the steps and the stone pathway.
Gianni is standing next to Carmine in front of the gate, which makes me laugh because Carmine says he wants to claim me in front of the one thing I claimed to escape him.
Christy is standing up there, holding a bouquet of white roses while she sneaks peeks at Gianni. I’ll have to make a note to ask her about that later.
While Matias, Victor, Alex, Nicky, and Ivar watch from the grass where they stand, Ryan and Ari are on my side.
Carmine’s eyes heat as I get closer and roam down my body, his attention locked on my belly.
Every single night, he shows me how much he loves my pregnant belly. He gets so turned on, he fucks me to sleep after so many orgasms before he fills me with his own.
“Who gives this woman-”
“He does,” Carmine answers for my dad. “She’s mine.” He takes my hand and grabs my face. “I fucking do. I do, I do, I do,” he growls, kissing me in front of everyone.
“I haven’t married you yet,” the minister mumbles.
“Get on with it,” Carmine groans.
“Do you take this woman-”
“Yes. I do. She’s mine. Where’s the ring?”
Gianni holds out the ugly engagement ring I’ve come to love.
Carmine slides it on my finger. “I still want to get you a nice one.”
“Don’t you dare,” I whisper.
“And do you take Carmine-”
“I do. Always.”
“You two are horrible to marry. May the power-screw it. You’re married.”
Carmine yanks me to him and dips me over his knee, kissing me senseless. “I do want to get you a better ring,” he says, so only I can hear. “It’s ugly.”
“Just like we were in the beginning.” I kiss him again, gasping for breath, my hormones raging and wanting him to take me inside. Why did I want this wedding again? “And I’ve come to love it just as I love you.”
Sometimes, it’s the diamond in the rough that is the most beautiful.