Giovanni
Another deal with the devil.
“Our month isn’t-” she starts.
“I don’t care about the month. It’s not enough. This is my home. It’s been my home from day one. Declan’s right. I should never have left. But past is past. And I’m finished with it.
“I’m staying here, Sienna. Reclaiming my place. I want to watch my nephew grow up. I want to be here with my grandfather. I will rebuild the house to what it once was. No, even better. I will make it grand, as it should always have been.”
I lift her hair over her shoulder before brushing her cheek.
“And I want you to stay here with me. Make this your home too.”
“You want me to leave everything behind-”
“What is everything? What is the life you’ve built in Vegas?”
She shifts her gaze away and I watch her eyebrows furrow.
“What life?” I ask again.
She looks up at me. “The shop.”
“You don’t need the shop. I’ll make monthly donations to the shelter.”
“It’s Mrs. Adams’ legacy, Giovanni. I can’t just shut it down.”
“Then I’ll buy it outright. Buy the whole building. Or back you financially if that’s what you want. You’ll promote Deirdre and let her manage it. Hire someone else to help her. Hire anyone you need. Your house is a rental. Your car, well, don’t get me started on that car. And as far as friends, I think you and I are in the same position there.”
“Do your bodyguards count?”
I smile because I think she’s joking. “Just Axel.”
“What about the casino? The hotel?”
“Axel will manage both. It’s not important. Don’t you see, I’ve lost too many years. Half my life. I want to start living how I was meant to live. And I want you by my side.”
“You want me to live here with you?”
I smile wide, touch my thumb to the delicate skin beneath her eye that’s already wet. She’s so sweet. So innocent. She never lost that, even after what those bastards did to her.
“That won’t do, Sienna. Not for this proposition. I want more. I want everything. You’ll marry me. You’ll be my bride and my wife, and I’ll be your husband. I’ll give you a proper last name. I’ll be your family. And together, we’ll fill this house as it was meant to be filled, with children and laughter and family and joy.”
Her mouth falls open and she’s staring up at me and all I can think is how right this feels. How perfectly right.
“Will you marry me, Sienna?”
——–
Sienna
Three Months Later
I realize something about Giovanni that I guess I should have known all along. I mean, it’s in keeping with the man I’ve come to know over the last few months.
When Giovanni makes up his mind, you can consider it a done deal. He’s the same in business and his personal life.
We flew back to Vegas together a few days after that proposal a very different couple than the man and woman who arrived here not a week earlier.
A happy one.
That’s not to say he wasn’t sad over the death of his father. Of everything that time stood for. He was. And I don’t think Giovanni will ever forgive himself for the loss of those years. But he has a way of taking things in stride and in this case, making up his mind to be happy.
I’ve made up mine too.
We never discussed Sean Williams again. I know the day Giovanni went to him. I know the day Giovanni hurt him. Maybe did worse to him.
Does it make me a terrible person that I don’t feel remorse over it?
Deirdre happily accepted my offer to become manager of Wrinkles in Time. I wasn’t sure she’d want it with her granddaughter being so young, but she surprised me when, in accepting, she began to tell me of the changes she’d be implementing. Things she’d thought about in passing but never had the ambition to do. I just had to promise her a trip to Scotland to attend our wedding which I happily did.
Fifty percent of the proceeds of the shop will still go to the homeless shelter and that’s on top of the generous donation Giovanni made in Marjorie’s name.
That was a surprise. I hadn’t expected him to do that and wouldn’t have even found out if it weren’t for the woman who manages the shelter dropping the hint.
I didn’t tell Giovanni I knew but every time I look at him, at my Highlander, home now and happy, I think about the kind of man he is and I feel more blessed than I ever thought I would in my life.
“Don’t cry,” Deirdre says to me. “You’ll ruin your makeup.”
But I can’t help it.
I’m standing at the back of the church where Giovanni is waiting for me at the altar, his brother at his side, his grandfather standing in the first pew.
Deirdre, like the grandmother she is, licks her thumb and wipes at what I guess is a smudge of eyeliner on the corner of my eye before rearranging the veil to cover my face.
“Ready?” James whispers up.
When we told him our news and he learned I had no family, no father to walk me down the aisle, he immediately stood up and offered his hand and I’m so happy I’ll be a part of his life. He’s a very special boy.
I look down at him dressed like his father and uncle in traditional Scottish clothing, the kilt displaying proudly the colors of Clan Adams. It’s still amazing to me the amount of history here. The amount of family.
“Ready,” I say to him.
He holds out his hand and I slip mine into his little one. He clears his throat like Giovanni does and straightens his shoulders. I see Declan at the alter with his proud smile as his son walks me down the short aisle of the chapel.
My eyes are locked on Giovanni’s and it seems the past weeks flash before my eyes as I take each step. The moment I first met him, that first night, the next day when he showed up at my house, and all the ones that followed when he wouldn’t just take what he had a right to but instead cradled me in the protection of his arms and wouldn’t let me go. Not even when I fought like hell to be free of him.
When James hands me off to Giovanni and Giovanni lifts my veil, he wipes away the tear that has managed to slide down my cheek. He leans down to kiss me and whispers in my ear that I’m beautiful and that he loves me. All I can do is stare back at him and try to hold it together.
He knows this too. I see it in his eyes.
The priest clears his throat to begin the ceremony and when it’s time to exchange rings, Giovanni takes my hands in his and I look down at the ring he’s holding. A family ring, his mother’s once.
Strangely, his father hadn’t given it to his second wife. Instead, after the passing of Giovanni’s mother, he’d set it aside for Giovanni to give to his bride. Giovanni only found out about it after his father’s death when his grandfather had given it to him and explained.
When we say our vows, he slips that ring onto my finger and I slide a gold band onto his and it’s like everything comes together, it’s complete and right and how it should be. How it was meant to be from the moment we came into each other’s lives.
Because I realize I’ve always belonged to Giovanni.
And he’s always belonged to me.
And together, we’re home.
The End.