yet. They don’t even know what really happened to Isabella and Cristian only that it might have been a deal gone wrong. Matteo Romano has no ill-will towards her and he’s ready to support her every move to make up for how his family has treated her so far. I’ve also spoken to Dom about this in great lengths.”
“Okay?”
“What I’m saying is that…Ariana has a choice. She can step in and Matteo Romano is ready to publicly accept her as a Romano, a princess to the Romano empire. BUT,” Stella says. “If she chooses, she has the option to remain Ariana Giallo. Soon-to-be Ariana King, of course. She can choose not to have anything to do with their business.”
“But the deal with Dominic,” he reminds her.
“Dom is letting it go since the other famiglias didn’t know there was an intended arrangement. The other Dons of The Five were told that anything heard about Isabella being connected to the Kings was merely a rumor. Matteo corroborated.”
“Dom’s doing it for you. As an apology for him trying to force you into his fold and nearly destroying your marriage,” he finishes.
“Yes,” she replies. “No one knows about my relationship with Dom. Matteo doesn’t even know. You can all remain Kings of your empire without animosity.”
“And you? You’ll be safe? There’s no catch to this?”
“No catch,” she says with a smile. “I promise. Trust me, Dom is still getting what he wants. We can still openly see each other. The Kings will just be another friend to their organization. Not umbrellaed under them. Not controlled by them.”
He returns to her and gives her a huge hug and a kiss to the crown of her head.
“Thank you, Stella. I’ll talk to my brothers…your family…as soon as I can so we can decide.”
He releases her and she follows him through the door.
“Come on, old guy. Let’s get you married!”
He laughs and practically chases her down the hall after that.
Epilogue
“Adam?” his wife asks him when she sees what’s in front of her. Her brows narrow inquisitively before she bursts into smiles.
“ADAM!” she screams at him before covering her excitement with her hands over her mouth. “You didn’t! Tell me you didn’t!”
“I can’t exactly tell you that because well, I did,” he replies, gesturing to the new headstone above her mother’s plot.
“Oh, my God! It’s beautiful, my love. It’s elegant yet simple. It’s…it’s perfect,” she says.
He reaches for her, pulling her up against him so that their bodies are flushed and they are faced to face.
“YOU are perfect,” he tells her. “My wife.”
It’s been two months of pure fucking wedding bliss and he still can’t get enough of her. He’d found he’d gotten used to introducing her as his wife in no time. Who would have thought?
“Thank you,” she says. “From the bottom of my heart. You didn’t have to go out of your way to do this but thank you for doing so.”
She gives him a soft, sweet kiss. It’s endearing and full of gratitude and sincerity. It fucking melts him. Like butter.
“OH-KAY!” Jazzy hollers at them from behind. “Get a room!”
Ariana laughs at that and steps away from him.
Jazzy was in the back of the car…rearranging the extremely large bouquet to her satisfaction. Ariana didn’t want to fuss about it. It wasn’t a big deal to her anyway. She’d been excited that Jazzy wanted to make the trip here at all.
“Come on, Jazzy,” Ariana says, waving his daughter over. “Let’s go meet my mom.”
It should make him sad to hear that but it doesn’t. Jazzy had no grandparents in her life. He doesn’t even know who Daisy’s parents are or if they are still alive. Daisy never spoke of them. If they know of Jazzy, they never reached out to him either.
He watches his two girls chat away while Ariana dusts off the new headstone and Jazzy arranges the flowers…again. But they seem lost in conversation and he didn’t want to interrupt them. He’s more than content watching their interaction.
It’s pure. It’s genuine.
It’s true love.
He makes a mental note to discuss with Ariana again about having a specialist check her out about a reversal and if it could be done. The last time he’d brought up the subject to her, he had to stand down when she explained to him why she wasn’t ready to do that yet.
She reminded him that she’s still in recovery. It’s true. There are days where she’d go to a meeting or days when he’d have a private counselor come to