Page 144 of The Obsession
The rotors begin to slow once they touch down, and assoon as the side door opens and a crazy, petite Italian starts waving like the lunatic she is, I chuckle.
“Oh my God, Lucia,” Emily breathes as she starts running in her direction.
“Lu-Lu,” my niece squeals as she squirms on my shoulders, letting me know she wants to get down.
I release the breath I’m holding and stroll towards our friends, all the while hoping I haven’t got too far ahead of myself by bringing them here.
I’ve finally accepted that Emily does, in fact, love me. I feel it every single day. I still don’t know how or why, but is her love strong enough to last a lifetime? Fuck, I hope so.
Because, for all the certainty I try to carry, there’s still that quiet part of me that doesn’t fully believe I get to keep good things. I can’t help but worry that at some point, when I’m least expecting it, someone will realise they’ve made a mistake by giving me these blessings, and rip them all away.
Chapter 48
Emily
“Ican’t believe you guys are here,” I say to Lucia as I lead her into the back of the van. “Arabella looks like she’s about to drop any second.”
“She is,” Lucia replies, casually … too casually. Doesn’t she realise we’re in the middle of nowhere?
“Is it safe for her to be here?”
She flips her hand. “Dante and I delivered Caterina, so don’t worry, we’ve got it covered if this one decides to make an impromptu entrance into the world.”
I pause, turning to face her. “You delivered your niece?”
She lifts one shoulder like it’s no big deal. “Dante did most of the work, but I helped.”
“Wow,” I say, because I have no words for that.
After we all hugged it out beside the helicopter, Lucia asked me if I had a minute to talk in private, so here we are. There’s a black garment bag slung over her forearm, so I’m presuming she wants to get changed while we’re in here.
“How are you?” she asks, reaching for my hand and giving it a squeeze. “I know we talk on the phone all the time, but I presume that hunk of man beef is always around when we do. So I wanted to make sure you’re good.”
I frown, not understanding where she’s going with this. Has something happened? “I’m good. We’re good. I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”
“I’m glad. I just wanted to make sure.”
“Why do you ask?”
Instead of answering, she lets go of my hand and shoves the garment bag in my direction. “This is for you.”
“What’s this?”
“A dress. Dominic asked me to buy it for you. He picked it out himself.”
“He did? Why?”
“You’re travelling and don’t have a fixed address, so he couldn’t order it himself online.”
“I understand that,” I reply, “But why would he buy me a dress?”
“He wants to marry you?”
My frown deepens. “We’re engaged, so obviously.”
“Nosciocca(Silly),” she says. “He wants to marry you right now.”
I gasp. “Today?”
