Luca nodded. “At this point, Gabe is clearly more stable than you are, anyway. Go, raise your family.”
I pulled Luca into a hug. “Thank you.”
I looked over a Willow and grabbed her hand. “Will you forgive me?”
Willow shrugged. “I’ll think about it.” She smiled at me.
“Then,” I got down on one knee, “will you marry me?”
Epilogue
Willow
I stood, looking myself over in the tall, ceiling to floor mirror against the wall. The top of my white dress was strapless and grabbed my torso in a way that was flattering and not too sexy, capping it with a sweetheart neckline. Carefully laid lacework spiraled along the bodice, leading down to my waist and disappearing behind my navy blue belt. After the belt, chiffon layers flared out and waterfalled toward the floor, covering even my feet, which were equally decked out in white pumps with straps around the ankles. I fluffed my hair, despite that after she finished curling it, Sasha told me if I touched it, she would murder me. Around my neck hung the beautiful engagement gift Ricky had gotten me, a diamond enclosed in a web of silver, interwoven hoops. He gave it to me with the promise that, no matter what happened, he would always be there for me. I didn’t need a necklace to know that, but it was times like this, as I was standing alone, a regular ball of nerves, that it was nice to have a reminder.
There was a small knock at the door behind me, and I turned around. “Come in.”
The door opened, and in walked my dad. He’d been granted a furlough from prison to attend my wedding because in the twelve years he’d spent there, he hadn’t made a single, solitary wave. I was smart enough to know that it was probably Varasso protection keeping him safe, even on the inside, but whatever the reason was, I was glad he was there.
“Daddy,” I said with a smile.
It had been that entire twelve years since I had seen him last. After everything finally settled down, I came to regret never going to see my dad. I finally understood that the decisions he made as a young father, he’d made because he thought it was what was best for Ricky and me. All that time, I’d believed that he chose the Varassos over us. Actually, he was sacrificing himself to make sure that my mom, Ricky, and I were well taken care of, without even a second thought. He knew the Varassos would make good on their promises to make sure we were covered, and he was prepared to rot in prison to see it through. My mom, my dad, and Alessandro, they’d all taught me an important lesson about thinking in black and white—I’d miss the color. The beautiful things that are hidden just behind what appears to be trag
edy and misfortune. I understood it much better now.
“Baby, you look…” He was getting choked up already. “Like your mother.”
I smiled. It was as nice a compliment as any. “Thanks, Daddy.”
He stepped forward, wiping a few tears from his eyes. “Wow. You’d think prison would change a man.”
I chuckled. “I’m glad it didn’t.”
I welcomed his embrace as he wrapped his arms around me, and it felt good to be hugging him again. I hadn’t had him there for my birthdays, my prom, or my graduation; that he could be there for my wedding day meant the world to me.
“Well, I just wanted to wish you good luck, not that you need it.” He stroked my cheek. “That Alessandro better act like he knows how lucky he is.”
I thought about Alessandro going berserk the day he moved to California. He saw my cobbled together apartment of cheap furniture, found mostly from flea markets or garage sales, and dropped to his knees in dramatic, movie star fashion, saying I deserved the best and that the apartment was getting a complete overhaul. I was still committed to not accepting any lavish gifts paid for with the Varassos’ blood money, but Alessandro assured me all the money he brought with him was what was earned at some of their above the board businesses, like a restaurant Marco had purchased and a casino Luca had invested in. It wasn’t that fashion buying didn’t pay well, especially for the kind of clients I worked with, but I wasn’t a picky kind of person. I supposed maybe it was me trying to reject my mother’s obsession with money by doing the exact opposite of what she did. Regardless, Alessandro spent the next few weeks buying me everything I so much as breathed in the direction of. I eventually had to start punishing him when he didn’t clear money with me first.
“He does,” I responded.
“Well, I’m gonna go take my seat,” he said. “I’ll see you out there, probably bawling like a baby.”
“Okay, Dad. I love you.” I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him on his cheek.
“I love you, too.” He walked out of the room but left the door open with a wink as he stepped through.
My dad was at my wedding, for which I was grateful, but he wasn’t walking me down the aisle. He understood entirely when I told him that I was granting that honor to someone else. In fact, he’d told me he wouldn’t have it any other way. I stepped across the doorframe, and leaning against the wall outside was Ricky. He was the one I’d be arm in arm with. The man who’d taken the best care of me ever since the day we were born.
He grabbed his chest like the wind had been knocked out of him. “Wow.”
I did a little twirl. “Right?” I had, of course, purchased my own wedding dress using my connections and fashion expertise. I knew I looked good in it. I didn’t need anyone to tell me that.
He stood upright and made a loop with his arm, and I linked mine into it. He kissed my cheek, and then we started off down the hallway. We’d gotten even closer since he came to live in California with Alessandro and me. I wanted to believe that it was because he couldn’t see living without me, but in truth, I thought his number one motivation was the way he hit it off with Sasha. When I was staying in Philly for those couple of weeks after my grandpa’s funeral, I’d heard him turn page after page of stories about the scores of women he’d been out with. Ricky was a guy, and guys were guys, but deep inside of him, he was a romantic. He’d seen Luca with Molly, Marco with Kelly, and Alessandro with me, and really wanted the same for himself. He had some idiosyncrasies, but nothing I thought was impossible to love. Apparently, Sasha shared the sentiment.
They started dating not long after Ricky and Alessandro moved in. We were so busy getting ready for the baby, and Ricky was behaving much like a child who was reluctantly becoming an older sibling. He kept trying to distract Alessandro while we were working on the baby’s room or begging me to go do things with him even when I didn’t feel up to it. It was all the experience Sandro and I needed to know that we would probably stop after one kid. I complained to Sasha, and she started to come over to help distract Ricky. The distraction took the form of many dates until soon, my own best friend was coming over to see my brother instead of me. Then, I was the one acting like the baby.
Still, as their relationship grew, Alessandro and I started to enjoy having them around as a couple. We could do couple things, and Alessandro was a fanatic for anything overly domestic in nature, a carryover from thinking he’d never have that kind of life. We appreciated the way it brought us together, that was until we overheard them having sex in a room not far away. Alessandro and I could both, miraculously, sleep through Ricky’s horrid snoring, but the raucous love-making was a bird of a different color.