Mafia Legacy

Chapter Thirty Eight-Charlotte

"Luca..."

He shook his head, cutting me off. "I am going to do this the right way this time. So just shut up, okay?" He shot me a wink.

"Yeah, that's how every girl dreams of a proposal starting out..." I rolled my eyes.

"Ahem." Luca cleared his throat.

"Okay, sorry..." I conceded. "Continue."

"Charlotte, you are everything to me. You are the breath inside my lungs, my life, my soul, my beating heart. And I can't imagine spending one day on this Earth or anywhere else without you by my side. Marry me. Please."

A wide smile pulled at my lips. "Of course, I'll marry you."

Luca grinned, taking the ring out of the box and sliding the old one off of my hand. He put the new one on, and I couldn't help but marvel at it. It was the most expensive and incredible thing I had ever worn, and I almost didn't feel worthy.

"This is way too much, Luca." I said, unable to tear my eyes away from it.

"Come on, we're not done yet." He winked, grabbing my hand and kissing it. He led me down a path to the edge of the beach. There were tall hedges lining the edge of the resort so I couldn't see anything beyond them, but Marco and Angelo were waiting for us at the edge. Their faces lit up when they saw us coming.

"There they are!" Marco clapped his hands together. "Who's ready to get hitched?"

"Well, I for one have been waiting for this day for years, considering I wasn't invited to the first one...." He arched his eyebrow at me.

"Sorry about that." Luca chuckled. "Alright boys, I'm testing my beautiful fiancé to you. Don't let me down."

He leaned over and gave me one last kiss. "See you at the altar, baby."

Luca walked down toward the water and the three of us were alone.

"What did you two let him do?" I laughed.

"I think we all know no one lets Luca do anything besides you, Char." Angelo grinned. "He told us what he was going to do, and we just followed orders."

"Yep. Classic middle school peer pressure at it's finest." Marco joked.

"Are you here to walk me down the aisle?" I asked.

They nodded. "Although Josh is here in spirit, we're just filling in."

"Thank you." I smiled, getting slightly choked up at the thought. Josh hadn't even gotten to see Luca and me reconcile, but I knew he would be so thrilled with how things had turned out between us. He would have been the very best grandfather to our kids, and I missed him every single day.

All of a sudden, music started playing.

"Well, that's our cue." Angelo smiled, taking my hand. "Ready to do this?"

"There is still time to run, you know," Marco said.

"We've got a car waiting at the front if you want," Angelo smirked.

"I've never been more ready for something in my entire life." I smiled.

As the music played, Angelo and Marco led me down the aisle. Once we were through the hedges, I could see that this had turned into much more than a little ceremony on the beach with us and the kids. Somehow Luca had flown our mothers in, and both Seth and Gabe and their families. There were thousands of flowers lining the aisle in a beautiful array of whites and creams, and at the end, Luca stood waiting patiently. Cole and Leo were next to him, and Layla and Lucy stood at my side.