There will be alot of time changes in this chapter!
~Grace~
"Amore!" Ricco yells my name from our kitchen, I walk out the laundry room, a basket propped on my hip.
"Coming!" I tell him, closing the door and making my way to the kitchen.
"You'll be coming tonight." He smirks and I roll my eyes. But my body grew hot at the thought.
"What do you need?"
"To be so fucking deep inside y-"
"Ricco!" I smack his shoulder and he laughs, grabbing the basket from my hand and pulling me into his arms.
"Seriously, what do you need?" I ask him, fiddling with his tie, he just came home.
"I wanted to tell you before anyone else told you." He mumbles, leaning his forehead against mine.
It's my favorite thing, to stand in his arms, his forehead on mine, hearing his heartbeat through his heart, what makes it my favorite thing? The fact that his heart is beating for me.
But it's a bittersweet thing, because he does this mainly when he has a bad day. Yep, Capo's have bad days.
His finger grazes over my hand, passing over my wedding ring.
One whole year.
One whole year of being Grace Russo. Ricco's wife. The Capo's wife. It's been one hell of a year.
"What's wrong?" I frown.
"We're dealing with the Greeks." He sighs. Ricco has mentioned the Greeks being a problem for us. We weren't sure, until well, now.
"How bad is it?" I ask him.
"Really fucking bad, especially since The Laurents and Rodriguez isnt on good terms, and well I recently made up with your father." He says and I nod.
The day after Ricco and I got married, we flew home to our families that were dripping in emotions. Rage from our fathers, sympthaty and sadness from our mothers and jealousy from our siblings.
You heard that right, siblings, Maya hasn't spoken to Ricco in months because we got married and she's a single mother, prohibited from having any contact with Marco.
And my brother, Caden's marriage to Ella was canceled because my father was focused on the deal he made with Riccco for our wedding. But that changed the minute Ricco declared war against my father's mafia, which I didn't agree with, causing our first real argument as a couple.
That day seems so long ago.
A year ago.
"Tell me this is some stupid fucking joke!" My father yells. Everyone tenses, but Ricco, he stands there taller than my father and crueler than my father could ever be. All of the men from both mafias stand in my parent's living room. Staring, some with freight, some with interest.
"Ricco.." His father begins somewhat nervously.
"Did you two really marry?" We nod. All of our families start talking and the room gets heavy.
"No fucking way. Grace will not be leaving this house." My father says, grabbing my arm.
"Get your fucking hands off my wife," Ricco growls and the room quiets down. My father narrows his eyes.
"You two are divorcing." My father says, calmly.
"I said, get your hands off my wife," Ricco says, even calmer, and that's what scares the hell out of us.
"N-" My father couldn't finish his sentence, Ricco walks up to him and his fist meets my father's face. All of my father's men point their gun at Ricco.
"Cazzaro di tiro." (Fucking shoot.) Ricco snarls and his men aim their gun at my father's men.
"Ricco.." I murmer.
"You just picked your death Nicholas. War with The Viper's usually ends," He points his gun to my father's head.
"On the offender's end." He tells him. Instead of talking with Ricco, my father does the opposite.
"Bring it the fuck on." He chuckles, and I swear Caden looks scared.
---
Present day.
~Ricco~
I tighten my grip on Grace as I nuzzle my face in her neck.
One year of being her husband and it feels like nothing has changed, I have a shitty day in this fucked up world, and Grace takes the stress away.
I love her with everything in me.
"What did you have to tell me?" She asks me, snapping out her own thoughts, I've known her long enough to know she stops talking when she gets lost in her thoughts and memories.
"We had to make a deal." I mumble.
"We need peace in our own circle if we're going to outplay the Greeks." I tell her, I rarely talk business with her, but when I do, she listens like she doesn't hate our world.
"My brother isnt marrying your sister to settle issues right?" She blurts, her body tensing.
"No, love." I chuckle. But then reality hits and I remember I do have to tell her the news.
"It's not our mafias they're worried will fuck up."
"It's Isabel's and Leo's." I tell her and she pulls away from our hug, looking at me. Her brown eyes filled with shock and a wave of uncertainty.
"Wait..." She mumbles. Then her eyes widen and she gasps.
"No." She mumbles. I press my lips into a line.
"Ricco, they hate each other!"
"I know, love, I know." I tell her and she frowns.
"Who's idea was it?" She mumbles.
"Izzi's father." Grace stares at me with disgust and anger. It's kind of cute how fiesty she is.
It turns me the hell on.
The things this woman does to me.
"Hey, they're gonna be fine." I tell her and she frowns again.
"Come here." I pull her into my arms, but as I look over her shoulder,I see the box.
"Did you take one today?" I ask her.
"Yeah." She mumbles and that's all I need to know that it was negative.
Why was having a kid so fucking hard? I didn't care that it took forever, I just cared that every negative test we got and every doctor that told us we were both perfectly healthy and able to have kids, every one broke something in Grace and it made me want to forget having kids. This shit was making her doubt herself and I just want to hold her and tell her she's the most perfect woman on this planet.
My mind goes back to the second month after we got married.
---
A year ago.
"Be careful!" I tell Grace as she walks up the staircase of my father's house.
"Ricco, shut up. I am careful!" She mumbles and I smile as she pouts when she reaches the top of the staircase.
"Can I feel your stomach?" I ask her for like the fift time this week.
Grace found out she was pregnant a month ago, since then we've been reading every fucking book on expecting babies and parenthood tips.
"Again? Ricco, I left the party to hide away from people not for you to treat me like a magical object!" She says and I raise an eyebrow.
"I didn't-"
"Shut up." She says.
"Yes ma'am." I mumble as she sits on the loveseat in the hall, looking exhausted but so fucking beautiful in her red dress. God, I wanna take her so hard right now, but we agreed no sex until the baby is born.
"Do you want some water?" I ask her and she nods. I kiss her cheek and walk away, but before I can reach the staircase, she calls me back.
"Come here." She says and I walk to her, even though I was just there.
I've learned to do what she wants.
"Que?"(What?)
She grabs my hand and places it over her stomach.
"Do you think it's a girl or boy?" I didnt care, once we had a healthy baby and Grace was okay, I'd be the happiest man alive.
"A boy." I tell her, just so she can roll her eys and she I'm picking favorites.
"You're picking favorites, that's what you want the baby to be. Tell me what you think it is." She says and I smile, knowing she would have said that.
"I think I fucked you so hard that it's twins." I smirk but she flushes.
"I'm serious Ricco." She says.
"I think it's a girl, baby, now can I go get your water?" I ask her and she nods.
That night we got home after the party, to our house, our own place where we were normal people, not heirs to murders.
Grace walked into the bathroom and I took my tie off as I sat on the edge of our bed. Grace's figure walks out the bathroom, but she stands there and after a minute I hear her sob. My eyes shoot up to hers and she's fully crying. Her eyes red, tears running down her cheeks as she cries.
"What's wrong?"I ask her, getting up from the bed.
She doesn't say anything. She just cries, I pull her against me and she sobs into my chest. I was loosing it because I didnt know what was wrong.
"What's wrong baby?" I ask her.
She winces as if pain struck through her and worry takes over my whole existence.
"Baby what's wrong?" I ask her and she finally looks at me.
"Pull my dress up." She whispers. Confusion flows through me.
But I do as she says.
I raise her dress and my eyes drop to the blood dripping down her legs, right down her legs, dripping onto the floor.
"I'm losing our baby." She whispers and for one rare moment in my life, I'm speechless.
"M-maybe it's just sp-"
"I'm not spotting. I'm bleeding. The pain in my stomach, I know I'm loosing the baby." She sobs. I didnt know when it happened, but suddenly I was the one in the relationship with hope.
"No. I'm calling the doctor." I tell her, pulling my phone out my pocket and calling the family doctor.
Ten minutes later, we sat on our bed, hand in hand as the doctor shattered the pieces of our hearts.
"I'm sorry, you miscarried." The doctor says and we both nod. We knew better than to dent our families reputation and break down in front of the doctor.
"Thank you for coming. I trust you can see yourself out?And also I trust that you will keep this private for now" I ask. She nods and leaves, as soon as she closes the door.
We both crumble.
We cry.
We cry together as we bid our child goodbye.
"I-I'm so sorry." She sobs.
"I don't-I don't know what's wrong with me!" She cries into my shoulder.
"This isn't your fault baby," I tell her meaning every word.
"This isn't our time my love." I whisper, pressing my lips to her forehead.
"I wondered if it were a girl, would she have my eyes or yours?" She cries into my shoulder.
"If it were a boy, would he have an attitude like yours?" She gently laughs, but the tears don't stop.
"I know baby, I know," I whisper, holding her tighter.
---
Present-day.
~Grace~
"It's not our time." Ricco says as he kisses me, just like he does every time we get a negative test.
"I know." I tell him, resting my head on his chest.
With Ricco, everything was possible, I could somehow live in this world without wanting to run.
We've had so many obstacles, so many things that bounded our love, but in the end, we ended up breaking them.
"I love you." He tells me and I smile.
"I love you." I tell him.
In that moment I knew I made it, I just hope Izzi and Leo make it too.
Thank you guys, for the love on this book<3 I'm super sad that it's over, but there may be another book, which will be Leo and Isabel's book. But I'm not sure, because the last time I tried to do a spin off to a book, your girl got super unmotivated, now I have trauma from that and I'm scared to start another spin off book! But we'll see :)
But thank you for all the love on this book, I love every single one of you so much! I'm not sure when my next book will be published- it may be Leo and Isabel's book or it may be another book, as of now, I literally have no idea what my next move is, how exciting huh? ( totally not stressing). Anyways, hope everyone enjoyed Ricco and Grace's story<3