Chapter 80

Giovanni is admitting to maneuvering me back into Jake’s building so that we would end up back in each other’s arms, the crafty jerk. He giggles like a schoolboy at my shocked expression and pats my hand tenderly over his inner elbow. That self-confident, effortless look on a man who always sees all and knows everything.

“No need to thank me, Emma,” he raises his brows in an almost smug manner.

I clear my throat, finding my voice, still shocked that if he hadn’t done that one simple thing, then I wouldn’t be here today, with him, getting ready to do this.

“You sent me back to him, so he would? So, we would? How did you even know?” I am completely blown away by his confession, emotions brimming to the surface and a deep aching pain in my heart, so touched by a man who always seemed indifferent toward me. We’re still standing in the hall as the two girls mess about nearby with their dresses and hair while we wait for the rest of our party. They haven’t heard any of Giovanni’s confession since they’re further back, and neither is paying attention to my almost tearful expression.

“He’s my son. I see everything. I know him even if he doesn’t like to admit it. You were actually a very competent assistant.” That wily look and lift of a satisfied smile have me shaking my head at him again in complete disbelief. Giovanni is a sneaky man, but I absolutely love him for every sneaky, underhanded card he has ever played in the final happiness of his son. I squeeze his arm and throw caution to the wind by throwing my arms around him instead, giving him my best version of a Jake hug that I can muster.

He tenses for a second awkwardly. Giovanni is not a man who does public displays of affection and then hugs me back, a solid sort of fatherly hug for just a moment, but it means the world to me. He lets me go and straightens his jacket, returning the mask of effortless grace and poise I know only too well.

“Move down the hall a bit. We’ll wait for Sophie nearer the door … She better hurry up.” Leila huffs impatiently, gently pushing us, bossy pants back on and face flawless. She’s checking the time on her wristwatch and frowning at Sarah, who is looking up and down the hall for any sign of our missing bridesmaid. I don’t expect anything else from Sophie nowadays, the girl is a fifteen-year-old ball of fun, but we all adore her mercilessly.

Giovanni leads me out of the hallway toward the larger area outside the main hall doors, a brighter and airier half-circle room with ceiling windows letting the sun stream in. I lift my chin a little with each step, my heart expanding more with the realization that this really is it, and it’s really happening. The Carreros are making me one of their own, and I am getting my Jake for an eternity, never to be parted again.

This crazy man is taking me as a daughter with his terrifying family and secrets I’d never like to guess at or even know.

~Like what exactly he did with Ray Vanquis after he handed me to Mathews.~

Not that I want to know, and I’ve never pressed Jake about it, either. Giovanni took care of things because I am family and the less I know, the more I can pretend it never happened. Jake never speaks of Vanquis either, and as much as I know that Jake would’ve never been involved in anything like that, I also know he’s probably relieved that his father swooped in. I don’t want to know if Vanquis is dead or alive. All we got was a promise that Vanquis would never return. Giovanni assured us of that, and I’ve learned that his word is his bond.

Jake changed toward Giovanni after that. He no longer disapproves of his father’s less-than-legal ties, especially when they swoop in and deal with a problem over Jake’s head. Jake couldn’t exactly take a moral high ground with his father’s dealings when he told his father to do whatever needed to be done to keep his family safe.

The relationship between them is far more level now because of it, changing with every passing month, and I’m happy to see some genuine bond building on both sides; I’m sure Sylvana feels the same way. Here I am, arm in arm, with the man possibly capable of making a human disappear to the waiting arms of the man who spent a lifetime misunderstanding him. Now the two have some mutual bond because Giovanni saved me in place of his son. He won Jake over by saving the one person in the world who mattered to him the most … Me.

~We are a family. All of us.~

My heart catches in my throat as we reach the double doors that hold my life inside and pause to wait. My heart and happiness await me; I’m about to take that step inside and finalize it very soon. Just a few more minutes of waiting, we will be going in there to end one chapter of my life and start a new one with the person I adore more than anything in the universe. My heart growing with excitement, and my nerves rising in anticipation, even though I know I have nothing to be frightened of.

“Do you think she’ll be in there, Emma?” Sarah whispers behind me, and I shake my head, already knowing who she means without asking. Nothing registers in my heart at her question, not a flicker, no feeling about knowing my mother won’t be among the sea of friends and faces in that room to watch me marry my soul mate. I am long healed from the absence of her in my life. I feel a sense of freedom, much like the day, over a year ago, when I walked out of her building.

She never made contact again, even when the papers reported my near-death experience and four-day coma at the hands of an intruder at ‘Billionaire Business Entrepreneur Jacob Carrero’s New Family Home.’ The media had a field day with that story and ran it for weeks, even long after my exit from the private care hospital and back home. My mother never graced me with a phone call or even a text or email that whole time. I didn’t have a single visit from her in my several weeks in recovery in the private hospital, not even a bunch of flowers or a get-well card. I ceased to care about her at all. It only helped me move on.

“Are you okay about it?” Leila soothes in, and I turn to my girls and nod honestly, smiling happily. I am worth far more than any effort she ever put into my life, and I am surrounded by people who genuinely care, showing a real kind of love and affection, not some cold shadow of an attempt at it.

“Wait! Wait.” Sophie’s panicked voice is coming at us anxiously, and she appears, down the hall, looking a little flustered. Her dress is barely zipped up, and her hair is already working loose. She’s rushing down the hallway with Mrs. Huntsberger in tow, looking every bit like the wild teen she has become lately. The poor woman looks flustered and tired, chasing down that energetic girl and trying to bring calm to the chaos of the child she loves so much.

“That’s what we were doing.” Giovanni winks at her.

Leila and Sarah start fussing with her hair to calm the wildness that is Sophie nowadays. She is fast taking Leila’s place as the ‘wild child’ and is excelling at being more than a handful lately. Sometimes she’s exhausting, but we all love her dearly, and we all understand that this is Sophie’s way of dealing with her past, much like it had been Leila’s …

~Teenage girls!~

“Is that everyone?” Giovanni smiles at me, and I nod back at him, taking another steadying deep breath. Nerves overtaking me, not because I have doubts, but because this is the most important day of our lives and I am tingling with suppressed excitement. I am finally becoming a Carrero … Mrs. Emma Carrero. Jake’s wife. I can barely stand still with the urge to burst through the door and get to him now that we’re all assembled in the right positions. The girls take their places behind me; Sarah is fixing my veil at the back and fluffing my dress one last time; Leila handing me my simple, eloquent bouquet of lilies and beautiful tropical flowers, and I close my eyes to take a moment for myself.

With a deep breath, Giovanni opens the door that throws open my view to the sea of people who mean everything in the world to me. The room is fit to bursting with standing guests all waiting patiently, looking this way, and the immediate melody of music echoing toward us.

Christina Perri’s ‘A Thousand Years’ plays down the aisle, and I frown back at Leila with a half-smile on my face. It’s not a song I would’ve chosen myself.

“Sophie picked it,” Leila mutters, rolling her eyes. “She’s a ~Twilight~ fanatic, and we drew straws.” Leila and the others fought over the job of head bridesmaid almost ruthlessly in the run-up to this day, and drawing straws became commonplace for decisions. I let them squabble over who picked my wedding march song while I focused on my studies. They took away my wedding stress by organizing most of it between them.

“Nice … I suppose it fits.” I giggle at Sarah’s eye roll and the disapproving look she gives Sophie. Sophie just shrugs mischievously, a huge smile on her face.

The music drifting over me brings my attention back to the front. It stirs my emotions, and for the first time, I truly listen to the words of this beautiful song.

I take a deep breath and gesture to my future father-in-law that I am ready. Together, we begin to move forward. Slowly and surely, held safe in his gentle embrace, we walk down the aisle.

My beautiful girls follow closely behind us.