Seized Mafia Bride by Mae Doyle

Mia

I’m nervous. It’s been a week since Lorenzo proposed and now it’s actually all going to happen. There’s sweat on my palms and I want to wipe it on something, but the last thing that I’m going to do is wipe it on my dress. Turning, I look at myself from the side, then exhale hard, closing my eyes before looking again at my reflection.

“I promise you, this is real. It’s not all going to suddenly disappear, okay?” Natalia wraps her arms around my waist and hugs me from behind. “I felt the same kind of...shock, I guess? When I married Dane. Like the rug was going to be pulled out from under my feet at any second and I was going to get thrown back into the real world. But that’s not going to happen, Mia. This is the real world now, okay? Trust me.”

“It’s just too perfect.” I spin in her arms and take a step back so that I can get a look at her face while we talk. “I had no idea. He scared me so badly, Natalia, but now it’s like...hell, I don’t know.”

“Like we’re perfect and passionate and nobody will ever be able to come between the two of us?” Lorenzo’s voice wraps around me like a warm blanket and I gasp, turning to look at the door.

“You can’t see your bride on your wedding day!” Natalia screeches and steps in front of me, throwing her arms wide, but the damage is done.

I see the way Lorenzo’s eyes widen when he looks at me and how his breath kinda catches in his throat. As soon as we lock eyes I feel like I’m not wearing a wedding dress. I feel like I’m not wearing anything. It honestly feels like it’s just the two of us standing here, both of us barely able to handle being apart.

“Natalia,” my future husband growls, “step aside and let me see my wife.”

She rolls her eyes and pats me on the cheek before doing what he says. “You are incredible, Mia,” she tells me. “Trust me, it’s scary, but this is your life now. The bottom isn’t going to fall out. This is just how your life is.”

Both Lorenzo and I are silent as she sashays her way out of the room. I stare at him, my lips parted, barely able to breathe while I wait to hear what he has to say. He’s clad in a custom suit that makes him look like he just stepped off the runway in Paris. There’s something about him all dressed up so nice like this when I know all of the dirty things that he can do to me that makes my heart beat faster.

“You’re having doubts.”

I shake my head. “Not at all. I just don’t want you to be having doubts.” Hesitating, I clench my hands into fists at my sides to try to give me some internal strength to make it through what I’m about to say. “You are. You think that this is all a mistake and you wish that you could take me back to the club and leave me there.”

He doesn’t answer. Instead, he crosses the room to me and grabs me by the waist, pulling me forward so that I’m pressed up against his body. I feel his cock pressing into me and warmth radiates from his body while he looks at me.

“Lorenzo,” I say, “please, say something. Don’t leave me hanging.”

“I thought that we got all of those doubts out of your pretty little head,” he tells me, tapping me lightly on the temple. “How in the world are we going to do that?” He kisses me, his fingers under my chin to lift my face up to his. When he pulls back, my heart hammers in my chest as I think about pulling him back to me for another kiss.

“I just think that you—”

“If you say that I could do better, I will rip that dress off of you and fuck you right here, Natalia. You are everything to me. Everything. I want to build a life with you. We’re going to grow old together with lots of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren running around under foot.”

“And dogs?” I’ve always wanted a dog.

He chuckles. “And dogs,” he promises me, kissing me again. “Anything you want, you get. That’s the way this works. That’s how all of it works. Now, Mia, come marry me.”

Before I walk with him, I take his hand and kiss his knuckles, then give him a nod. He leads me out of the bedroom and down the hall. Sure, a lot of people might have wanted to get married in a huge church and show off their fancy new life, but that wasn’t what I wanted. It’s not who I am.

And Lorenzo not only understood that, but he encouraged me to choose where I wanted to get married. At first, I’d thought about the park. It seemed like it would be fun to get married outside by the lake, but I decided I wanted something more intimate, so we settled on the backyard.

It will be perfect.

Lorenzo kisses me once more in the living room then hands me over to Natalia, who links our arms together. “Are you excited?” She asks, leaning close to me so that she can keep her voice low.

I nod, my throat tight. I’m so excited, but also scared. Scared because nobody has ever loved me like Lorenzo before. Scared because I want to make sure that I do everything right for him. Scared because I’ve never been this happy.

Before I can voice any of these thoughts to her, the sound of a string quartet rises from outside, the notes sweet and happy, and she looks at me. “Shall we get you married?”

“Yes.” All of a sudden, all of the doubts and questions that had been on repeat in my brain are gone. I’m walking towards my future with Lorenzo and there isn’t anything in the world that can stop me. It’s the right thing to do, but more than that, it’s what I want to do.

I want this.

I want him.

I want the life we’re going to have together.

Natalia leads me to the double doors that open out onto the back deck. As soon as we appear, the music swells even louder. There’s a group of people here, all people that Lorenzo knows. When it came down to setting the guest list, I wasn’t surprised that there wasn’t a single person that I really wanted to invite.

Everyone who came is here for both of us, though. I see the Bonannos from up north, the cousins, their wives, and kids that Lorenzo introduce me to over dinner last night. They’re hysterical and their wives are so, so kind. Natalia promised me that the women would be kind to me, and she was right.

It was a relief. Having women around me, even ones that don’t live very close, makes me feel like I can actually do this. Like this is a smart move, like I’m choosing the right thing by choosing Lorenzo.

Lorenzo. Even though he just saw me in my dress, he’s staring at me like he’s never seen anything like me before. I notice the softness around his eyes, the way they widen just a bit when he sees me, and a flush runs through my body. Never in my life have I had this effect on someone before, and I can’t believe that someone like Lorenzo really wants me.

“You look amazing. You’re going to be so happy.” Natalia kisses my cheek and places my hand in Lorenzo’s.

As soon as we touch, the entire world seems to stand still. Everything falls away from the two of us and I stare at him, my mouth parted slightly, my body on high alert. I know what it feels like to be touched and loved by this man, and now I’m going to get to know what it’s like to marry him.

The pastor starts talking but I don’t hear him at first. I’m lost in Lorenzo’s eyes, and he can’t stop staring at me. I hear the pastor’s words winding around us, binding us together as husband and wife, but it’s hard to focus on them when my future husband is looking at me like he’s never seen anything so gorgeous before.

“I love you,” I whisper, not even caring that we’re not saying our vows. Lorenzo grins and lifts my fingers to his lips, kissing them lightly. Just then the pastor clears his throat and Lorenzo takes a breath.

“Mia, you are perfect. You’re funny, smart, sassy, and you have an incredible ass.” There’s a chuckle from the crowd but I don’t turn to look at them. “When you came into my life I needed something. I didn’t know that the thing I needed was you, but now that you’re here, I’m always going to protect you. Being your husband is going to be the greatest adventure of my life, and I can’t wait to see how we build our life together.”

It’s my turn. His words are like a buoy I’m gripping tightly to keep from going under the water. “You saved me,” I say, finally unsticking my tongue from the roof of my mouth. “So many times. Over and over again you save me and tell me that I am more than enough for you even though I had trouble believing it at first.” I’m speaking so quietly that I’m not sure if anyone other than Lorenzo can hear me, but I don’t care about that. My words are for him.

“You showed me this intense love that I never knew was possible. A love that I didn’t think I was worthy of, but I get it now. I feel your love move through me in everything that you do for me. I get it, Lorenzo. I get you. I love you.”

We stare at each other. I’m gripping his fingers so tightly that when the pastor holds up our rings to give each other I have to focus on making myself let go of his hand. He slips my band on first, then I do the same to him, staring at the simple gold band that winks up at me from his hand.

“I’m proud to introduce Lorenzo and Mia Accardi!” The pastor touches our shoulders, turning us so that we’re both looking out at the people watching.

They’re all leaning forward on their lawn chairs like they can’t get enough of what’s happening. I see a tear run down Natalia’s cheek and she blows me a kiss before I turn back to my husband.

My husband.

“Mrs. Accardi,” he says, leaning down to give me a kiss on the cheek. “Are you hungry? I hope that you brought your appetite and your dancing shoes.”

“You dance?” I just married this man and there are still so many surprises that he has tucked away. I can’t wait to learn everything that there is to know about him. I want to know what makes him tick, what I can do to make him happy when he has a bad day. How to help him relax when he’s exhausted.

But right now I just want to celebrate being his wife.

“Oh, I’m an incredible dancer,” he tells me. “Just you wait.”