Beast I Can’t Tame by L.K. Shaw
Chapter 31
Francesca
Time has been crazy.Some days it feels like I’m still lying in bed with Giovanni after the first night we made love. Other days, I have to stop and catch my breath before the tears start to fall. We’re both doing our best to get by. News has spread throughout the syndicate about what my mother did. About her exile.
I’m still trying to process it.
“Good morning.” Gio comes up behind me and presses a kiss to the top of my head. “What are you working on?”
I tilt my head back to stare up at him and he drops another kiss to my lips. I turn in my chair, and he perches on the edge of my desk, leaning and twisting at his waist to look at my computer screen.
“Just going through the shots I took the other day and working on edits.” I finally let Giovanni see all the pictures I’ve taken over the last four months. Even the ones before I started my class with Professor Ortiz. After everything that has happened, hiding them from him seems foolish.
“Do you have a deadline, or can you take a break for a little while?” he asks.
“Nothing’s urgent. Is everything okay?”
Gio smiles, although lately, none of them are as wide as they used to be. They will be again, though. It’ll just take time.
“Let’s go for a ride.”
I send him a questioning glance, but get up from my chair and grab my purse from the entryway table. Gio leads me out to the car, opening my door for me, and then we head down the road.
“Can I ask where we’re going?” It’s not like him to be this cryptic. Then again he’s changed over the last couple weeks. I miss his easy-going demeanor. He’s much more somber these days.
“It’s a surprise,” he says, his voice a lot more animated than it has been. It gives me hope that things will get better.
The closer we get to our destination, the more familiar the area becomes. I glance over at Gio again, but he just sends me another small smile and keeps driving. He pulls into the parking garage, parks, and once I’m out of the vehicle, he threads his fingers through mine. Hand-in-hand we walk down the sloped cement of the garage and out into the bright sunlight shining down on one of my favorite places, Fort Greene Park.
We haven’t been back since the day he told me about his life growing up. I’m not sure if it’s intentional. But we stride down the sidewalk, rambling through the winding paths, dodging bicyclists and runners, until we get to the center monument.
The flowers are in full bloom, and the colors pop with all the greenery and reminds me why I love coming here so much. The bench I’ve come to think of as ours is empty, and Giovanni guides me to it. I sit practically on top of him, and lay my head on his shoulder. It’s so peaceful here, despite the people ambling around. I’m not sure what my surprise is, but I’ll wait until he’s ready to give it to me.
“Growing up, I always wanted to be somebody else. Live someone else’s life other than my own,” he begins, his voice soft and quiet. “Then I managed to get a meeting with Mr. Bianchi. I knew he worked for the organization, and I’d learned about the brotherhood of it. It was a family. Something I desperately wanted. I told myself that one day, I was going to be someone.”
It’s a familiar story, and one I know means so much to Gio. That sense of belonging.
“When Sal hired me to be his driver, I knew my life was going to change. I just never knew how much until the day this gorgeous woman walked into it. Every day since that moment has only gotten better,” he says firmly. “Terrible shit has happened, but when I go to sleep at night, she’s—you’re—still the best thing to ever happen to me.”
Gio shifts, and I lift my head. He slides off the bench and onto one knee on the ground in front of me, his fingers of one hand threaded through mine while he reaches into his pocket with the other. My heart races, and I suck in a sharp breath. I can’t control the trembling in my fingers.
He pulls out a small satin box, and stares up at me. Tears well in my eyes. Giovanni opens it, revealing the emerald cut diamond engagement ring inside.
“Francesca,” he begins. “You’re my best friend. The woman I love waking up to every morning. The woman I know I can share everything with. Including the rest of my life. I can’t imagine another day without you in it. I want to spend all of them with you. I want to have children with you. And I want to grow old with you. Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” I nod frantically. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Gio slides the ring onto my finger, and I clutch his face between my hands, kissing him for all I’m worth. Clapping and whistling surround us, and I release my hold on him with a laugh. People all around us are smiling and continue celebrating a second longer before they all go back to their lives, leaving us to our own personal moment. Giovanni returns to the bench next to me, and wraps a comforting arm around my shoulder. I can’t stop looking at my ring, and how it sparkles in the sunlight. It’s the most beautiful thing in the world. Next to the man seated at my side.
I tip my chin up to face him, and our eyes meet, love shining from his. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
We remain sitting there, enjoying each other. I finally found the man of my dreams. The one who looks at me like Jacob looks at Brenna and Pierce looks at Mila. Everything I’ve ever wanted is right here. No one will ever take that away from me.
