Saved Mafia Bride by Mae Doyle
Gavin
My tux fits perfectly. My two brothers look amazing, the three of us ready to be on the cover of any magazine, but all I care about is the woman I know is in the next room over. Clara’s in there, getting dressed with the help of the Accardi wives, but I want to kick everyone else out and say my vows to her on my knees.
“You look great,” Sean tells me, giving me a nod. “You ready for this?”
“More ready than you’ll ever know. This is it, you guys. She’s all that I want, all that I need. I’m going to make this official and then nobody will ever be able to look at her again. She’ll be mine forever and I’m going to give her all of the babies that she wants.”
“Babies are great,” Sean says, with a nod. “Trust me.”
As if on cue, Freddy checks his watch and taps it twice. He’s the stickler for time and is always making sure that the three of us aren’t late, no matter where we’re going. It’s something that has always driven me nuts, but I respect it more now that we’re older and have to be on time.
“You need to get your ass in gear and get up there if you don’t want Clara to think that you pulled a runner,” he says, walking over to me and grabbing me by the shoulder to guide me to the door. “Can you imagine how pissed she’d be?”
I shake my head, laughing. “She’d hunt me down and kill me. There wouldn’t be any mercy.”
“That’s why we like her,” Sean says. He’s about to say something else when Sara comes running down the hall, her flower girl dress flowing out behind her.
“Daddy!” She squeals, and he picks her up, swinging her around before putting her back down. “You better get up there soon. Clara’s excited.”
“Good. I’m excited.” Sean slipped his hand into hers and let her pull him down the hall. For a moment, I felt stuck in place and I just watched them go, thinking about how amazing it would be to have a little girl pull me by the hand just like that.
“It’ll happen,” Freddy says, reading my mind. “But you won’t be alive to enjoy it if you don’t move it. Let’s get you married, brother, and then you and Clara can practice making babies all you want.”
I laugh and walk down the hall. Clara really wanted to get married in a church, and all I knew is that I wanted to marry her, so I didn’t care where we did it. It didn’t take long for her to find this small chapel on the outskirts of town, and after I made one quick phone call, it was ours.
I know that the Accardis are all here. The brothers and their wives were over last night to celebrate with us one more time before the wedding. The Bonannos couldn’t make it, and I’m disappointed by that, but I get it.
We all have our own things to deal with.
Before I can walk in the sanctuary to take my place, Freddy stops me, grabbing my arm. “Look at what the cat drug in,” he says, pointing.
I turn, then break into a grin when Salvatore, Trevor, and Marcelo all walk up to us. “I thought you three weren’t going to make it,” I say, shaking each of their hands.
“It’s just us,” Trevor says. “No wives, no kids. We have some business in Texas and thought that we’d stop in here first to see you get hitched. We love a good wedding.”
“Congrats,” Salvatore says, clapping me on the back. “I’m sorry that we can’t hang out after the ceremony, but we wanted to see if you were really going to make it down the aisle.”
I laugh and then Marcelo steps up, handing me an envelope. “I’m sure that you don’t really need this, but it’s for later.”
“Thank you,” I say, slipping it into my jacket’s inside pocket. Then, as quickly as they appeared, they file into the church, the three of them sitting in the back so that they can sneak out if needed.
“That’s great that they came,” Freddy says, and I nod. “We need these relationships, and we need to make sure that they’re strong in case we have to rely on them again.”
“We can talk about it later,” I say, walking through the door. “Right now I want to marry the woman I love.”
Freddy and Sean join me at the front of the church and I keep my eyes locked on the back of the aisle where Clara will be coming through. The music swells, filling the small chapel. Light flows in from outside, hitting all of the stained glass and throwing beautiful colors throughout the room.
Sara starts down the aisle, tossing flower petals to the right and the left as she works her way closer to us. I feel Sean stiffen and I risk a glance at his face, not surprised to see how happy he looks. She’s his world, and although she changed everything when she first made her entrance, I have no idea that he’ll always be her rock.
When she finishes, she flounces over to the front pew and sits down, snuggling up against Mia. Lorenzo’s wife loops her arm around Sara’s shoulder and leans down to whisper in her ear, making the little girl go pink with happiness.
This is perfect. The only thing missing is Clara, but in that moment she appears, dressed in a white gown that makes her look more like an angel than anything else.
I swear, I can’t breathe. She walks towards me and everything falls away. She’s the only thing that I can see, and my eyes lock on her face. Her huge grin and the way she can’t seem to look away from me tells me that she feels the same way about me.
“You’re gorgeous,” I tell her, taking her hands and giving them a little squeeze when she reaches me. “You’re everything, Clara. All that I want. My life, my heart.”
She laughs, the sound loud enough for everyone to hear. “Save it for the vows, Gavin,” she teases.
The priest talks and I listen but I can’t tear my eyes away from Clara. I swear, I could look at her all day long and never grow tired of it. I want to drink her in and eat her up. She’s the air that I breathe, the only thing making my heart pump every beat.
And when it’s time, I tell her all of that. “You have no idea how I felt when I saw you,” I tell her. “How consumed I became with you. I’ll support you and love you, protect you and worship you. You surround me and fill me, Clara. You complete me.”
Her hand shakes a little as she puts my ring on my finger.
Finally, it’s Clara’s turn. Her eyes glisten but she manages to hold back the tears. When it’s her turn to speak she swallows hard then finally finds her voice. “Gavin. I’ve been running my entire life, always looking for my home. Always looking for where I would be safe and where I could be protected. I thought that home was a place, thought it was a destination. But I was wrong. You are my home. I found it in you and never want to leave it.” She takes a shuddering breath. “You gave me a safe place, but still gave me room to grow. I love you.”
“Fuck, I love you.” Some people giggle and Sara claps her hands over her mouth in shock at what I just said, but I don’t care. The priest hasn’t told us what to do, but I know. I kiss her, then pull back long enough to slip her ring on her finger before kissing her again. Her mouth opens under mine and I shiver when I feel her reach up and rake her fingers through my hair. My wife is undeniably sexy and I want to spend the rest of my life kissing her, but there are a few things that we have to do first.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the priest says, a little late to the party. “I’m happy to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Gavin Marleno!” He takes us each by the shoulder and turns us so that we’re looking out at all of our family and friends.
I’m sure that Clara notices that most of the people here are only here because I know who they are, but she doesn’t look sad. She’s grinning, squeezing my hand so hard that I think my fingers are about to fall off, and turns to me, smiling harder than I’ve ever seen before.
“I want cake,” she tells me, pulling me away from the altar. “I want cake and then I want to tell you the good news, and then I want to start making babies with you. You promised me babies, Gavin, don’t forget.”
Good news?
“Oh, I couldn’t.” I grin at her and let her pull me down the aisle. When we reach the back, I nod to the Bonannos, who each give me a smile and then slip out behind me. I have no idea where they’re going or what they’re up to, but I don’t really care right now.
All I care about is my wife and making sure that she understands just how much she belongs to me and the family.
