*Elio*
For the first ti since the bomb Cat dropped and unintentionally blew up our lives for a brief mont, I did understand where she was coming from. Her doubts and worries were all caused by one thing, I was sure of it.
Or one person, rather–Junior was the root of all of this. If he wasn’t taunting her, threatening her, she wouldn’t be so afraid. He was being a weasel, hiding out like a little bitch because he knew once he showed his face, he was a dead man.
And he would be a dead man.
I knew that once Cat saw that I’d gotten rid of the root of her fear, maybe then she would forget all of this nonsense of leaving the mafia, once she felt safe again. Although, she did ntion that there had been monster after monster coming after us. In her mind, even once I killed Junior, I could only assu she would always be expecting a new monster to reveal themselves.
I sympathized with her, I did, but I tried to picture my life outside of the mafia, away from it all, and it looked empty. It felt empty.
I loved my girls so much, but who was I if I was not the Don? I could and I always would protect both of my girls. She must have known that by now. I’d slayed every monster for her, for us. I wouldn’t ever let anyone touch her, or Emilia.
I supposed it was just this particular monster that had her curled up in a ball of fear. It was too personal for her. The threats he had made to her continued to eat away at her, keeping her from sleeping, designing these wishes to leave our life we built.
It was a life I’d worked so hard to be successful in. I just couldn’t imagine leaving it now, or ever, if I were being honest. But for Cat’s sake, for her sanity, I knew I must put a little truth in what I had said to her earlier about leaving if it got too dangerous. The last thing I wanted was for the mafia to co in between Cat and .
Shaking all of these heavy thoughts from my head, I bent down to turn the shower off. I hadn’t been paying attention to how hot the water had beco, resulting in my skin turning a deep red.
I stared at myself in the lightly fogged mirror, my eyes looking a little too serious. I closed them, trying to soften my features and calm myself enough before walking out to Cat.
I reminded myself that nothing in this mont mattered except Cat’s happiness. I had a surprise for her today and I wanted everything to go as planned so she could forget about everything back ho for a while, at least.
“Hello, beautiful,” I greeted my soon-to-be wife.
“I thought you’d drown.” She chuckled, taking a bite of a banana.
“Was I in there that long?” I planted a kiss on her forehead before stealing a bite of her banana.
“Hey!” She had swatted my face away.
“Are you ready for your surprise, my love?” I asked her, trying not to spill the biggest surprise of today’s events.
“I am, but I wasn’t sure what I should wear.” She looked down at the clothes she had chosen for the day.
Cat was wearing mid-length, light blue, cut-off jean shorts, a white tank top with a light grey oversized button-up long-sleeve shirt that draped over her with the buttons undone, and brown leather sandals. She looked cute and sexy. I couldn’t help but scoop her up into my arms and nibble on her neck.
“You look perfect,” I whispered into her ear.
I could feel her face turning into a smile. “Then, I guess I am ready.”
I brought my lips to hers, pressing gently. I wanted her to feel safe and loved. “Let’s go.”
It was about a twenty-minute drive to the docks. When we arrived, Cat began to beam at the boat that was quite obviously waiting for us.
“Are we going on a boat?!”
“We are,” I replied, feeling quite pleased with myself. “Do you approve?”
“Of course! What are we waiting for?” She kissed hurriedly before jumping out of the car.
The captain was waiting for us near the entrance of the large boat. He removed his captain’s hat and tilted his head in our direction before greeting us.
“It’s very good to et you in person, Elio,” he said, holding his hand out.
I accepted his invitation to shake his hand. “Sa to you, sir.”
“This must be your lovely wife.” He did a slight neck bow in her direction.
Cat’s face lit up at the sound of him calling her my wife.
“Almost,” she replied, wrapping her arm around my bicep.
I leaned over to kiss her temple. “Less than a month now and she will officially be my wife.”
“Congratulations! That is very exciting.” He smiled. “Shall we climb aboard and get out on the water?”
The captain gestured for us to walk along the gangway before walking along behind us. I nodded toward the n aboard who were dressed in black suits. I wanted Cat to feel safe, so I’d made sure we had a handful of my n aboard the boat with us. I also had n sprinkled around the entire town, just to be sure.
Cat noticed the n, but she didn’t show any type of emotion or reaction to them. And if I wanted this day to continue to be amazing, I wasn’t going to ask her how she felt about them being there, just in case.
We took our seats near the edge of the boat on the black leather cushions. I wanted her to be able to see the water perfectly. She had no idea what she was about to see, and I couldn’t wait to see her face.
A man dressed in a waiter’s uniform brought us a platter of food and two glasses of white wine. The platter was packed with fruit, about a dozen different types of cheeses and hummus, and crackers as well as small slices of bread.
“Wow. Did you do all of this?” Cat asked, looking surprised.
“Maybe.” I smiled as I brought the back of her hand to my lips.
“This is amazing, Elio. Thank you,” she replied, staring into my eyes.
“Anything for you, Cat.” I wrapped my arm around her.
Her expression changed slightly, and I realized the wording I had just chosen to use. I quickly moved on, feeding her a grape, hoping whatever thought that had just entered her mind would fade quickly.
After about thirty minutes, the platter was almost empty and we had already drank two glasses of wine each. Suddenly, Cat jumped to her feet, pointing at a large whale that had just breached.
“Elio, look! How beautiful!” Her smile was wide.
I stood up and hugged her from behind. “I thought you might like it.”
She turned her head slightly. “Did you plan this as well?”
“I did. This isn’t just a private boat ride. It’s more of a whale-watching tour.” I smiled, absorbing her happiness.
“Oh, Elio.” She turned her whole body around to face . “Thank you so much. I love this.”
She pressed her lips against mine, adding more pressure than our kisses from earlier. She was so happy. And I couldn’t help but smile beneath our kiss. Her being happy made truly happy, and I wanted to keep her smiling for the rest of our lives, no matter what.
I brought her back down onto the soft leather cushions and placed her between my legs, her back leaning against my torso. I wrapped my arms around her as we scanned the water for more whales. I kissed the top of her head often, living in this mont with her, a mont I found myself not wanting to end.
Although, I did have another surprise for her once we got back to land. After a while, I signaled to the captain to turn us around and begin our journey back to the docks. I wanted to get back to the beach house to change into sothing a little fancier before sunset.
On our way back to the docks, we spotted four more whales and a bunch of dolphins. Cat was equally as excited to see the dolphins as she was the whales. I had to admit, it was beautiful seeing them swimming in front of the boat.
Hand in hand, I led Cat to the car, opening the door for her. I climbed in beside her, not letting go of her hand once, and signaled to the driver to head out.
Cat rested her head on my shoulder and sighed. “I can’t believe you did all of that for . It was amazing. Emilia would have loved to see the whales and dolphins. We should bring her back here soti.”
“That sounds like a great idea. Can you imagine seeing her little face light up just like yours did?” I replied, picturing my daughter’s cute little face.
Cat smiled. “Ugh, it would lt my heart, to be honest.”
“Mine too,” I agreed, kissing her forehead.
When we arrived back at the beach house, I told Cat to pick any dress she wanted and to et outside when she was ready. She gave a playful glare and kiss before obeying .
I wanted to eat her up right then and there. I took a breath, telling myself dinner first, then dessert later.
I quickly changed into a suit I had hidden in the closet, splashed so water on my face, and freshened up a bit. When I walked outside, I was pleased by the setup I saw in front of .
There was a white wrought iron table with two chairs to match settled into the sand on our private beach. Tiki torches were placed here and there around the table and the patio. It looked perfect. Cat was going to love it.
A few monts later, Cat walked out onto the patio, her face lighting up once again. I quickly t her, taking her hand in mine.
“How about so dinner, my love?”
“Elio, this is beautiful. Dinner on the beach? My heart is exploding right now,” she confessed, pulling into a hug.
“Exactly what I was going for,” I teased, kissing her lips.
I led her to the table and a few short monts later, dinner was brought out to us. As we talked, ate really good food, and drank a couple of glasses of red wine, I finally felt like we were getting back to ourselves.
That in itself brought out the best in . I was still feeling uneasy about where her head was regarding the mafia, but I knew we would face things together. We always would.
After our third glass of wine, we were both feeling a bit tipsy as I pulled her to her feet. The sun had gone down gracefully, leaving us with sparkling stars above our heads. I pulled her body close to mine, moving our hips in sync with one another.
“There’s no music, Elio,” she whispered, giggling.
“We don’t need music.” I nibbled on her earlobe as I kept our intimate dance swaying.
“This was such a perfect day,” she breathed, staring into my eyes like she wanted to thank properly.
“I will do everything in my power to make all of your days perfect,” I whispered into her ear in a low voice.
She let her head lean against the side of mine before I took her face in both of my hands, pressing my lips to hers. She pulled closer, as if we could have gotten any closer. I parted her lips with mine, slipping my tongue inside her mouth. Cat let out a quiet moan, letting know she wanted more.
Without another thought, I picked her up in my arms and carried her inside. Hoping to have a repeat of the night before, I took her right into the bedroom.
I was ready for my dessert, and I thought she was too.
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