“I love you. I love you so much.”
He claimed her lips as he took her. His strokes were deep and hard, but she sensed him holding back.
“You won’t hurt me,” she said.
“I know. I have no intention of ever hurting you.”
He kissed her harder, and his thrusts started to lose control, stroking to the hilt, touching a part of her that had her moaning his name and arching up, not wanting him to stop.
Over and over he stroked that spot, and as she came, Diego followed her, swallowing her cries as he filled her with his cum. Not once did he let her go. He surrounded her, and there was no doubt in her mind, she was safe with him.
Loved and protected.
Exactly what she always wanted.
Chapter Eighteen
“I could hide you,” James said.
Belle smiled. “I don’t want to run and hide.”
It was her wedding day. She was in her room with James and Charlotte. The two people she was close to, not as close as she was with Diego, but he couldn’t be here. He couldn’t see her.
“You look so beautiful. The most amazing bride in the world,” Charlotte said.
“Yes, and she would still look the most beautiful bride if I ran off with her,” her father said.
Charlotte chuckled. “It would make you Diego’s enemy.”
“He’s my enemy.”
“Dad, you like him. Stop trying to pretend that you don’t.”
“I need to go and grab a couple of roses from the spares. I’ll be back,” Charlotte said, kissing her cheek.
The door closed, and she heard her father laughing.
“What?”
“Only you’d be the kind of person to befriend the ex.”
“Charlotte wasn’t really his ex. They were being forced into this.”
“And you’re not?”
She and Diego had told her father that she was pregnant. There were a few times leading up to this day that she wasn’t entirely sure if he was happy with the news or not.
“No, Dad, I’m not being forced.” She placed a hand on her stomach. “I’m marrying Diego Leoni because I love him. You always told me that once I found the one that no matter what, I would know the truth. I would know what true love feels like, and I know it does when I’m with him. It’s exactly how you describe your time with Mom. How the two of you met. All of it.”
“Belle, you know what he does.”
“I know.”
“That doesn’t bother you?”
“I … no. He does what he has to do, but I know in my heart that he loves me for me. I can’t ask for more than that. I fell in love with a man in the mafia.” She shrugged. “I’m not going to change him.”
“You fell in love with a persona.”
“No. Diego wasn’t pretending to be someone else, Dad. He simply kept the real life he has from me. He’s no different with me. He loves me, and I love him. I hope you can accept that.”
“I do accept that. I just always need to know that my baby girl is alert about this. That she knows what is coming, regardless.”
“I know that with Diego, it doesn’t matter what is coming. I will always have him.”
“I’m back,” Charlotte said. “Some of your roses have wilted, and we don’t want you walking down the aisle with the wrong kind of bouquet.”
Her father wrapped his arms around her. “I love you, Belle. Always. It’s my job to take care of you.”
She rested her head against his shoulder. “I know, and I love you. But you’ve got to know I’m making the right choice for me. Not for anyone else. I love Diego more than anything. This wedding is because we are in love. He’s not being forced into anything. This is what we want.”
****
“I could cause a distraction and get you to run away,” Richard said. He whispered the words, and Diego frowned toward his not-friend, who had somehow made it as his best man.
“What?”
“You know, I’m giving you an out. I could scream there’s a fire.”
“There’s not a fire.”
“Exactly. I cause a distraction and you run like fucking crazy.”
“Richard, you’re fucking crazy. I’m not being held here at gunpoint.”
“The Boss wanted a wedding, and you’re here. I’d say that’s close to being held at gunpoint.”
“Okay, if I was with Charlotte, I’d be held at gunpoint because I have no desire to marry her. With Belle, that is entirely different.”
“Why is it?”
“I love her where I don’t love Charlotte. Today is a win for me.”
“It is?”
“Yes, and I will shoot you, and send you off to the emergency room to pick a better man than this. The best man is not supposed to offer me an out on my own wedding.”
“Actually, the best man is supposed to do all of this for you. I checked. You wouldn’t allow me to hire a stripper for your bachelor party.”
“Richard, I’m in love with the best woman there is. I don’t want nor do I need to see another woman’s tits.” He was happy, more than happy with Belle. She was his world.