XOXO (The Calvettis of New York 3)

With my heart pounding in my chest, I keep thumbing through the pages until I reach the spot where a piece of paper has been shoved between the last two pages.

I yank it out.

I unfold it slowly.

I can’t fight back more tears as I read what’s written in masculine handwriting. It’s the same handwriting I’ve become familiar with since I see it all the time.

Dominick wrote this.

My To-Do List

Live in NYC! My home. The place I belong with my love.

Live in an apartment that’s filled with fresh red and pink roses!

Dance in the rain again and again. Splash my feet. Sing along to the music!

Adopt a dog named DICK!

Be kissed by Arietta every fucking day of my life.

Fall in love! Deeply. Passionately. Forever. WITH ARIETTA!

Propose to Arietta on the roof in the rain.

Get married to Arietta in the fall with the leaves turning colors.

Have a baby...or two. Maybe 3... or 4?

Never stop smiling because I’m the luckiest man in the world.

With trembling hands, and a face full of fallen tears, I sob aloud.

“Arietta?”

I spin around when I hear his voice behind me. “Dominick.”

He’s wearing the suit and tie that I love. I tripped over my feet the first time that I saw him in it.

“Come with me.” He holds out his hand. “Come home with me.”

Nodding, I take a step toward him, worried that my legs won’t support me because they’re shaking so hard. “Hold my hand.”

“That would be my honor,” he says as he reaches for me. “I like this place.”

I look up and into his face. “Me too.”

“I guess you know that I saw your to-do list.” He chuckles. “My sole goal in life is to make all of that a reality.”

“Everything on your list too?”

Scooping an arm around my waist, he leads me to the door. “Yes. That starts with the surprise I have waiting for you at our apartment.”

I stop. “Our apartment?”

His response is a soft kiss on my mouth before he ushers me out the door and into the back seat of a waiting car.

Chapter 58

Dominick

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but the look on Arietta’s face is priceless.

I brought her into the apartment with the promise that I’d let her open her eyes as soon as we crossed the threshold.

I wanted to carry her over it like a bride, but that will come.

When the time is right, I’ll drop to a knee on the roof and ask her to marry me.

Today, I want something just as monumental from her. I want her to move in with me.

She stares at me before her gaze wanders the perimeter of the living room. Her hand jumps to her mouth.

“Dominick,” she says my name breathlessly.

I’m tempted to whip out my phone to capture this moment in time in photographic form, but I won’t.

I know I’ll never forget her expression as she takes in the thousands of red and pink roses gathered together in bouquets in vintage vases set around this room.

I supplied most of the vases. I found the majority at Past Over earlier when I stopped there after I played catch with my dad.

Lynn had boxes and boxes of vases packed in her storeroom.

Sinclair offered to come to help me pick some out when I called her to tell her my plan. She brought a few vases, and the others were treasures Athena had at her floral shop.

I needed to give Athena the extra time to set up the flowers, so I took the poetry book Sinclair brought me to Past Over right before Arietta was supposed to arrive. I set it on that table, and then I watched the love of my life read my life to-do list.

It’s heavily focused on her, but fuck, that’s what I want.

She’s all I want.

I step into Arietta’s sightline. “Live here with me.”

Her gaze trails over my face, landing on my lips. “What?”

I lean closer. “I want you to move in with me. I want to wake up every day next to you and fall asleep wrapped around you. I want to adopt a dog named Dick. We’ll take him for walks after I cook dinner for you. He can watch us dance in the rain on the roof.”

She studies me as she takes in each word. Her voice comes out in a trembling whisper. “When, Dominick?”

“Now.”

“I’m...it’s... so much has...” she stumbles her way through that.

“If you need me to sign something that promises my heart to you forever, I can have a pen in my hand in the next five seconds.” I cup my hands over her cheeks. “I want to protect you and love you. I want to watch you become the woman you want to be.”

“I want to be with you,” she whispers.

“Sinclair can have your stuff packed up in an hour.” I chuckle. “She’s not eager to see you go, but she told me she wants you to be happy.”