On The Ropes (Tapped Out 3)

I frowned as Gio kneeled before me. The only time I saw him in that position was when he was praying—or uh, serving at the altar of me. And my thighs definitely were not open at this time.

Then the lightbulb flashed in my mind and I covered my mouth. “You’re not…oh boy, yes, you are,” I said as he popped open a navy blue jeweler’s box and showed me a baseball-sized diamond.

It really wasn’t the size of a baseball. Maybe a golf ball. But my hands weren’t big, and compared to them, that was some freaking rock.

Compared to anything, that was some freaking rock.

“Yes.” I held out my hand.

Gio started to laugh. God, I loved that sound. “I didn’t ask yet.”

“No need. We can expedite this. Yes, I’ll marry you, yes, I’ll wear that gorgeous ring, and yes, I’m so going to climb up that stepladder the minute all of you turn your back.” I grinned. “Now gimme. Please.”

He slipped the ring on my finger, and it fit perfectly, even accounting for swelling. I wasn’t the least bit surprised. The guy had a way about him. When he set out to do something, he always nailed it one hundred percent.

He nailed me pretty often too, especially when the second trimester had kicked in. Hoo boy.

“Thank you,” he whispered, rising and drawing me into his arms. We didn’t quite embrace like we once had, considering the belly, but it was still the best hug I’d ever had in my life. “Thank you for giving me the honor of becoming my wife.”

“No problem.” When Fox snorted behind him, I tried to backtrack. Lately, the always dubious filter on my mouth had been completely missing. I blamed hormones, and possibly an alien abduction. “Um, I mean, thank you also, and when can we get married?”

“Anytime you want. Dante said he’d fly back whenever we needed him to.” Gio’s brows lowered. “If you want him there. Your call.”

Dante hadn’t yet managed to extricate himself from the mob life, unlike Gio. From what I could tell, Dante wasn’t even trying. He enjoyed the women and the power and, oh, the women. Now that he was in line to take over his father’s place, he spent more time on the west coast and less in New York, which meant he was probably getting even deeper into the roots of the organization in Vegas, their hometown.

I didn’t want those kinds of people swarming around us—or my kid—but Dante was Gio’s brother, and I owed him my life. I also knew that the reason Gio had been able to walk away from the mob was probably due in large part to Dante’s influence behind the scenes, both with his father’s former crew and the Andrettis, who realized taking a shot at Gio would now risk the ire of his brother and his men.

Right now, everything was good. Gio was out of the life. But we simply didn’t know if the allegiances—and enemies—he’d made in the past would come back to haunt him in the future

. And we couldn’t worry about it too much either, because today was too precious to waste.

“Of course I want Dante there.” I pressed a kiss to the dark thatch of hair peeking out of the open vee of Gio’s shirt. “As long as I’m getting married to you, I don’t care who else is there.”

“He’s not going to be my best man.” Gio stepped back to point at Fox. “That one is. Even if he’s still a pussy who won’t fight me again, fair and square.”

“Same dance, different day. Stop your whining.” Fox grinned and moved closer to kiss me on top of my head. “Congratulations, lovely lady.”

“Thank you. What, no more squirt?”

“Nah. I’m saving squirt for this one now.” He gave my belly a quick pat and returned to my sister’s side. My sister, who had suspiciously bright eyes.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re really getting married.” She bundled me up in a huge hug and we dance-rocked back and forth, sniffling, as we had since the beginning of time when something amazing happened. Or awful. We pretty much always cried and dance-rocked. “I’m going to be your maid-of-honor, right?”

“Well, duh. You have that on lock.” I grinned up at her and tapped her nose. “Though you know, you could always make that matron of honor,” I teased, glancing over at Fox.

“Funny you should mention that,” he began.

Mia’s eyes went wide. “Uh, I gotta go outside. Because it’s hot in here, and I’m feeling faint. And oh, yeah, the books downstairs. Those really need shelving. Congratulations, love you, see you!” She bolted out the door and down the stairs so fast that Fox and Gio nearly busted their guts laughing.

I just smiled. “You’re softening her up. Keep working at it, Fox.”

“Oh, I intend to. I picked up something when I went ring shopping with this jerk.” Fox took a black ring box out of his pocket and just as quickly tucked it away again. “Just waiting for the right time. Hopefully, it’ll be before we’re both in walkers.”

“Aww, that’s awesome.” I rushed over to hug him again. “I’m so excited for you. Maybe if you make it happen, even Slater will come.”

The mention of Slater’s name made the amusement fade from Fox’s eyes. Slater wasn’t any more of a fixture in his life now than he’d been six months ago after the whole Olivia thing had blown up, and I knew he still missed his best friend a lot. We all did.

“Yeah, maybe,” he said quietly, glancing out the door. “I’m going to go make sure your sister isn’t breaking things downstairs out of sheer panic.” He grinned at me, then at Gio. “Congrats again. I’m really happy for you two.”