“But what about Jovanni?”
“Jovanni's place is to do as I tell him. I won't hand my precious sister over to someone I know won't make her happy. I made a mistake, I was wrong, but I'm righting that wrong, little sister. I love you, and I want you and your baby happy and safe. That's all I ever wanted.”
I knew that, in my heart, I knew. It's all Draven has ever done, keep me safe and happy and love me more than a brother, a lot like a father.
“Is this real?” I ask my brother. However, I'm looking at Jett. He's standing there looking so smart in his gray suit and silver tie, and his hair is slicked back, his face free from stubble, and he looks so handsome I can hardly breathe.
“As real as you and me, principessa. All I want is for you to be happy, and if Jett makes you happy, then who am I to stand in your way?”
“But what about the council, the elders?”
“Don't you worry about that. You are my only concern, Maria, not what a couple of old farts may think or say.”
“But what if they want to put Jett through loyalty tests?” Like they tried with Hammer. It didn't happen, Draven wouldn't allow it. He won't let anyone do anything to his little brother. He didn't allow them to put Ghost through those tests either, probably because Draven had already beaten the hell out of him. Ghost proved he was loyal when he handed himself over to my brother, and he proved himself again when he married Avery. The elders weren't happy at all, but it was my brothers call. He'll do what he wants, no matter what it might cost him. Those tests are brutal, and even though I know how strong Jett is, these tests have broken bigger men. It's nothing but torture tactics. Tests of loyalty that will either make you or break you. My brother's men love to break people.
“Sweetheart, don't worry about anything other than getting married right now, nothing is going to happen to him. I know you love Jett, I see it in your eyes. I know he loves you, too. So go get married and be happy, Maria.”
I don't answer him, I launch myself at him, my arms around his neck. “Thank you so much!” I sob with happiness down his ear.
“Go get married, cura l'orso. Your man is waiting.”
I kiss his cheek one last time and then turn to face Jett. The man I'm about to marry! Oh, god! I feel like squealing and jumping up and down all at the same time! I grab Jett's hand and squeeze it tightly, he winks at me, and it's all go.
The ceremony I was dreading comes to an end all too soon with an, “I now pronounce you man and wife. Mr. Jackson? You may now kiss Mrs. Jackson.”
Jett clasps my waist and pulls me close to him with a growl, which makes me laugh as he brings his lips down on mine. I can feel him holding himself back; he's an animal when he gets going, and he's told me more than once that he can't help himself when he's near me. However, we're in a church in front of all our friends and family, and I won't let him go all porno here, but I do let him slip a little tongue in as the cheers raise to a deafening level.
Mrs. Jackson! Oh. My. God!
Chapter Fourteen
Jett
How long have I got to stand here greeting people? I know it's some weird Italian tradition or something, but there's just so many of them! Also, I have to stand here and greet each and every one of them with a damn smile on my face on the orders of Don Vidal!
When I arrived at the church, Hammer dragged me into the vestry and told me what was really going on, and I felt my heart race a little too fast. It seemed that Vidal had had a change of heart after speaking with Maria last night. He realized giving her to whats-his-name was the wrong decision.
Vidal then explained to me that if I loved Maria, I'd prove to him just what she means to me. I'd tell him exactly why I wanted to marry her, the whole truth, not the abbreviated version I gave him at the clubhouse. So, I told him everything, the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I told him how she came to me and told me about the baby and what was expected of her, how I didn't even hesitate to tell her that I'd marry her. I told him how when he forced us apart I'd taken it upon myself, after three weeks, to sneak over his wall and into her bedroom just to see her, because I needed to see her, to be near her, so she would know I was thinking about her.
I didn't tell him about us fucking every time I was there, but I guess he knew that too. It wasn't hard to figure out. He even told me he knew weeks before that Maria had fallen for me, he just didn't want to admit it. He told me how he watched her struggling every day even to eat correctly. I knew she was putting on the fake smile for him, pretending she was fine, just as she had for everyone else.
He told me that if I really did love her, if I swore that I would protect her and our baby with my life, then he'd allow me to go out there and marry her in place of that prick he'd chosen for her. Can't imagine that cunt was too happy when he found out he wouldn't be marrying Maria after all.
Draven told me I'd better treat Maria like she's the most precious thing in the world to me, no one above her, first always before anything else. She cries, I soothe her tears. She smiles, I smile with her. None of that will be hard to do. She's not a hard woman to love, and she is everything to me already.
Looking at her right now, so beautiful in her wedding dress, baby bump invisible to those who don't know it's there, that smile, that genuine smile of happiness on her face, she reminds me of what an angel might look like in person. Her slender, tanned arm reaches out to shake the hands of each guest arriving, even my MC family, and I am so proud to be her husband.
Me, someone's husband, it’s almost laughable. I'm not one to never say never, always knew I'd end up with an old lady one day, but a wife? Not in this lifetime. Kids? Sure, I wanted one in ten years time.
Would I change the fact it's now I'm going to be a dad? Nope. Nor would I change the fact the beauty next to me is my wife. Mine in every sense of the word. After everything Maria has been through since finding out about the baby, she's finally happy, and I'm the man making her happy. I will always try my very best to make her happy.
I'd thank Vidal for coming to his senses, but I don't wanna give him a big head.
I don't know exactly how he explained this to his family or how he got around the famiglia and all their rules yet again, but I'm guessing he's told them all to show respect to Maria and me, not one of them has so much as scowled.
“He's a big one, Maria!” God, another one of Maria's elderly relatives pinching my cheeks as though I'm a damn five-year-old! “Very handsome. He'll give you beautiful babies, Maria.”
My wife chuckles beside me. “I'm sure he will, Zia Luisa.”
“I slipped a special gift on the table with a little check for you.” The old woman winks at Maria, still feeling my bicep shamelessly.
“Thank you, Zia.” The old woman kisses her niece and walks away, and finally, that's the end of the Italian line.
Didn't realize there were so damn many members of the MC here. Well, obviously I did, but the fact the line again seems never ending is pissing me off. I need a drink, and I don't mean the soft kind.
“Congratulations!”
“Thanks, Mom.” I hug her tightly to me, the woman who raised me. Not my mother by blood, but my mother in my heart, the only one I have ever and will ever need. My birth mother wasn't much of a mother to me when she was around, Lynette, the woman I call Mom was there for me all my life. My mother just thirteen years my senior. Not that I care a shit, she means everything to me.
“I'm so proud of you, Jett. You have no idea.”
“Don't cry,” I chuckle and wipe the tear from her cheek as she rolls her eyes. Normal Mom thing to do at weddings? Cry, I mean? “I love you,” I tell her with a kiss to her head.
“I love you more.” Makes me chuckle and hug her tighter.
“Welcome to the family, Maria.”
“Thank you, Mr. Jackson.”
“Shepard. Please.”
“Shepard,” Maria smiles at my father, who winks at her with a smile on his face.
My baby sister, Sophie, seve
n-years-old, looking beautiful in her pink party dress, her brown hair tied up and clipped with pretty diamante pins, lifts her arms up to me. She always wants me to pick her up. I scoop her up and hug her for a moment before setting her back on her feet.
I get the usual from Max, a slight smile and a shake of his hand. The boy never says much, but I can see just how happy he is for me right now. His mind has been put at ease, and he knows Vidal isn't going to kill me any time soon. He gives me a one-armed hug and tells me, “Thanks for not doing anything stupid.” I laugh and watch him walk away from me.
VJ, on the other hand? He's standing in front of me with a smirk on his face. God help us when he's of age. He already thinks he's a man. VJ also flirts with every woman he comes in to contact with, and Maria, it seems, is no different.