Speculation would be rife tomorrow.
His mistress?
His woman?
His whore?
Or just a plaything?
Tessa was everything.
She would be his queen one day.
He, Cole, and Demetri had already gone to pick out the ring. First, he wanted her to admit she’d fallen for him. He saw it in her eyes. The way she smiled at him. The touches, even Jessica had told him to be careful. Their little nanny had a delicate heart.
He knew.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“It’s amazing. So much energy.” She smiled at him. “I think this is my first time coming to a nightclub. Right now, I feel … buzzed.” He took her soda from her, taking a sip. “What are you doing?”
“Checking to make sure I didn’t give you the wrong drink.”
She tapped his chest, laughing. “I’m not drunk.”
He pulled her against his chest, cupping her cheek. “No, you’re happy, and I like it.”
Tilting her head back, he didn’t care that others saw him with her. She was his woman, and he wasn’t ashamed of her. He couldn’t resist a kiss, and so right there, in front of everyone, he kissed her.
She didn’t fight him. Her hand went to his shirt, the other tucked against his chest. She gripped him tightly. The little moan she released, he swallowed down.
So fucking tempting.
All his.
Forever and always.
He kissed down to her neck. “Do you have any idea how much I want to bend you over this table and fuck you?”
She gasped.
“Do you want that too?”
“Only if it was just us.”
“Don’t worry. As much as I want to fuck you, I won’t. I’ll contain my need for you, but be warned, baby, it’s not fucking easy. Not even close.” He growled against her neck, sucking on her pulse. “Come on, let’s go and dance.”
He took her hand, and leaving the VIP section, he took her to the dance floor. Drawing her ass against his dick, he wrapped his arms around her. Swaying from side to side, he placed a hand on his stomach and tilted her head back against him to stare into her eyes.
The rest of the world faded, and all that remained was the two of them. She consumed his entire world. Whenever he was with her, everything else just fell away. Nothing mattered. She filled his soul with everything he never thought it was possible to have.
“You’re my world, Tessa Brown.”
He didn’t know when it had happened, but as clear as the day he was blooded into the mafia at his father’s hand, he was in love with this woman.
No one else would ever be good enough.
Not a daughter of another family.
There’s no way he’d ever shame this woman.
“Alonzo,” she said.
“Yes, baby.”
“I think I could get used to this, and it scares me.”
“Why?”
“Jessica told me that your world doesn’t do love.” She stopped, and he saw her swallow. Saw the tears in her eyes. “And I’m afraid that I’ve already fallen for you.”
“Fallen in love?”
She nodded.
His heart pounded. He’d been waiting so long for her, and it was like he’d already lived two lifetimes already.
“Don’t be afraid.”
“You can’t love me back.”
“Not only do I love you back, but I’m not going anywhere else.”
“But, don’t you have to marry someone important? Someone who will help your family, not hinder it.”
He spun her around so that she now faced him. “There’s no one around to tell me what to do. You’re going to be my wife, Tessa. I love you more than anything else, and your father, he asked me if anything ever happened to him, I’d take care of you. I’m going to do that. Not because he asked me but because I can’t let you go. Do you think I’ve not tried to let you go? Believe me, I have. Bringing you home with me, I wasn’t supposed to keep you. I was going to let you go, but I loved seeing you around the house. Even miserable, I knew I had to keep you safe. All my other plans, they went out the window.”
“I can’t believe we’re discussing this on the dance floor,” she said.
He saw her sniffle, and he wiped the tears from her eyes.
The song changed, and he made her dance with him. He wasn’t going to bring this night to a close just because he wanted to take her to bed. There would be time for that soon.
This wasn’t how he was going to propose.
“Are you going to give me my answer?” he asked.
“To what?” She frowned.
He pulled her in close once again, holding her back. His lips against her hair. “To marrying me.”
“You proposed?”
“When I said you were going to be my wife, I figured I already had?”
She gasped. “I … I … yes, I think so, yes.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “You think so?”
“I’ve never been asked to be married before. What if you’re wrong? What if I’m just new to you and you regret wanting to marry me?”