“My life with you began at the end of one funeral and begins again at the end of another.”
“That feels oddly symbolic.”
She gives me a sad smile. “My old life is over. My new life begins with you.” She smiles to herself and thoughtfully twirls a piece of her hair. “I’ve been thinking about it, Mario.”
“You’ve been thinking about what?”
“I’ve seen how your brothers treat you. I’ve heard how your brothers talk to you. And… There’s definitely a difference between the men who are married and the men who are single in this family.”
I give her a curious look. I nod. I told her that at the beginning. Men with wives have naturally more authority; men with wives and children are far in rank above all others.
“It’s almost like…” She’s thinking things over. “They respect you, but treat you like one of the younger ones. I mean, I know you are one of the younger ones, but you’re no slouch. You’re as intelligent as the rest of them. The only thing you’re lacking is… a wife.” She shrugs. “Do you know what I mean?”
“You go from, that’s it, we’re over, we’re from two different sides of the world, to not only am I willing to break the law and become a formal member of a crime ring, but I’m willing to be your wife?”
She gives me a sly smile. “First of all, it wasn’t too hard for me to make that decision. I realized when we were hunting Peterson that our official justice system is really no better than yours. Sure, we live by a different code, but like you told me a long time ago, no two mobs are alike.” She looks up. “I think about how all of the women in this family, other than being in love with their husbands when they married, really were attracted to the family. Your sisters are awesome. Your nieces and nephews, they are too. I love Nonna, and your mama. There’s no better way for me to seek justice against the truly evil organized crime rings than… than from the inside.” She blows out a breath. “And I hope it will repay the kindnesses you’ve given me.”
Hope surges in me. If she wants to be with me, she wants to marry me. “Stop right there,” I tell her. She stops and looks up at me. “Do you know what marrying me means?”
“Yes. Your sisters told me at length. And the women of the Rossi family told me that while overtly you guys are all domineering, really the women get away with quite a lot. They’re spoiled, they get to travel, they’re wealthy, they have a ready-made family, and you didn’t tell me about the hot springs in Tuscany…”
I don’t know if she’s teasing me but she’s honestly… pretty accurate. “I don’t know if I want to spank you or fuck you.”
“I think both sound pretty good…” she says coyly.
“Come here.” She moves closer to me like a good girl. I grab her ass in my hand and give her a hard squeeze. “I will expect you to obey me. And if you don’t, you’ll be punished, you know that. “
“I’ll count on it… Daddy.” Her eyes flash at me. And challenge. I can never be with a woman that didn’t push me like this. I fucking love every minute of it.
“We have rules. Old-fashioned rules.”
“I know. The girls told me that too.”
“Of course they did.”
“There’s only one thing left to do.” I stand her up next to the bed and kneel down beside her. I take her hand.
“We’ll have to give you another name. You’re not Emma anymore.”
She shrugs. “Emma never really suited me.”
“It really doesn’t.”
“Suggestion?”
“Hmm. Gloria. It means woman of glory.”
She cringes. “That’s a bit much.”
I shake my head. “Not for a queen.”
She nods and holds my hand in both of hers. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to make babies with you. I want to wake up with you next to me, and travel the world with you. I wanna fight for justice, I wanna race with you, I wanna explore the world with you…”
“Gloria,” I say, repeating it. “Will you marry me?’
“Yes,” she says on a grin. “Yes.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Gloria”
I. Love. It. Here.
I never thought I’d love it… anywhere.
I never thought I’d love anyone.
And I thought that saying goodbye to the life that I knew would be so much more painful than it has been. I see now that the life I lived as Emma King, Detective, was a life built on pain and misfortune, that I’d eaten the bitter herbs of regret and cynicism. I didn’t do my job because I loved it, as I told myself. I did it because I was good at it, and I was convinced it was the only way for me to ever be satisfied.