“Good night, boss,” both of them said as they walked away.
Entering, I quietly shut the door and turned to find Layla sleeping peacefully in the middle of the bed. She looked so beautiful lying there. The moonlight lightly shone on her bare legs as a soft, warm breeze filtered throughout the room.
Heading to the bathroom, I stripped my clothes and walked into the shower turning the spray on full blast. Sighing as the hot spray pelted my skin, I was finally able to close my eyes and just relax.
So much had happened in the last couple of months. So much I still had a hard time wrapping my head around everything, but through it all, we survived, and I met the love of my life. I couldn’t imagine my life without her anymore. She was everywhere, in the house, in the smell of my bedsheets, in my dreams. My first thought every morning was of her, and she was also my last.
Everything I did now was to ensure her safety.
I wanted her to have everything she desired.
I would never tell her no.
She was my Queen.
My future.
My life.
Standing under the spray, I wanted so much to stay on my island and live here in peace with her. To leave everything behind and just be happy. If I could hand over the family to Salvatore, I would, but my brother was too much like our father. Too stubborn, too hot-headed, and I knew he and Carmine would never get along.
It pained me that I was asking her to be a part of my family, asking her to live a life of constant danger. Since her recovery, she hadn’t even mentioned our marriage once. I thought it best to let her heal, praying eventually she would broach the subject.
She knew that to join the two families, we would have to marry.
She knew how I felt, and though she was quieter, I tried to show her every day what she meant to me. I made time for her anytime she wanted, sometimes even ignoring family duties to spend time alone with her.
She rarely talked with me about her life in captivity anymore. Before she was starting to open up to me, now it was like she buried everything deep, refusing to bring it up again in fear that it may come true.
I understood and didn’t force her.
I wanted her to talk to me of her own free will, and I was willing to wait, no matter how long it took.
Shutting off the shower, I grabbed a white towel and wrapped it around my waist. Leaving the bathroom, I came to a screeching halt when I saw Layla sitting up in bed, naked.
The moonlight glistened on her skin, giving her an ethereal glow. Her long beautiful blonde hair looked like a damn halo surrounding her, and the smile on her face gave me hope that just maybe everything would be all right.
I grinned. “Hello,Tesoro.”
“Giovanni.”
“Can I get you something?”
She nodded, “Most definitely.”
Moving closer to the bed, she never took her eyes off me. Sitting down next to her, I took her hands in mine and said, “I’m sorry I woke you.”
“I’m not. I’ve been waiting on you to show up.”
“If you wanted to talk to me, all you had to do was come find me.”
“I don’t want to talk, Giovanni,” she whispered, leaning towards me, closing the distance between us as she placed her lips against mine.
I had been waiting for this moment, for her to come back to me.
To want me again.
Just feeling her lips on mine was enough to make my heart burst with joy. Layla was unlike any other woman I’d ever known. She was beautiful and intelligent. She had this power deep within her that gave her a strength that I admired and respected. She had the ability to overcome anything that happened to her in life, and she did it with grace and honesty. She was too good for me, and I knew it. I would spend the rest of my life endeavoring to deserve her.