“Good,” Ace said. “That resolves that, for now.”
Emma sat up, her eyes narrowed with amusement. “That reminds me,” she said. “How on earth did you get my uncle to agree to this?”
Ace shrugged, then kissed the front of her chest and the nape of her neck. She purred against him, which made his dick hard and his back spasm.
“Hey,” she moaned. “You can’t just distract me with your mouth to avoid answering a question.”
“Oh, can’t I?”
Emma laughed and let him move up to her earlobe. He tugged on it with his teeth, which made her skin break out in goosebumps.
“I have the ‘Ace charm,’” he whispered. “Not even your Don uncle can resist that.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” she said in a daze.
The lovers somehow managed to avoid making love again when Ace’s back began to quiver in agony. Emma stayed with him, just as she had the entire night before. She curled against him like a kitten as he rested and recovered from his injuries.
Ace couldn’t believe that Emma was real. She had been made for him, having fallen out of the clear blue sky. He was going to marry her and, hopefully, at the same time, help their separate families make amends that would last a lifetime.
He slept soundly for the first time in years with his mate by his side doing the same.
Chapter25
Emma
It didn’t take Ace and Emma very long to plan their wedding. It was a source of anxiety for both of them, being enemy families and all. But Ace had managed to form a bond with her side of the family as he came, bravely, to seek their help in saving her. That gave him a great advantage when they each went to the Dons and asked for their approval to get married.
Ace had gone to Don Moretti, and she had gone to her great-uncle Don Fontana. Her uncle had seen how he had boldly fought for her, so his approval was no question. Don Moretti took a bit more convincing, but Emma knew that Ace had the gift of the gab and the Moretti charm.
He eventually approved, despite not completely understanding how quickly Ace had seemingly grown from a playboy into a loyal and faithful man. Approvals from both families meant they could forge a lynchpin between them all, ending the longstanding war between them.
That made the wedding planning and process far smoother than Emma could have ever imagined. She had formerly just been the girl who lived in the stash house, but once she became engaged to Ace, a world of wealth and opportunity opened for her.
The Fontanas no longer held her sins of the past against her, and the Moretti’s did not fear her family name. They came together in as much harmony as two mob families ever could.
They got married in a plentiful field just outside Chicago after making a few vows in a church setting beforehand. Neither were particularly religious, but their families were, and being in the mob often meant keeping up appearances.
Emma got ready in a quaint house they had rented near the wedding ceremony. Her family helped her get ready, which included her parents from the quiet Midwestern town, as well as a handful of women she had never met before.
It made her feel loved and protected in a way she had never known.
The field was decorated with a luxurious satin aisle, with all of the trappings to imitate a cozy Tuscan wedding. Ace had gone all out in hiring an expensive wedding planner as well as a designer straight out of Italy.
Emma felt spoiled, but Ace told her that he wanted her to feel that way for the rest of their lives together. She believed in him deeply.
The archway was decorated in roses and geraniums, having been carved out of the most vintage wood that existed in fields of Italy. Emma saw it as she stood at the end of the aisle, watching the sun floating in the clearest of blue skies.
She felt her chest glow and her breath hitch in her throat. She was nervous, of course, but for once, it was for a positive reason. She was eased by the handsome sight of her husband-to-be decked out in a merlot wine colored suit and a glimmer in his eyes she longed to never see extinguished.
He watched her as she delicately moved down the aisle. Each family sat on separate sides, admiring her, but it was as if she was the only one there. Just Ace and her and the lovely chime of a nearby piano.
His eyes filled with tears as she got closer. She wore a dress that was hand-tailored by one of the most renowned designers in Italy and had been specifically flown in for her. It was a mermaid-style dress that cascaded down her body, leaving her shoulders open and free for her long swirly hair to stream down and across them.
Emma felt beautiful and sexy and, thus, even more confident as she strolled down the aisle toward the man whom she would soon call her husband.
Ace immediately took her hands in his as she stood in front of him. Any form of anxiety disappeared as his energy transferred to her. He gave her a wink and whispered something that only she and the minister could have heard.
“So proud of you.”