Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“In the kitchen.” I push a lock of her hair off her forehead. “Did I mention yet today how fucking beautiful you are?”
“You did, but I’m not opposed to hearing it again.”
“You’re a vision, Lawton,” I whisper in her ear. “I can’t wait to get you home to…”
“Gina?” Bella’s voice interrupts the moment.
Gina spins to face her sister. “Yes?”
Bella reaches out a hand. “I’ve never seen you this happy before.”
Gina gathers her sister’s hand in both of hers. “Thank you, Bella. You’re glowing. I’m so excited to be an aunt again.”
“I’m going to be an uncle,” I interject.
“You are.” Bella smiles softly before turning her attention back to Gina. “I knew you’d be married before your birthday. I could feel it.”
“You were right,” Gina admits. “I’m so glad you were right.”
“What are your plans for a honeymoon?” Her gaze volleys between her sister and me.
“We already did that.” Gina laughs.
“You went on a honeymoon?” Bella shakes her head. “Was I asleep because I don’t remember you jetting off anywhere after you got back from Vegas?”
“It was a day trip,” I clarify. “To a very special place. We’re heading back there soon for a longer stay.”
Gina’s gaze snaps in my direction. “Are we?”
Tugging her closer, I nod. “We are, and I promise that we’ll go as often as we can.”
Bella’s gaze drops to her phone. “Your post is blowing up, Gina. Your followers are so happy for the two of you. I love that you changed the name on your profile to Gina Lawton.”
Bella is the one who took a photo of Gina and I after the ceremony. With her left hand resting on my chest and our gazes locked on one another, we had no idea that Bella was in front of us with her phone pointed in our direction.
She forwarded the image to Gina. She posted it immediately with a short, but touching tribute to our undying love.
“It’s who I am,” Gina says. “I’m going to legally change my name to Gina Lawton. It feels right. I’ve felt it for a long time.”
“I’m honored,” I tell her honestly because her last name bears no weight when it comes to how much I love this woman.
She’s a Lawton now, but she’ll always be a Calvetti, too. I love her for who she is, who she was, and who she will be in the future.
“Everyone sit!” Marti calls out from the kitchen. “Dolly, come help me.”
Bella rushes off toward her grandmother, who now has a white apron tied around her waist. The blue dress she has on underneath matches the few streaks of blue in her hair. With the tattoo on her wrist, she’s every inch the grandmother-in-law that I’ve always known and loved.
“Gina, you sit here with Daniel.” Marti pats the back of a chair next to a table in the center of the room. “I made something special for you. I made it myself.”
I lead my wife to the table before pulling out the chair so she can sit. She does that carefully, being mindful of the long skirt of her wedding gown. I take a seat right next to her.
Marti darts out of view again before she appears with a large white bowl in her hands. Bella is close behind with a matching one in hers.
Gina gasps aloud as her grandmother sits the bowl in front of her before she circles her granddaughter’s neck with both arms. “I made this minestrone just for you, my Gina.”
“Grandma,” Gina’s voice quivers.
“My grandma served me minestrone the day I married your grandfather,” she says softly. “I was saving it for the day you married your love.”
“I love it.” Gina squeezes Marti’s arms. “I love you.”
“I love you,” Marti whispers before she glances at me. “And you, too, my boy.”
I nod because the sudden lump in my throat has rendered me speechless.
“Eat!” she instructs us before pulling away to address her large family. Her hands jump in the air as she signs the words she says, “Everyone else gets lasagna.”
Before she can say another word, a collective chorus of Calvetti voices fills the restaurant, all saying the same thing, “You made it yourself.”
EPILOGUE
Daniel
Six Weeks Later
“California, New York, and this place all in one week.” Gina stirs next to me in our bed. “Aren’t you tired, Daniel?”
My hand stalls halfway up her thigh. I wanted to wake up my wife in her favorite way, but it seems she’s already greeting the morning by dragging her fingers over my bare chest.
“I’m never too tired to fuck my wife.” I circle the soft skin of her thigh with my index finger. “It’s been hours since you came, Gina.”
A bubble of soft laughter escapes her. “It can’t be more than two or three hours.”
She’s right about that.
I’m insatiable.
I can’t imagine a moment between now and when I die that I won’t crave her. I ate her as soon as we fell into bed last night. After that, I fucked her slowly against the wall with her moans fueling me.